Bill R

2 hours ago, prowla said:

Did you just shoot Paul Kersey?

Quite possibly. However, if “Smethurst” is able to get himself back on marketplace after the dozens of times I’ve reported him, I doubt he’ll have much trouble getting the post back up. 

3 hours ago, prowla said:

I got the impression that’s a warning post. 

Ah, my bad. Missed the word “scam” in the FB Marketplace post. Feel bad that I reported the listings as scams now! 

Now he’s Mason Smith. The Clown pic makes me feel like he’s laughing at us all. 

On 30/04/2022 at 11:00, ambient said:

Something I have noticed on Facebook marketplace, is there’s now an option to ‘buy it now’ and complete the purchase through Facebook. 
 

How does that work, protection-wise?

Don’t know. I tried to use that option when I got scammed but he simply cancelled the payment and suggested PayPal instead. 

3 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

What's the new Payscammer address?

https://www.facebook.com/matt.smethurst.334

Just a heads up that he now appears to be using the name James Smith to scam people. Same stuff as before. 

On 03/04/2022 at 13:54, yorks5stringer said:

I contacted Private Eye ( as a subscriber) about this topic  giving links etc and did not even get an acknowledgement!

Just watched a show on daytime BBC called Scam Interceptors that looks at a online fraud - maybe the world of Facebook marketplace scams would be on interest to them? 

5 hours ago, Hamster said:

That's really very bad as the case for simple theft - and indeed fraud, is easily made out. I understand if it's about 1 pedal on 1 occasion as that would effectively be one word against another, but this appears to be a serial thief/fraudster.

 

First you have to make the allegation of the crime. Use your local police force online reporting facility.  In your report you need describe what happened:

 

The date and location (the location is where the offence happened - (don't say Facebook or eBay or whatever - someone here must have the guys home address?)

 

That he was dishonest - "Whether, according to the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people, what was done was dishonest."

 

That he intended to make a gain for himself - According to section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, “a court or jury, in determining whether a person has committed an offence… shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the evidence, drawing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances”.
 

He appropriated 'property' - 'Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation, and this includes, where he has come by the property (innocently or not) without stealing it, any later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with it as owner.'

 

Property - 'Property includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property.'

 

Belonging to another - 'Where a person receives property from another, and is under an obligation to the other to deal with that property or its proceeds in a particular way, the property or proceeds shall be regarded (as against him) as belonging to the other.'

 

With the intention of permanently depriving the other - The important test is whether the person appropriating the property 'treats it as his own to dispose of regardless of the others rights'.

 

In simple terms:

 

• I paid for the item and he failed to send me the goods, and that you know (and point to) several other victims of the same theft/fraud;
• His intention to make a profit/gain for himself is clear as he has done the same thing to several other victims (as above);
• Despite repeated requests for your money he has kept it;
• It was a £xxxx including postage
• He received the money and was under an obligation to send you the goods.

 

Point them to this thread.

 

They may NFA it straight away but you can take it further:

 

Make a complaint about the police using the IOPC website - https://iopc-complaints.egressforms.com/

 

The local Professional Standards Department will inform you about the rationale why it wasn't investigated in an attempt to 'service recover' the complaint.

Don't accept service recovery and tell them you want the complaint recorded.

Then they have to write out their rationale as a response to your complaint.

You can appeal their decision to the local Police & Crime Commissioner.

If you get no result - write to your MP informing them of the multiple scams and that your police force is doing nothing about it. 

 

If we can just get one police force charging him, then you can tell them about all the other 'unsolved crimes' and get permission from the court to consider them all in the same court.

 

I don't know about Scottish law - sorry.

 

 

To be fair they did say they would investigate it fully and do what they can but they were pessimistic about getting a result due to the factors I mentioned. You would think there would be some sort of National fraud squad that could collate all this information and pursue it. I can’t be the only person who reported it to the Police. 
 

Facebook are also culpable. I must’ve reported his profile and his listings over a dozen times but he’s back posting stuff within a day or so. You would think after reaching a certain level of complaints someone might take a closer look. 

