Hi everyone
Hoping I put this in the right area…
I want to sell something online and I’m wondering how easy it is to be defrauded. I’ve sold low-value stuff before, but this is around £1000, so I’m reluctant to handle cash.
So - if I send someone my Monzo.me link, they pay me, I ship the item - how easy is it for them to reverse / cancel that transaction later on and run away with whatever I’ve sold them?
Thoughts?
Thanks 
I believe it will be reversed if they use a compromised payment card to pay and the transaction then gets disputed.
Faster Payments is irreversible on the other hand so I always suggest using that when possible.
As far as I’m aware, they would have very little power to do so. I think only their bank could do this via a charge back, but they would need a lot of evidence and support from their bank to do so.
Monzo.me has a £100 limit, so this wouldn’t be the easiest way for them to pay.
They could bank transfer the amount to you instead. That would be the equivalent of paying cash and would be impossible for them to reverse/cancel.
Aha. Good point, thanks 
I’m wondering a similar thing. I am selling an item (pair of shoes) and the person whom I’m selling to says they want to pay via bank transfer. I’m just sceptical as what’s stopping them from saying that the payment was unauthorised once they receive the item? If I receive payment via bank transfer am I 100% safe? Thanks
As far as I’m aware it’s pretty much impossible to recover money from bank transfers - even in genuine circumstances where you accidentally sent money to the wrong person.
The suggestions I see here, I think I need to step in. Yes, faster payments (or bank transfers) are difficult to recover for the person who has sent it. But! If you are concerned that your customers are trying to dispute it, they can still do that through their bank and claim that you have scammed them. The sending bank would get in touch with Monzo and Monzo needs to restrict your account to look into this. The whole restriction process can take longer and cause more damage than dealing with card disputes as a merchant. With chargebacks, you just refund them in the worst case scenario and be done with it (although comes with a loss).
Just a thought.
I went through this experience recently. I sold something to someone on Facebook marketplace.
The transfer was made from another Monzo account. What I did - because I feel like I’m paranoid like that - is clear out everything from my Monzo account before hand. And, when the transfer came in, I took it out straight away and shifted it to another bank account. Then I waited to see what happened.
Nothing
Now, what I don’t know is whether the person tried to do anything to reverse the transaction or somehow use my details for any other kind of transaction for fraudulent purposes, or whether they were just a regular person making a purchase and is now enjoying their item. The optimist in me believes the latter…
Emptying your account when it is determined that you owe someone money won’t prevent the bank from chasing you for the debt.
Yeah of course I’m not providing a playbook. Just sharing the anecdote, really.
But as a legitimate seller, with a transfer similar to my example, I think you have little to worry about anyway. I would imagine that a fraudulent buyer wouldn’t have much justification in their claim for a refund via whichever authority they tried to use.
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