Ipswich woman loses £1,000 in Facebook motorhome scam

Caroline Oliver, 61, said the money was the life savings she shared with her husband and said she felt “stupid, embarrassed, dirty, humiliated and very very upset” because of the suspected online con.

Action Fraud has confirmed a report in relation to the incident has been logged.

Caroline Oliver has shared her devastation after being scammed out of £1,000. (Image: Caroline Oliver)

Mrs Oliver said: “I saw a Facebook advert about a motorhome and I messaged the lady and said I was interested.

"She said someone had already put down the deposit for it so I said if it doesn’t work out let me know. Then she said we had a mutual friend, and she really liked this friend of mine so she said she’d like to sell it to me."

After conversations with the seller and her husband, the man then gave Mrs Oliver the names to give the £1,000 deposit to.

When she tried the bank details it failed so she phoned him back and he told her to say he was her cousin, which got the payment through.

The couple gave Mrs Oliver an address they claimed where the caravan was.

A screenshot of the motorhome Mrs Oliver inquired about buying. (Image: Caroline Oliver)

The 61-year-old said: “I said there’s nothing along there, but they said it’s a new build. They said they would be back home soon and that was it. There was no house.

“I was devastated. That was our life savings. It was a dream and it just disappeared.

“My husband, Stephen Oliver, works at Tesco as a delivery driver four nights a week. I feel stupid, embarrassed, dirty, humiliated and I am very very upset.”

She added: “There's no hope for recovering the money. The bank has said they can’t help because they tried to stop me. They even asked, ‘are you being told what to say? I said ‘no’ but I was being told what to say by the man.”