Can Someone Please Help Me?

http://www.cheapfabrics.co.uk/ looks to be a perfectly respectable site.

Domain name:
cheapfabrics.co.uk

Registrant:
Tarvinder Kaur

Registrant type:
UK Sole Trader

Registrant's address:
18 Saxon Avenue
Feltham
TW13 5JN
GB

Registrar:
Schlund + Partner AG [Tag = SCHLUND]
URL: http://registrar.schlund.info

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 20-Dec-1999
Renewal date: 20-Dec-2007
Last updated: 10-Feb-2007

Scammers often make references to genuine companies to add some authenticity to their 'job offers'.

I'll try and make contact with the company just for their information.



On an unrelated note, there Logon page doesn't seem to be secure http://www.cheapfabrics.co.uk/thestore/login.php

I've tried to get a telephone number for this company but it's ex directory according to 118118.
I wouldn't like to contact them via their site just incase it is the scammers site themselves.
I have reported it to the Police, and my Bank.

Looking more deeply into it, they have used the name Tarvinder Kaur...
http://www.windsorwired.org/chandigarh_times.jpg
http://www.indiaenews.com/america/20070725/62329.htm

Hmmm, so, I reakon the website is also a scam or a made up site for their scams.[/img]

Don't worry about the site, scarednow. The important thing is that you got the police report and the bank taken care of.

Are you trying to contact the company in the hope of speaking to the scammers? Remember they are only using the website in order to make themselves look legitimate. They have no actual connection to that company whatsoever. In any event, you should cease ALL contact with the scammer so follow the advice you have already received and go and see your bank manager and the police. It's more important than trying to figure out who and where the scammer is at the moment.

Thanks everyone for your support and your good advice, particularly Slayer, you were great last night. I got about 2 hours sleep
Anyway, the police and the bank have both been informed, I quess it's up to them now.
I feel relieved that they are sorted anyway.

Good for you. Please try not to worry too much or feel embarrassed about this. There are hundreds of thousands of people out there exactly like you who have been targetted by scammers were but many of them weren't so lucky and didn't find out until it was too late.

Just a quick PS - once the scammer realises you are not going to cooperate he might try a charm offensive to persuade you that all this has been a terrible misunderstanding and that he really does have your best interests at heart. Now you know he's a lying lowdown scumbag criminal then obviously you won't believe him. Right?

If you have any concerns or questions then please don't hesitate to ask us. We are happy to help. Take care and good luck!

Glad to hear that things are looking up, scarednow. Pat's advice above is right on as well. Do let us know if you have any more questions.

scarednow. You can change your name to "notscarednow"!!

Don't worry about feeling embarrassed for falling for the scam. The fact is that you had enough sense to check it out before you sent the money and unfortunately a heckuva lot of people don't do that.

And don't think you're unique or a rare case in falling for these criminals. Look at it this way: If there weren't thousands of victims being scammed and losing their money, there wouldn't be thousands of scammers trying their luck would there? Remember also that these low-lifes have had years to perfect their scams and you still managed to beat them!!!

The advice now is to read up as much as you can about internet scamming so that you'll know what it is immediately next time one falls into your inbox.

scarednow: I'm not gonna repeat what's already been said, but I shall add to it.

The fact is that you realised in time and thus you've lost nothing, except any fee the bank charges.
I would find it very unlikely that the bank or police will do anything bad to you. For one thing, if they took you to court they'd have to say "well yes it was a fraudulent check but he admitted to it", the judge would throw the case out as a waste of time.
Plus you sound like a really nice person who just fell for what is unfortunately an extremely successful con played by experienced con men. For that reason alone I find it impossible to believe the police could or would push for a conviction against you.

Take the positives from this - It's made you more wary and you're much much less likely to be ripped off over.. well .. anything really. In that sense these bastard scammers have done you a favour. And if you choose to tell your friends and family then they will be able to become more wary, you could even become a bit of a hero if they end up not getting scammed because you fore-warned them.

It is a bit embarassing but hey, no one here knows who you are. If you choose to tell no one, then no one will know except you and the scammer. And as for him, well, he'll have already moved on to his next victim so you don't have to worry about what might happen there.

The police told me to report it to these guys...
www.econsumer.gov
Which I will do asap.
Thanks for all your support you guys, you have been very helpful and understanding.
As for the bank, I had a message to ring them about this, unfortunately I didn't get in til it was too late to ring them this evening, so will ring first thing Monday.
I will of course keep you updated and I hope my experience has helped others.
Regards
Notsoscarednow

^^^^ Thanks for that link. We can add it to our arsenal of useful information for other victims to access and use.

Unfortunately, because internet scammers are very good at concealing their identities and location and use fake names, email addresses, etc etc it's almost impossible to track them down, let alone arrest them. That's why these scams are so successful . But the more information we can pass along to the various law enforcement and official agencies the better, so reporting these scams is very important.