A defrauded Irish farmer has heavily criticised Barclays bank for failing to return money he transferred to a con artist through its bank.

The farmer believed he was purchasing a tractor he had seen online and transferred €3,000 to a Barclays bank account in the UK used by the con artist.

When the tractor never materialised, the farmer based in the southeast contacted gardaí and the bank who informed him that they could not return the money to his account.

“In my opinion, they’re assisting in this fraud by allowing it to continue,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

No bank does more than Barclays to raise awareness around the risk of scams

“Barclays told us that it was a working account with money in it, but couldn’t return the money to us.”

He said at the time he’d felt more secure transferring the money to a Barclays account because it was a legitimate, well-known banking institution.

When contacted for comment, Barclays defended its track record on fraud.

“No bank does more than Barclays to raise awareness around the risk of scams,” a spokesperson said.

“As soon as we receive a report of a scam, we act quickly to freeze the account in question and secure any funds transferred.”

Gardaí confirmed that very few scam cases resulted in the return of funds to victims. They warned farmers to make sure that any machinery purchases they made were legitimate.