A nan has been left heartbroken after being scammed out of £10,000 on eBay when trying to buy a campervan so her children and grandkids "always had a holiday".
Eileen Allen from the Wirral, Merseyside, spotted an advert for a motorhome on the online marketplace last month and made an offer on the £27,500 listing.
She eventually offered £26,000 for the 2017 Elddis Evolution 196 when initial offers were ignored. Eileen told the Liverpool ECHO that the seller said she "had a dealer on the phone but would rather sell it to a person to get more enjoyment out of it".
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"She said if I paid 30% it would be mine and she'd send me an email. I didn't think for one minute I was being duped. I said I'd pay as long as she sent me a receipt," the gran said.
The initial payment of £7,800, to a bank account under the name 'Jemma Hancox', took longer than expected to process.
Eileen said the seller called her the next day crying and told her she would have to give her the money back as she was "scared" the remainder of the funds wouldn't go through on the day they had arranged for collection.
Eileen agreed to pay a further £2,200 in order to secure the motorhome, which she said she would pick up on Sunday, April 30, from an address in Sheffield.
Alarm bells started to ring for Eileen on the evening of April 28 when 'Ms Hancox' rang Eileen and said the £2,200 payment didn't go through.
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"I said it had, it had left my bank account," Eileen said. "I rang the bank and while I was on the phone they said 'do you think it's genuine?' I started to suspect her because she was insisting the money hadn't gone through.
"I left a voicemail saying I'd pay the full amount and she rang me back straight away. I told her I knew it was a scam and she put the phone down."
Eileen has since been in contact with the motorhome's legitimate owner, after seeing the same vehicle listed for sale on Auto Trader. She has also been in touch with a family in Northern Ireland who were also duped.
eBay said the seller's account is under review and it will take the appropriate action if it finds any evidence of fraud or criminal activity.
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