Gumtree Scam

[shelpi]

Ive had so many positive dealings with people on here, I feel its a pitty I'm jolted by one bad apple, but truth be known the support and friendships that Ive made makes it well worth it,
the latest was Gibbsy a big thanks Mate very happy and that's to me what its all about finding that bit for ya bike and making friends along the way
cheers fella's

[skypig]

Ive had so many positive dealings with people on here, I feel its a pitty I'm jolted by one bad apple, but truth be known the support and friendships that Ive made makes it well worth it,
the latest was Gibbsy a big thanks Mate very happy and that's to me what its all about finding that bit for ya bike and making friends along the way
cheers fella's

Thanks for that. It's easy to focus on the negatives. The worst thing about what the Scumbags do is that they create lack of trust.  The vast majority are great and honest to deal with.

[fred99999au]

It comes down to individual ethics, I guess. I've been working in a pub most of the day, in and out of store rooms with expensive grog laid about in boxes.

Been carting boxes of cable and equipment in and out, and all I took out was my tools and all I've left is gear I'm going to bill to the pub that I’ve paid for.

It is the lesson that I have ingrained in my kids since they could understand. If it isn’t yours , don’t touch it.

Especially snakes and spiders.

[brent j]

I recently put a bike for sale on Gumtree. Not long afterwards, I got an email to my mobile from a guy claiming to work on a remote site in the NT who was interested in buying the bike. His email contained all the normal questions that a buyer would ask, i.e. if I was firm on the price, about my reason for selling the bike and about the bikes history.

I replied to his questions and received another email, saying he was happy with the price, and condition of the bike etc, and asked for bank account details. As everything had seemed OK to this point, I provided details of a passbook account (remember them) that I have for such things as you can deposit money into it electronically, but all withdrawals need to be done in a branch with the passbook.

I then, got another email saying he was trying to organising shipping for the bike, but couldn’t pay the freight company from where he was, and asked if I could pay $950 to a Chinese company via a MoneyGram at a 7 Eleven store, and that he would transfer the amount for the bike and shipping to my account via PayPal.

This is where the thought SCAM first came to me.

I have subsequently receive a couple of emails from "PayPal" , saying that they have had the money for the bike and freight forwarded to a holding account and that it would be payed into my back account once I had sent the money to a guy in China for the freight cost.

Am I the first to get this kind of response to a Gumtree add?

Have others here had similar experiences?

A couple of people I know have had similar emails. The remote NT excuse seems pretty popular, telling them you have some one in the NT who can collect the cash seems to shut them up

[Daryl Jones]

Here's another Gumtree scam to be aware of.

In this case a boat & motor, but could just as easy be bikes.

Buyer : "Hi Mate, the pictures look great, I'd love to come and look at it. WHAT TIME BEST SUITES YOU?"

Seller: "Any time after 4"

Buyer : "OK, we're coming down from up the coast, see you at 5"

Seller gets home at 3:30.....boat is gone.

Cheers, DJ

[80-85 husky]

another good reason to meet them at maccas...

[Nathan S]

Here's another Gumtree scam to be aware of.

In this case a boat & motor, but could just as easy be bikes.

Buyer : "Hi Mate, the pictures look great, I'd love to come and look at it. WHAT TIME BEST SUITES YOU?"

Seller: "Any time after 4"

Buyer : "OK, we're coming down from up the coast, see you at 5"

Seller gets home at 3:30.....boat is gone.

Cheers, DJ

There are ways around that without being a dick... Easiest is to tell them the street but not the street number (so they can still find their way to the general area), and then have them ring you for the rest of the address at the arranged time. Or meet at the local servo and have them follow you home (servos have lots of security cameras, which is a bonus).

Also, actually talking on the phone weeds out lots of scammers, thieves and time wasters. It's not 100%, but it does radically improve the odds.