eBay sale by private message, fraud, what to do?

I was looking at an item on eBay. The listing wasn't exactly what I wanted, and the seller confirmed this via the eBay messaging system. They offered me a slightly different item, and asked me to pay by bank transfer.

I foolishly agreed and made the transfer, and the users account then became suspended a couple days later. eBay won't tell me anything or help in anyway, and me bank says they can't retrieve the money sent. The user had only registered with eBay days before.

I was really far too trusting, although had a niggling feeling about the sale, but thought "ah, it's only £140". It just makes me angry to be honest. I would love to be able to retrieve the money as a matter of proving a point, even if it was donated to charity.

What's the best course of action?

Can a person be traced by bank account number and sort code? I have filed a log with action fraud, as advised by the 101 police number, but do not believe this would come to much, I guess they have bigger fish to fry than my £140!

Thanks for any advice!

[AlanJones]

The police will be able to obtain the details of the account holder if they decide to investigate, but because of the Data Protection Act neither they or the bank will give you the details.

There is also the possibility that the owner of the account is not actually the scammer, but a victim who thinks they have a job receiving payments and forwarding the money on.