An 18-year-old from Whitfield travelled 70 miles with his mother to confront scammers who tricked him into sending them his Apple MacBook. Blake Walker listed the £650 laptop for sale on eBay on June 29 and quickly received what appeared to be a genuine email from eBay stating the buyer had paid, but the money would only be deposited after proof of postage.
Blake posted the computer by recorded delivery to the address provided, but the payment never arrived. When he contacted eBay, he was told he had likely fallen victim to a scam. Fraudsters had probably obtained his email address when he sent a video of the laptop before posting it.
Police referral delays prompt direct action
Blake reported the incident to Kent Police, but said no progress was made as he was passed between forces in Kent, London and Essex. Concerned officers would not act quickly enough, he and his mother decided to drive to the property themselves. His mother even prepared an empty parcel to pose as a delivery driver if turned away.
The address turned out to be a restaurant. Blake told KentOnline: 'There were quite a few of them, so I wouldn't say it was threatening, but you get a bit nervous when there's more and more.'
Confrontation leads to recovery
The people inside initially claimed innocence. However, Blake produced the delivery confirmation photograph showing the parcel had been delivered to that address. 'After about 15 minutes, they admitted they take items at the door and put them on top of a fridge in the restaurant, and then someone else comes to collect them,' he said.
When Blake's mother called Essex Police, staff at the restaurant said someone from their group was on his way. Blake added: 'This guy came out from the back and he came over to us and he was just really nervous, like properly shaking, sweating.' After a conversation, the man went back inside and returned with Blake's laptop.
The man insisted he had nothing to do with the fake email and showed messages suggesting parcels received at the address were later shipped to Nigeria. After an hour and a half, Blake and his mother drove home with the laptop. 'We were not expecting it. At most I thought we'd get proof it was there,' Blake said.
Police response and eBay action
After recovering the computer, Blake's mother contacted Essex Police again and completed an online crime report. The pair also made an audio recording of the meeting. Officers said they would visit to take a statement and collect the recording, but Blake and his family have not heard anything since.
An eBay spokesperson told KentOnline the buyer's account has been suspended. They said: 'We'd like to apologise for the experience your reader had on eBay, and can confirm that the buyer's account has been suspended. We encourage our users to only communicate with other users through eBay messages, and to only ship items once payment has been received. If users are unsure whether an email from eBay is genuine they can also check their eBay messages, as all emails from eBay are also sent as messages.'
Kent and Essex Police have been contacted for comment.
