Bank transfer scam

[lusty]

Dear All, I have a bad feeling about a trade already made and need your advice.

I've found a Thai manufacturer on alibaba.com and after a few emails I placed my first order. He required a 50% deposit, about 3000 USD. The bank details for transfer were not in his name/company name. The order should be ready by now but he's not answering my emails. I'm in EU right now but I'll be in Thailand next month. I want to find out if the receiver of the money is the manufacturer or just somebody impersonating him. Would the police investigate this kind of scam if I give the receiver's name and bank details? I know bank-to-bank transfers are not reversible, but in case of a scam maybe bank/cops will look into it.

Thank you for your feedback!

Cheers

[Chicog]

Not going to help you now but use Aliexpress in future. Your payment is withheld until you receive the goods and approve it.

[onthemoon]

I don't know if the police can help you, but I would report it in any case. If your contact is not replying to your emails any more, you might be in trouble. You might need a lawyer, but the lawyer's fees might be higher than the amount you want to recover.

But thinking about it, I am not sure why you would transfer to a private bank account if you make a deposit for a commercial transaction. What did your contact say was the reason that the account is not a company account, and not even in his name? Wouldn't that make all alarm bells go off in your head?

[lusty]

I don't know if the police can help you, but I would report it in any case. If your contact is not replying to your emails any more, you might be in trouble. You might need a lawyer, but the lawyer's fees might be higher than the amount you want to recover.

But thinking about it, I am not sure why you would transfer to a private bank account if you make a deposit for a commercial transaction. What did your contact say was the reason that the account is not a company account, and not even in his name? Wouldn't that make all alarm bells go off in your head?

Unfortunatley no, because I did business with many Thai SMEs before. You transfer a deposit to the owner, or his daughter's personal bank account, or something like that. Or you pay in cash. I think it's fairly common. Nothing similar to how business is conducted in EU.

[onthemoon]

I don't know if the police can help you, but I would report it in any case. If your contact is not replying to your emails any more, you might be in trouble. You might need a lawyer, but the lawyer's fees might be higher than the amount you want to recover.

But thinking about it, I am not sure why you would transfer to a private bank account if you make a deposit for a commercial transaction. What did your contact say was the reason that the account is not a company account, and not even in his name? Wouldn't that make all alarm bells go off in your head?

Unfortunatley no, because I did business with many Thai SMEs before. You transfer a deposit to the owner, or his daughter's personal bank account, or something like that. Or you pay in cash. I think it's fairly common. Nothing similar to how business is conducted in EU.

Having done business in Thailand for over 20 years, I don't consider this normal at all.

Maybe this is your long overdue wake-up call. You were lucky in the past.

[Crash999]

If you have a full record of documentation and communication then you can hire a lawyer to file a criminal action against the person- the police won't take up such a case on their own. If you have the scammer's personal details then a letter from the lawyer may be enough to scare them into reimbursing you.

In future never TT money into a personal account. Even small manufacturers always have a business account and substituting bank details is a common scam among even those employed by large corporations.

Assume you've done this already but if the listing was made under a corporate name and that company has contact info then you ought to be contacting the company directly to follow up on the status of your order. Also you can lodge a complaint with Alibaba.