One guy scanned my QR code with his Ipad and told me to hand over the cash. I did. It looked like he had sent the bitcoins my way. They said that due to heavy traffic the transaction time was 30min to 1h (I had also read about long transaction times and it sounded logical). I made the mistake of not demanding that we wait together for the transfer to hit my wallet before I handed over my money. I asked if they could wait with me but they refused. My pleading did not work. They left.
Since the whole deal was pretty intense for me I sat there looking into infinity for the next 5 minutes. I started my journey back home refreshing my wallet every 30 seconds. By the time I was home it was clear there was no payment coming. I was and still am mortified.
that's unfortunate. the network congestion is all the more reason not to accept payment without confirmation. low-fee transactions can be double-spent pretty easily. in a situation like this, you should always have your wallet open. if you don't see an incoming transaction, don't take their word for it. and if you do, but the transaction is unconfirmed, don't pay until it's confirmed.
3800.- Euros (Been saving it up for a while) I am sure the police would investigate and maybe even catch the guys but I am probably not the only one they have scammed and owe money to. If I had to guess they looked like they live a "fast" lifestyle and burn money quick. Usually in the end the police or the courts have nothing to confiscate.
wow, that's awful. sorry to hear that. over that amount, i'd probably go to the police, but you're right. even if they get caught, the chance of recovery is small.
the lesson here: take baby steps. 3800 euro is quite a lot to risk when you've never done this before. facebook is a bad venue for this as well. localbitcoins, which has a good reputation system, is a better way to go.