Gumtree Scam

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by *dim*, Feb 6, 2012.

  1. *dim*

    *dim* Head Gardener

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2011
    Messages:
    3,548
    Location:
    Cambridge
    Ratings:
    +1,593
    my teenage daughter listed a wristwatch on gumtree for £35 (it's worth about £80 but has never been worn)....

    she got a response from a person who wished to purchase it

    the person wanted to pay via paypal .... I told my daughter to tell her to post postal orders to the value, (uncrossed and made out in her name) and sent via signed for/special delivery post .... you then have to produce photo id over the counter to instantly receive the cash ....

    if the postal orders are crossed, you have to deposit them into your banking account and wait 5 working days for clearance

    she received an email from the person involved sataing they have sent the postal orders, then she received an email 'supposidly' from gumtree .... I have used XXXX in the places with the details of my daughter and the recipeint

    .ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;}[​IMG]


    [FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]

    Dear
    [FONT=Arial, Verdana]
    [/FONT]
    xxxxx,
    [FONT=Arial, Verdana][/FONT]
    Thanks for using Royal mail®,well this is the right payment for your gumtree.com item,has been approved and will be sent to you by the close of the next business day,after we receive the shipment tracking number from you. Due to the fact that most sellers don't send the item despite the fact that buyers have paid for the item,so we made the policy that sellers must ship out items withing 24 hours of payment and send us the tracking number for verification. As soon as this is done,your payment will be sent immediately.
    You are not expected in any circumstances to send the tracking number to the buyer.

    Below is the address where the postal order will be sent to.if the address is not correct please mail us back.
    [FONT=Arial, Verdana][FONT=Arial, Verdana][FONT=Arial, Verdana][FONT=Arial, Verdana]
    Name : xxxx

    xxxxx
    xxxxxx
    xxxxxx
    xxxxx
    United kingdom.

    [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

    Order Details
    ***********************************************************
    Auction Item Amount £35.00

    Shipping and handling £5.00
    Royalmail® Service Fees: £ 3.99

    Payment Delivery Fees: £ 0.40
    Upon approval, a postal order delivered via
    First Class® Mail will be received in
    approximately 1-2 business days.


    Total Charges: £40.00


    Amount Due Seller £40.00
    ***********************************************************

    Buyer Shipping Address:


    xxx
    xxx
    xxx
    xxx

    This is the sample of the postal order that will be deliver to you after we have receive the shipment tracking number from you.

    THE EASY AND SAFE WAY TO SEND YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MONEY,IMMEDIATELY YOU SEE THIS MAIL THAT SHOWS THE SAMPLE OF POSTAL ORDER PAID BY A BUYER (xxx xxxx) JUST SHIP THE ITEM AND SEND US THE TRACKING NUMBER. [​IMG] [​IMG]

    We are waiting for you to ship out the item and email us the shipment tracking number so that we can send out your payment.

    Thank you for using Royalmail® .We look forward to serving your online auction payment needs in the future.
    Sincerely,
    Royalmail®

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE
    :[email protected]


    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    About Royal Mail | Jobs | Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Accessibility | Post Office | Parcelforce Worldwide




    my daughter was in the process of wrapping up the item and was going to take it to the post office .... I asked her what she was doing, and stopped her just in time ....

    royal mail tracking numbers consist of 13 digits .... I used to sell full time on ebay and have come accross many scams .... sad that they can conn the very young and the elderly and get away with it

    anyway, I sent the person an email from my daughters email account stating that I am her father, and work for the Cambridge constabulary, and will ship the item once the cash cash been exchanged

    (I was temped to send a fresh dog turd)
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • lazydog

      lazydog Know nothing but willing to learn

      Joined:
      Jun 30, 2011
      Messages:
      790
      Gender:
      Male
      Occupation:
      waiting to win the Lotto
      Location:
      Black Country Nr Dudley
      Ratings:
      +641
      Why wouldn't you use paypal?
       
    • Axl

      Axl Gardener

      Joined:
      Nov 23, 2009
      Messages:
      703
      Gender:
      Male
      Ratings:
      +446
      Could be construed as impersonating a Police Officer. Say hello to a few years in the pokey!

      In all seriousness Gumtree is full of scammers. There's a crew referred to as the Lichfield Scammers or the Ainsworth Clan who have been raking in up to £20,000 a week by selling iPhones which don't exist. Current advice is not to buy a phone from Gumtree until their trial is over in June.
       
    • *dim*

      *dim* Head Gardener

      Joined:
      Jun 26, 2011
      Messages:
      3,548
      Location:
      Cambridge
      Ratings:
      +1,593
      • Like Like x 1
      • *dim*

        *dim* Head Gardener

        Joined:
        Jun 26, 2011
        Messages:
        3,548
        Location:
        Cambridge
        Ratings:
        +1,593
        I've reported the transaction to gumtree ... they have already come back to me and have said they are investigating

        reason I said I was in the police is that my daughter keeps on getting text messages from the person on her phone

        since my mail, that has stopped
         
      • kyleleonard

        kyleleonard Total Gardener

        Joined:
        May 23, 2011
        Messages:
        1,428
        Gender:
        Male
        Location:
        Ashton-under-Lyne
        Ratings:
        +950
        Did the person really write,like,this? Such a give away!
         