Quick update. The police finally came round to see me this week (I reported the scam in January). 
 

I gave them all the details - screenshots of my Facebook chat with Mr Smethurst, PayPal payment notification. He had just posted more scam items on marketplace so I showed them that too before reporting him again. I also gave them the address of this thread and the details I’ve gleaned from here. 
 

They thanked me for all this but basically said there is very little chance of stopping him. 
 

1. Facebook are apparently very arsey about handing over user data to the police so very hard to get much even with an account name and address. 
2. I live in Scotland and apparently cross-border cooperation between Scottish and English police is abysmal- English police aren’t interested unless basically the Scottish force has got rock solid evidence to convict. 
 

Before they left one of them told me that if you want to commit a crime and get away with it then this type of fraud is perfect. 
 

Even after reporting a search for “Mike Smethurst” returns the following. 

22 hours ago, martthebass said:

I've reported a number of the above as scams - the ones that were still showing under Mr Smethurst.  

I just looked and all that stuff was still listed (or relisted) I’ve report him as a scammer for the umpteenth time. 

He’s back on Facebook again. I’ve reported his account three times as a scam but he keeps getting back on. He appears to have added some new gear to his latest batch of listings which I have also reported. 

He’s back on Facebook again. I’ve reported his account three times as a scam but he keeps getting back on. He appears to have added some new gear to his latest batch of listings which I have also reported. 

He’s back at it on FB again. Just reported him again. 

6 hours ago, Dan electro said:

I got caught out on Xmas! Cheeky feck said merry Xmas, I got conned out of £60 for a pedal, and he claimed that the post office was open and that he would be sending me my purchase. He blocked me yesterday 
I have screenshoted the evidence and I’m looking to help any way I can to bring this a*shole down 

Same here. Report him to the Police. He’s still on Facebook selling stuff right now. 

9 hours ago, Jon08 said:

I also "purchased" the Reel Echo and a Boss Chorus, he was good with the chat but didn't want to know when I offered to do Paypal business plus extra to cover fee or direct into bank account . Yet he offered tracked postage for friends and family Paypal. That should have warned me ! Paypal don't want to know as it's Friends and Family but if the Police get involved they may have to. Bit wary of posting too much on open forum, but am taking PM's as if can gather a list of those scammed.  

Thanks for replying. My call with Police Scotland yesterday was mostly just confirming details. I should be getting a follow up call from someone in next day or so. 

He is still listing stuff on Facebook marketplace. 

7 hours ago, Maude said:

 

If it's sent as 'friends and family' or whatever they call that nowadays, I dont think the buyer can claw it back, can they? It's basically a gift rather than paying for a service. 

Yes. I can pretty much kiss my money goodbye but only have myself to blame for being taken in. 

Does anyone have contact details for the Steve Gilbert mentioned in this thread? Had a search on FB but there’s quite a few! 

Reported to Police Scotland today. They are going to call me back Monday morning to get more details. 

Looks like I got scammed too. Tried to buy a Reel Echo pedals before Christmas. Seemed a bit of an obscure choice for a scammer so seemed legit. Chatted on messenger and all seemed fine. When I tried to pay through marketplace checkout it got cancelled five minutes later. He claimed not to know what was wrong and suggested PayPal. Should have rung an alarm bell when he asked if I minded sending payment as friends and family (which of course removes your protection)  but I stupidly paid up and even wished the b*stard a merry Christmas! Here we are weeks later - no response to messages and the feeling I’ve been had. Google his name and end up here. Not sure what I can do to recover money - Facebook didn’t take the cash and PayPal will no doubt say “you should have paid him as a business seller.” 

On 10/01/2022 at 09:33, Jon08 said:

This is what he had up. Rest assured I will be going for him and need to get as many of those caught out in contact as these things always go better with the authorities if the scale of offending can be shown. So please spread the word on other forums as i suspect a large number of people have lost out and the method now looks to be lower value items so people just look to put it down to experience.