anyone ever have a private investigator try to scam you?

Oh, your last question - motive - is easy.

They are cowardly, parasitical but determined thieves who simply want your money. They do not care who you are or how much harm it will do you.

It's clear they wanted your bank-account details so they could empty your savings.


Your very first sentence tells us this was a fraud attempt. An unsolicited, unexpected message from a complete stranger about delivering a 'phone for money you have not paid, on an order you have not made.

Of course he was not a "private investigator". He was one of the thieves. So was the woman - they are both members of the gang involved.

You should have asked the bank to ensure your account and bank-cards are safe, blocked the message-sender, and if you have the service available, forwarded his message to the relevant scam-reporting body.


.
. How to Protect Yourself In Future?

NEVER believe being instructed to expect goods you have not ordered, nor prizes in competitions you have not entered. Neither the goods nor competitions exist - the ruse is to obtain your bank details.

NEVER obey instructions to make strange money-transfers even if the caller or message pretends to be a police or bank officer. The transfers are into the thieve's own accounts.

NEVER reveal any of your bank details including security information like PINs to people pretending to be from the bank, the police, private investigators, tax office, computer companies, etc. Real ones will never ask you for such details.

NEVER reply to, or follow up, messages or select any link, button or other control.

BEWARE of telephone calls pretending to let you ring off and verify the instructions really are from your bank. The thieves somehow manage to maintain their access, so when you ring the number (which they might give you), you are in fact telephoning the gang, not your bank.

If you need verify a call or message, wait for a while then use the bona-fide contact number or address, not any that the caller has given you.

ALWAYS Block and Delete messages clearly from fraudsters. Sometimes the messages will be very convincing, by the thieves having copied the letter-heads and pro-formas of real organisations; but careful reading of the sending address as well as the text and general appearance often gives the game away. The real organisations would not contact you like that anyway.

Block the sending name and domain, but name only if the domain is a common one like gmail, so you can still receive genuine messages via it. If possible forward the message to the relevant body for investigation. Your bank will very probably have its own, as may your ISP.

ALWAYS be very careful about your telephone and Internet use, security, and personal privacy. Remember the more you use open "social"[?]-media, on-line shopping from major retailers, etc, the more you feed the international, commercial trade in personal details. And that trade does not care about you and I, only our money.
.....

May you never fall for any of these evil people in future.

There are endless lowlifes like this I'm afraid.
They have no scruples and are just after quick cash from the most vulnerable.

Worth bearing in mind that no genuine business would telephone you in this way.
Nor would they text or e-mail demanding money.

Sad to say but these days you can't trust anyone you don't know personally.

Be especially wary of 'delivery companies' who will text or email you at your private number or email and say they have the 'things you ordered' but 'can't deliver as they are missing part of your address'.

This one's doing the rounds in the UK at the moment.

This person was a scammer and was trying to steal your money from you. Here's a few tips for the future and these are tips I follow:

If you get a phone call that you do not recognize the number, don't answer, let it go to voicemail. If the call is extremely important, the caller will leave a message.

This will almost prevent you from getting scammed. Email is another thing. If you are unsure about an email you receive saying payment denied, don't do anything in the email, call that company directly.

This happened to me, I called the company and the guy said, it sounds like you're being scammed sir, and when I looked back at the email it didn't even come from that company's official email address.

Any email that says you win, or package on it's way, send it to spam if you don't have a package coming.

These people will stop at nothing to get your money because it's the only thing they are after.

Obvious conman … you really should be very very careful with criminals like that .. He could have easily lost your money if you gave him more information, specially your social security number …. Always ignore message like that and don’t call them …

Also, please take your cash back to your bank because it can cause harm to you if anyone finds out that you keep cash at home .. 🤗🤗💕

First prob: you called them.

They want to clean you out.

Don't EVER do that.

nope, i spot them a mile off and put the phone down on them, there's nothing they can do.