        • Like Like x 1
        • *dim*

          *dim* Head Gardener

          Joined:
          Jun 26, 2011
          Messages:
          3,548
          Location:
          Cambridge
          Ratings:
          +1,593
          looks convincing if you are a teenager .... funny thing is though, the address where the item is supposed to be sent is in the UK and it's a home address and not a P.O. box number ....

          thats what baffled my daughter .... she asked why would the person give his/her home address if they were scamming
           
        • *dim*

          *dim* Head Gardener

          Joined:
          Jun 26, 2011
          Messages:
          3,548
          Location:
          Cambridge
          Ratings:
          +1,593
          it has been confirmed by via email by gumtree that this is indeed a scam .... royal mail has also said it is a scam and are investigating

          quote:

          Hello,

          Thank you for your email reporting this to us.

          The information you have shared with us does, in our experience, show hallmarks of fraudulent activity and I would strongly advise you to not follow their instructions and end contact with them immediately. Please also simply ignore any demands they are making to send the item.

          We take all reports of this nature very seriously. I have used the information that you have supplied to protect others and prevent this person from using Gumtree again.

          If you haven’t seen it already you might want to take a look at the safety advice on our Stay Safe pages: http://www.gumtree.com/help/stay_safe. You will also find information on what we are doing to ensure a safe and successful experience on Gumtree.

          I am sorry that you had to come across this but thank you very much for taking the time to report it to us so that we can take action and protect others. Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.
           
          • Like Like x 2
          • Naylors Ark

            Naylors Ark Struggling to tame her French acres.

            Joined:
            Oct 15, 2009
            Messages:
            630
            Gender:
            Female
            Location:
            Indre, France
            Ratings:
            +1,019
            This is not always the case.You only get a refund if the seller has enough money in their paypal account! We learnt that the hard way when we paid via paypal for a flat screen tv and the seller ( a business with a good reputation) went bust. We lost all our money. :(
             
          • *dim*

            *dim* Head Gardener

            Joined:
            Jun 26, 2011
            Messages:
            3,548
            Location:
            Cambridge
            Ratings:
            +1,593
            I have not sold on ebay for the past 3 years, but 3 years ago, a buyer had 45 days to do a chargeback (when buying an item off ebay)

            as far as I was aware, as a buyer, you were guaranteed a full refund if the item was not received or 'not as described', or damaged during transit ... irrespective if the seller had any funds in his account ....

            and, if the seller did not have funds in his account, paypal would still refund you in full, then prosecute the seller

            I may be wrong, but that is the way I understood it, and things may have changed recently

            however, it worked different when buying elsewhere and not on ebay .... was a lot harder getting your money back if things went pear shaped
             
            • Like Like x 1
            • Naylors Ark

              Naylors Ark Struggling to tame her French acres.

              Joined:
              Oct 15, 2009
              Messages:
              630
              Gender:
              Female
              Location:
              Indre, France
              Ratings:
              +1,019
              The purchase was through Ebay. We lost a lot of money, believe me if there was a way to get it back we would have done it. As it was there was no way.
              We've bought and sold a lot of things on Ebay with paypal and this was the only time we lost out.
               
            • clueless1

              clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

              Joined:
              Jan 8, 2008
              Messages:
              17,778
              Gender:
              Male
              Location:
              Here
              Ratings:
              +19,601
              Possibly a house that's been converted into flats, ie with shared front door and porch. Posties just take it to the address, and either just post it (and then it gets pinched) or get anyone to sign for it, and then it gets pinched. Then if anyone comes along asking questions, suddenly nobody knows anything about it.
               
            • *dim*

              *dim* Head Gardener

              Joined:
              Jun 26, 2011
              Messages:
              3,548
              Location:
              Cambridge
              Ratings:
              +1,593
              sad .... there's lots of disgruntled people on the internet complaining about paypal ...

              it's even worse when you are a seller .... someone leaves you poor feedback, and ebay suspends you for 30 days .... rough if you use ebay as your main source of income

              I was pretty lucky (sold in excess of 3000 items) .... out of every hundred, 1-2 used to go pear shaped ....

              I've been scammed many times but soon learned the tricks ... the last one was where a guy in the US bought an expensive antique mantle clock .... it had been working perfect for more than 10 days in my own home

              he recieved the item and stated it would not work ... I refunded in full plus paid the £45 to have it returned from the USA via Fedex

              took it to a clock shop in London, and the guy said there is no way it could work, as it did not have the balance spring

              checked the guy's feedback .... he had bought a similar clock several months earlier that was sold without a balance spring, and was sold for repairs/broken

              in the beginning, I also had several people complaining that they never received the item .... soon after that, all items were sent via special delivery (people had to sign for the item)
               
            • Aesculus

              Aesculus Bureaucrat 34 (Admin)

              Joined:
              Apr 30, 2008
              Messages:
              4,327
              Gender:
              Male
              Occupation:
              Cashier
              Location:
              Isle of Wight
              Ratings:
              +1,337
              That's pretty much correct if you don't get your item or if it's not correct etc then you will receive a full refund from paypal (after a number of days of a case being open) if the seller doesent have enough funds available in there paypal account then paypal will pursue the seller via a debt collection agency
               
            Loading...

            Share This Page

            1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
              By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
              Dismiss Notice