Deeping St Nicholas family scammed out of £700 by man who pretended to pay for their PlayStation 5

A family were scammed out of more than £700 by a thief who pretended to buy their PlayStation.

Deeping St Nicholas resident Kara Leighton (49) and her partner Lee Annis had been trying to sell the games console on Facebook Marketplace to fund their son Ryan’s new PC.

A buyer came to their Harrow Road house to pick up the equipment, along with a controller, and showed Miss Leighton apparent proof of a bank transfer worth £720.

However, upon checking her account after the man had left, she discovered no payment had been made.

While in the family’s home, the man had worn a surgical mask that he claimed was to protect his unwell mother from Covid-19.

Miss Leighton said: “Absolutely gutted. We feel like we’ve been invaded - we feel like we’ve been robbed.

“I was a mess for a solid week. I couldn’t think straight, was really low. Even my partner feels silly because he feels he should have done more. It’s really got to us.

“Now I know I won’t do a bank transfer again. It’s hit me really hard.”

She added that her son Ryan (27), who has special needs, has been left upset by the ordeal.

Lincolnshire Police officers have been in touch with the family, and say
they are investigating the fraud incident - which occurred on June 30 at about 4.20pm.

Miss Leighton and Mr Annis did capture CCTV footage of the man, and have appealed for anybody with possible leads to come forward.

They believe the incident is linked to a similar one that took place in Market Deeping a couple of months ago.

“The reason I’ve put it all over Facebook is because I don’t want it to happen again to anybody. I’ve put him out there so people know what to look out for,” Miss Leighton added.

“With all that’s going on, bills going up and everything, you deserve a bit of pleasure and this is what my son wanted. People like that don’t care, do they?”