A MUM has fallen victim to a scam and has been left £600 out of pocket - money she wanted to use to buy her  grandchildren Christmas presents.

Janine Ferguson, who has seven grown-up children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandson, listed her mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G, for sale on a Sale and Swap page on Facebook.

The 60-year-old, of St Asaph, said she was pleased when a potential buyer contacted her after spotting the phone for sale and offered her £600.

When the buyer arrived at Janine's home, Janine said the man seemed "friendly" and there was no cause for concern.

Janine and her husband Mark, 58, watched as the man carried out a bank transfer on his mobile phone but were devastated when the money never arrived in Mark's account.

Janine, who asked not to be pictured, said: "The fella came into our home, did a bank transfer of £600 in front of us. Little did we realise it was a scam.

"I've used Facebook selling sites on loads of occasions and I've never had any issues with it at all, I have always been paid for items sold.

"The phone was online for two weeks before this man got in touch.

"I woke up in the morning and had a message from the man asking if the phone was still available. I replied that it was and he offered me £600 which I accepted. He never knocked me down on price which was a bit strange, there was no haggling.

"It was £600, it was going to be for the grandchildren; money towards buying presents for Christmas.

"When he came over, I sent Mark down as I wasn't feeling well. Mark got the phone out of the drawer and the fella was in the flat. He was polite, Irish. He asked if it is ok to do a bank transfer?

"I did say it was cash on collection but he said 'sorry' and that it was his fault, he hadn't read that on the advert. He was just so normal. He seemed a caring guy.

"I don't do online banking so we used Mark's account. Mark gave him his details and he showed us on the phone that he had done the bank transfer. It showed £600 on the phone.

"Mark looked and the money wasn't in his bank but the man said it could take 10 to 15 minutes for the money to arrive.

"He left and alarm bells started to ring, and the money never arrived.

"It is doubtful we will get the money back but if we can just stop it happening to someone else.

"He was in his 30s I would say, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, trainers, white socks and a zip up jacket. He would stand out in a crowd.

"It is just really sad people would do something like this as they do not realise the knock-on effect it has on people, especially with times now financially so difficult," Janine added.

"I definitely don t want it happening to anyone else."

Janine has reported the incident to the police. She is aware of two other incidents that happened on the same day involving the same scam.

A spokesperson from North Wales Police said: "We received a call at 6.13pm on Monday, October 17 reporting an incident of a male obtaining a mobile phone by way of a fraudulent bank transfer.

"Officers have attended and spoken to the victim and our investigation is ongoing."