Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Scam’ cons disabled Dundee woman out of cash for fake diamond

Violet Shephard, who paid £175 for a fake diamond pendant
Violet Shephard, who paid £175 for a fake diamond pendant

A disabled Dundee woman was conned out of £175 for a diamond pendant which turned out to be fake.

Violet Shephard shelled out for the jewellery after spotting it for sale on the Facebook Marketplace, and even paid petrol money to the seller after she drove from Broughty Ferry to deliver it.

Violet had the diamond tested in Dundee city centre following the purchase, and was surprised to find it was a fake.

But after sending the seller a Facebook message to complain and ask for a refund, Violet was blocked and unable to make any further contact.

Violet Shephard.

‘Do the right thing’

Police Scotland advised Violet the matter was a civil one, and said she should seek advice from a lawyer.

But Violet explained she was unlikely to do this as she may end up paying more in legal fees than she did for the necklace.

“I just want the woman to come forward and do the right thing,” Violet said, adding that it wasn’t really about the money, but the way she had since been treated.

“I am disabled and have health conditions, including breathing problems, I can’t go out and find her and now she has blocked me.”

Violet, 56, said the woman had arrived with a man and both were wearing face masks.

“The man kept looking away like he didn’t want to be recognised,” she said.

“I am very angry about the game she played on me.”

The pendant sold to Violet for £175

Update: The seller has now offered Ms Sherphard a full refund, and stressed that they were not aware the diamond pendant was fake.

Use caution online

Marjorie Gibson, head of operations with Advice Direct Scotland, which runs consumeradvice.scot, said: “It can be hard to make a safe choice when you are shopping online.

“We encourage people to always use caution when buying from an online seller for the first time, even on mainstream marketplaces or social media.

“Unfortunately, there are lots of fake goods on sale on marketplaces, and it’s very easy to get caught out.

“If possible, always use a credit card if spending over £100 – your purchase will be protected under the Consumer Credit Act.

“Our advisers can offer free, impartial and practical advice to anyone who has been scammed, and we encourage people to get in touch with us so that we can help protect more consumers.

“If you have concerns about a trader acting unlawfully, and potentially breaching your rights as a consumer, then you can also report this to your local Trading Standards department.”