Sigh....... Just found out that I've been scammed out of a large amount of money.
I feel sick and utterly foolish. I'm the one who always checks with my mum, gran and also my wife regarding scam phone calls/emails/phishing sites etc. when they're unsure about something.
And now I've fell for it myself.
Long story short(ish), wanting to treat myself for my upcoming 40th. After searching and trying on for the last couple of months I decided on a certain watch.
Lo and behold, one only pops up on a watch forum I frequent. Good price, based in the UK, good profile on that site and a couple of other sites, I send him a message. I hear back from him through email, this is quite common on this forum.
I get him to reply to me on the forum through private message so I can confirm its him I'm dealing with.
Anyway, I was as comfortable as I'd ever be sending this amount of money so did the transfer. He sent confirmation of payment and said he'd send tracking number next day.
Have a guess what happened next. No contact at all, got in touch with the Mods on that forum, they almost immediately ban him and tell me its a well known Nigerian scammer who had hacked this other blokes legitimate account.
Did I feel completley at ease with the whole thing from the start? No, my gut feeling told me something was amiss. Can't put my finger in it, but you know what? I still went ahead. What a c*ck.
I always tell my lads to trust your instinct but because I got caught up in finding my watch at a good price (not an ridiculously cheap price) I ignored my gut feeling and lost a load of money.
What a fool, chin up