We have been SCAMMED

[grath]

Yes, the usual thing is they pay you more, taking advantage of greed and claim it back one way or the other.
Happened to a family member, she even transferred the money to another bank and the banks sent it back.
Silly Girl

 

[Robmac]

Just been offered £14600 for the scooter I have advertised at £1450 on Gumtree

Presume you meant £1460 Graham!

Still seems a reasonable price if genuine. Perhaps they didn't want to miss out?

 

[grath]

Presume you meant £1460 Graham!

Still seems a reasonable price if genuine. Perhaps they didn't want to miss out?

No Rob,Thanks, it is £14600. I pointed it out straight away, just incase a genuine mistake and they have not come back

 

[grath]

Transcript

Ad Posted: Fri 11:10
Hi, would you be interested in £14600?
Mo - 11:23
Hi, is this still available? I'm interested! thanks!
Mo - 11:23
My answer "somehow you have the price too high"

edit add was posted on friday but the replies are today

 

[grath]

A little while ago, I had the Police on the Phone and they have advised me that at this time there are lots of similar Scams on Gumtree and told me that I should look elsewhere to sell
Just passing this on

 

[grath]

Just had another prospective Gumtree Scam
A guy wants my phone number and says his city is 98 mile from my location.
It is about 200 miles
Twice he has asked for my number
He then says he will schedule a day to go sailing with me so we can negotiate.
His grammar is even worse than mine and we don't live near any sailing water
He/She is probably now working on a translation to reply

 

[trevskoda]

Just had another prospective Gumtree Scam
A guy wants my phone number and says his city is 98 mile from my location.
It is about 200 miles
Twice he has asked for my number
He then says he will schedule a day to go sailing with me so we can negotiate.
His grammar is even worse than mine and we don't live near any sailing water
He/She is probably now working on a translation to reply

Give him the police station number.

 

[mikejay]

Seems to be a very popular scam at the moment few people been done the same in my town by the looks of it.

Mike

 

[RichardHelen262]

It looks like someone has created a fake banking app to make it look like funds have been transferred, when really they haven’t,
It’s getting Very frightening

 

[grath]

It looks like someone has created a fake banking app to make it look like funds have been transferred, when really they haven’t,
It’s getting Very frightening

Exactly what happened!

 

[st3v3]

Just been offered £14600 for the scooter I have advertised at £1450 on Gumtree

I think they meant £146.00

Lol.

 

[QFour]

Sold a rowing machine on EBay the other day and when they collected it they gave me a 6 collection code to enter and release the funds. Only problem I had was where to enter the collection code. Still don't know so I asked EBay and he just said funds would be released the next day. They also have something going with positive feedback. So it's worth asking your buyer. As for bank transfers it's got to be one of the simplest of apps to show someone you have paid them. So many scams about you certainly have to watch what you are doing. I have started taking photographs of people especially if they are collecting. I don't take cash or bank transfers just PayPal.

 

[kiwi]

Why did you not also use paypal.
[/QUOTE]
DON'T use paypal, they'll rip you off too. They still owe me money after 6 months fruitless correspondence. Check out paypal sucks on google.

 

[kiwi]

paypal an be bad for sellers . i got paid £20 for something on ebay ,guy picked it up, well happy . bit later paypal took the money back plus £35 handling .long story ,the buyer reported it as an unauthorised payment and they immediately took his side . i lost the thing ,the payment and 35 quid . but i'm not bitter

Look up paypal sucks on google, lots of horror stories and my own pales into insignificance, although I'm still seething with them and out of pocket. Will NEVER EVER use them again.

 

[Nathandgina]

Gumtree is bad for scammers. The other one is they ask for your bank details etc then they will send a courier.. courier never arrives and they have all your details and empty your bank account. I was selling my iMac and I had a guy try it on. Please be aware

 

[Stormin]

Your bank account and sort code aren't a problem. How could anybody empty your account? They would need all sorts of security info. I always pay my local garage using bank transfer to his details, which are on his invoices. It is like saying you could steal someone's car by knowing the registration number.

 

[Chrisinchip]

It’s great that Grath has raised awareness of such scams and we can benefit from everyone’s suggestions and experiences. Thank you.
It really highlights that there isn’t a perfect way to conduct private sales, all we can do is not trust any stranger however nice they appear and think through the what-ifs before being influenced by circumstances.
Just one example triggered by a post in this thread, as a seller I may think it safer to meet in a public space, but as a buyer this would make me highly suspicious.

 

[grath]

It’s great that Grath has raised awareness of such scams and we can benefit from everyone’s suggestions and experiences. Thank you.
It really highlights that there isn’t a perfect way to conduct private sales, all we can do is not trust any stranger however nice they appear and think through the what-ifs before being influenced by circumstances.
Just one example triggered by a post in this thread, as a seller I may think it safer to meet in a public space, but as a buyer this would make me highly suspicious.

I was getting at least 2 attempted SCAMS per day on my Scooter advert, but since inserting the below, they seem to have stopped

No Offers and Bank Transfer only

SCAMMERS NOTE

No PayPal.
No Delivery
Scooter will not be released until full payment is in my bank account

Please Note
Driving Licence IDENTIFICATION will be required.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

Your bank account and sort code aren't a problem. How could anybody empty your account? They would need all sorts of security info. I always pay my local garage using bank transfer to his details, which are on his invoices. It is like saying you could steal someone's car by knowing the registration number.

Thank you and spot on!

We've included our bank sort code and account number on all our invoices for the last 22 years for exactly that reason.
In the early days 99% of people were still sending cheques in the post, nowadays that situation has almost reversed.

I always tried to encourage customers to pay online right from the off, but it takes time for new technologies to be adopted.
Now nearly everyone we know is happy with online banking and making payments that way.

Since the pandemic a lot more (older!) people who would never have considered it before have been forced down that road.
They've finally caught up with the rest of us - even my ancient Luddite sister is doing online banking and payment transfers!!!

 

[Red Dwarf]

Gumtree certainly attracts the scammers. For the most part, they’re so illiterate it gives them away....

Some years ago I was shocked to see my mates VW T25 camper for sale on ebay, even more shocked to see that according to the add he’d now moved to Dornoch in highlands without telling me (he lives in Devon) and totally shocked to see a welsh landmark in the background of one of the photos. The scammer had lifted the photos off the net which related to when the van was being sold five years earlier, the ad my mate had bought the van from so to speak.
I contacted the ‘seller’ on eBay and asked to view, he/she immediately tried to do a deal with me and take a deposit. It’s all about taking a few deposits and running.
This type of scam selling still persists on eBay, though eBay are much more on top of it these days. It’s all the old stuff, if it looks too good to be true......
well guess what?