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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Helen Le Caplain & Danielle Kate Wroe

Woman gets her own back on scammer with mischevious Only Fools and Horses prank

We've all been there haven't we? Someone random we don't recognise has offered us cheap designer bags in our DMs or has invited us to click a link because our phone payment didn't go through.

Many of us get a gut feeling that something is wrong, but sadly people still fall for scams and lose money regularly.

However, one charity advisor decided to get her own back on a ' car seller' in an Only Fools and Horses style prank when he tried to sell her a 'new' yellow Robin Reliant which he wanted £6,000 for - despite the fact they haven't been made since 2001.

Becky Parker, 30, decided to indulge 'Benjamin' when he popped up without warning in her Facebook inbox, claiming to sell motors from China with 'next day delivery.'

The Only Fools and Horses superfan, who regularly advises people at work on how not to fall foul of scammers, decided to play along in a bid to stop him from swindling others.

When Becky said she owned a garage in Wales and was after a yellow Robin Reliant, the motor famously driven by Del Boy in the hit sitcom, Benjamin likely thought all his Christmases had come at once.

Becky hilariously scammed the scammer (Kennedy News and Media)
Becky was proud that she managed to get her own back on the scammer (Kennedy News and Media)

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Instead, Becky joked around with him as she wove an elaborate tale including characters from the show - Del Boy, Rodney and even The Driscoll brothers.

Benjamin assured Becky he could get a 21-plate Robin Reliant from China to England overnight if she stumped up £6,250 - despite the manufacturer stopping production in 2001.

The show's infamous phrases were hilariously peppered throughout the conversation, including assuring the seller that 'this time next year we'll be millionaires', proclaiming 'cushty!' and boasting about her brother's 'GCE in art.'

But the clueless con artist was so determined for cash that the references went over their head - even when she gave her name as Derrick Trotter and said her address was Nelson Mandela House.

After an evening of messaging back and forth and just as Benjamin was about to send payment details, Becky decided to end the conversation.

Signing off after telling him she wasn't sending him cash, she simply wrote a Del Boy-inspired 'bonjour my petis pois' and didn't hear from him again.

Benjamin claimed he wasn't a scammer (Kennedy News and Media)
Becky hilariously gave an address from Only Fools and Horses (Kennedy News and Media)

Becky has shared her hilarious exchange in order to make others aware there are opportunists online everywhere, warning others to be vigilant.

Becky, from Caerphilly, Wales, said: "Everyone loves Only Fools and Horses and I grew up watching it because of my dad.

"I got the inspiration from that because I know a lot about it and I didn't have to research anything.

"It was completely random. He'd messaged my sister beforehand and was trying to sell her cars and I thought 'well if they message me I'll try and think of a cracker.'

"As I knew he was selling cars I thought 'let's play on that' and I'll try and make it sound genuine.

"I thought 'well if I say I'm a businesswoman who owns a garage then I'm going to be right up this guy's alley' because he's going to want to keep talking to me.

"If he's talking to me he's not talking to someone else and scamming them.

"I decided to ask for an obscure car like a Robin Reliant, which they don't even make anymore, and see what he came back with.

"He replied with three pictures saying he had them and quoted me £6,250.

"Even after sending the 'buyer's address' in London, with an L1 postcode I remember thinking 'oh great he's buying this so I've just got to keep going and see how far I can get with this.

"He said the car was going to arrive by 4.30pm the next day - he was claiming he could get a car from China to the UK in that time span.

"The guy messaging me had no idea when I was making Only Fools and Horses references. It was clearly going over his head he was completely ignoring my messages.

"At the end he was about to send me bank details but I decided to end it there.

"After I said I wasn't going to send any money he didn't say anything back."

Becky said she had a lot of fun playing the scammer at his own game and would do it again in the future.

She recommended always doing research into a company before, and suggested not clicking on any links and not sending real details over.

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk

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