Gumtree Scams- **Beware**

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Knew someone who got caught up with this years ago (remains nameless to protect the embarrassed) and it involved a campervan. Ended up costing them $5,500.00. Involved a convoluted overpayment, them WU a refund and involving I'ntl transporters.

Was a well structured scam, very convoluted, but as soon as i heard WU, i thought naaahh , run away from it. My advice was not heeded sadly.

Glad this worked out better, and thanks for posting OP.

Cheers
 
Same thing happened to my son, he was on to the scam straight away. The guy got narky and said that if my son didn't pay the $750 he would get afp on to him. My son said bring it on. He never heard back after that. You just have to be on guard.
 
I just got this through the PMAV. If you know of this guy or had any dealings with him could you please let me know. He seems to be a crook ripping of buyer. In this case it is definitely "Buy Beware" This guy won't deal through Pay Pal as he said that Pay Pal fees are to high and he prefers direct bank deposit straight into his account.
wombat ;)

Hello,
We were wondering if the club could help us out and be aware of a fraudulent
eBayer selling gold.
He has been selling gold of all sizes for a few years. We and two other
unfortunate people have purchased gold off him in the last two weeks and he
has run off with our money, given fake tracking numbers and has disconnected
his phone. Our lose to him was $2771 ,the others have lost $1200 and $700.
His name is Ryan Castles and may reside in St Albans or Kew in Victoria.
He is obviously a prospector and we were wondering if he may be a member ,I
would like the club to be aware of his fraudulent behaviour and hoping
someone may know him .
Thank you very much in advance for any help you may be able to give us.
Kind regards

Kylie Rees.
 
Yep.
Lots of scammers out there.

A few points, some already mentioned in earlier posts...I've collated warnings from some of the earlier posts by everyone here.

First: "If it seems to good to be true it usually is"

Paypal, as far as I know, will not cover purchases through Gumtree.

ANZ (and probably all banks) will NOT refund money paid directly from your account to another account - even if the account name doesn't match the account name you put in. They will take about 6 weeks to "investigate it", then send you an email saying they have given up.

Always go to your bank and confirm the name of the account matches what the "seller" has given you - if it doesn't, its a scam.

Check the BSB number online - if its a Prepaid card - ie woolworths, etc - its a SCAM.
These cards are exceptionally easy to get apparently.

Use a reverse image search on the images used in the ad.

Pretend to the seller that you, or an agent for you, happens to live right nearby, and wants to pick it up in person, and will pay cash.
If the give you some story about them being away working at the moment, or the wife doesn't want strangers coming around, or the like, its a scam.

Ask if the will accept payment via Paypal, while it may not help, if they are a scammer they will tell you a story as to why they don't use paypal.
If they state the Paypal fees are too high, offer to pay the paypal fees as well.
If they still refuse, they may be scamming.

If the seller is recently registered on the site - gumtree or whereever - you are taking a chance.
The scammers can easily create new accounts, use them briefly until they get reported, then create a new one.
While the person may be legit, its a serious warning flag.

Don't buy new products from countries that don't manufacture them.
I know one guy who lost heaps buying a bicycle from Indonesia, as it was around $200 USD less than the manufacturer's site.
He paid, got a "tracking number". He checked the tracking number on the freight website daily - it eventually said it had it arrived at Aust. customs - but it never did.
Turns out the frieght company was just another part of the scam - the freight company doesn't even exist.

Ask to call them on a land-line - at their home or at their work.
These are harder and more time consuming to get, compared to prepaid sim cards.
 
Regarding scammers, watch out for this online fraud - soft2secure.com/knowledgebase/afp-email-scam - fake Australian Federal Police subpoena viruses
 

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