I got revenge on an idiot con-artist who tried to sell me a car, he didn’t have a clue I was taking the mick out of him
A MISCHIEVOUS charity advisor sent a “car seller” on an Only Fools and Horses-themed wild good chase after he tried to flog her a “new” yellow Robin Reliant for £6k – despite them no longer being made.
Becky Parker decided to indulge “Benjamin” when he popped up unannounced in her Facebook message inbox claiming to flog motors from China with “next day delivery”.
The Only Fools and Horses superfan, who regularly advises people at work on how not to be hoodwinked by con artists, decided to play along in a bid to stop him 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 probably thought she was easy pickings.
But instead the clueless “plonker” was sent on a sitcom-themed merry go round where the 30-year-old wove an elaborate tale including 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.
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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 to rake in some 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.
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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.
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Now Becky is sharing her funny exchange, that she believes Del himself would approve of, as a warning to others to always be vigilant online.
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.
“I’m just gutted I missed out on a ‘plonker’ and a ‘mange tout’.”
Cheeky Becky said she had a lot of fun playing the scammer at his own game and is on the look-out for others to respond to.
Becky said: “It was brilliant turning the tables on the scammer and knowing I was stopping him doing the same to someone else.
“Everyone loves Only Fools and Horses, my favourite character’s got to be Del.
“I was having a lot of fun doing it. I’m just waiting for messages from others so I can do different TV shows next time, it’ll either be Friends or Stranger Things.
“At work we deal with scammers all the time, my advice to anyone who is unsure is to do your research on the company.
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“Do a little Google, make sure they’re real, have a look on Companies House and if they’re not have a bit of fun with it.
“Don’t click on anything and don’t send any real details. I’d like to think Del would have found it a bit of a laugh.”