When Sarah Neville got an email from her carpenter saying he had just had a cancellation and could start the job they had been discussing within three weeks, it didn’t arouse the slightest suspicion.
The Bristol woman, who had spent several weeks emailing him, working out the minutiae of the planned renovations, was so happy it was finally going to happen that she quickly paid the £1,500 deposit into his Barclays bank account before he changed his mind. Even when he failed to turn up she still assumed there was an innocent explanation. Only when she finally got hold of him did the truth emerge.
The carpenter said he knew nothing about the cancellation, and hadn’t sent the email giving Neville the go ahead and asking for the £1,500 deposit. It then emerged that his email had been hacked and the bank account into which she had paid the money wasn’t his.
It’s a scam 99% of us would have probably fallen for. Three months on, Neville has been left wondering what she could have done differently. She is also coming to terms with the fact that she won’t see her £1,500 again.
Barclays, which operated the account that the fraudster used to accept her money, has told Neville it is not responsible as it acted entirely within the regulatory rules that govern account openings and payments – though it has since shut down the account involved.
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