Caravan scam

[Peggysuesue09]

I recently went on Facebook selling site asked about caravan holidays near Skegness, a lady popped up in my messenger and showed me her caravan. The communication between us over a 2 1/2 week period was brilliant. I first enquired on the 11th of July, and on the 17th of July, the lady wanted the payments because the holiday was so cheap, obviously went for it and paid her via PayPal. She stipulated in her message to pay via friends and family ONLY , yes I may be naive thought yeah okay she’s give it us cheap she doesn’t wanna pay any fees so just paid it. Two days before going away she ignored all communication, I prayed that she was poorly and just couldn’t get to her messages to Answer me back, so made our way to the caravan park , a four hour drive to find out we have been scammed, we are not the only people to be scammed by this lady, she’s been doing it for six months that the caravan park know of. Caravan park. Have tried to get her pulled off Facebook and has reported her to the police.. I’ve tried to get my money back from PayPal and I do feel PayPal are partly to blame as previously said this lady has been doing it for six months at this caravan park , we definitely know we’re not the only people to have fallen for her tricks and I feel that PayPal should’ve stopped her account months ago. Can anyone give me advice because I really cannot afford to have lost £350 as I had to take money out of my daughters disabled scooter fund to pay for the holiday with my granddaughter who is autistic. TIA

[kernowlass]

@Peggysuesue09 

Paypal are not responsible in you giving a 'gift' of money to someone.

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
However as it is a gift payment, there is also no buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as it enables the seller to evade paying his Paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time.

You would also not be able to open a dispute (apart from one citing an unauthorised transaction), which would be automatically closed as you did authorise the initial payment.

Be careful as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules and can lead to account limitation.

If you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately they may decline as well as it was a gift payment.

[Peggysuesue09]

Hi , Thank you for replying and yes I know now all this but it still doesn’t help me get my money back. This scammer needs to be stopped . I was naive and thought she needs rid of the week and was so cheap I just presumed she put friends & family ONLY so not to loose any more money. I did not suspect anything until the 2 days before going away.

[kernowlass]

@Peggysuesue09 

You have the option of a c.c. chargeback but again they may also refuse as it was a 'gift' payment OR small claims court if they are UK as well.

Unfortunately nothing paypal can do to get your money back as you negated your buyer protection by selecting the gift option and went against paypal rules.