**Beware**Gumtree**Scam**

[Temp20221108A]

I posted several items on gumtree for sale and received a text from a woman called **** ***** asking if I still had an item (the most expensive one on the list) and to email her.

Eager to sell the item, I obliged and emailed her. She replied with the following:

Great! please consider both sold as i am willing to pay your full asking price because i need to buy it for my cousin asap,

i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it,

sadly i would not be able to come personally to collect due to my hearing loss and I'm just recovering from heart surgery so I'm home-bound.

I have a courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money and i'll pay you via PayPal once you are ready.

Kindly get back to me with your location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?

I replied asking if she was local to me and if a bank transfer or cash on collection would be possible. She ignored the 1st question and said she has no access to bank because she is house bound. Then gave me a link to PayPal.

After repeatedly asking where she was from and only getting her email address as a reply, I googled her name and came across a thread detailing the email I received but using a different name. So be careful. **** ***** (******** at ****.***) 

[NikNak011]

It’s January 2020 and we’ve just received the EXACT WORD FOR WORD email from a Kate.  

They also sent a text and when my we tried to reply to it the text wouldn’t go through.

Please be mindful of this SCAM!!

[Pottiemeester]

 I also advertised a painting for sale on Gumtree and received the following email:

"Thanks for the response, please consider it sold as i am willing to
buy as it is for my son asap,i have read through the advert and i'm
totally satisfied with it and i will appreciate it a lot if you can
send me more pictures,sadly i would not be able to come personally to
collect due to my present location. Please be informed that i have a
courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred
location after you have received money from me. Lastly, what would
your final price be?

Regards"

Thanks to your warning I called his bluff.

[Dotty1978]

This scam is still going on.  Just had exactly the same email word for word and was asked to send £265 to her courier's bank account.  Smelt a rat so googled her email address and came across this thread.   

[Kathy0703]

I too posted an ad on Gumtree to get a text asking me to email <removed>...... to advise if still for sale. Replied stating was more than happy with the suite and wanted to pick up via courier for her son but she was deaf and wheelchair bound and hey presto had banking technical issues therefore wanted my paypal info!!! Yawnnn!!! 🙄

[DDRRD]

I had this email Thank you for getting back to me. Can you assure me that I will not be disappointed with it? I'm ready to pay your asking price, I'm buying this for someone as a surprise package. but I just want you to assure me very well on this and the issue is that I'm very busy for now and am not around but I have a pickup agent coming for the pick up after the payment has been made to you and he will be present for all necessary thing that is needed. Due to my job, there is strictly no call that is why I asked my daughter to reach out for me. But I'm able to access my e-mail anytime as I will make use of a wireless laptop. My Mode of payment is via PayPal as I don't have access to my bank account online, but I have it attached to my PayPal account and this is why I insisted on using PayPal to pay. I will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction and I will like you to get back to me with more pics if available, if you don't have an account with PayPal, it's pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to www.paypal.co.uk, so I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible. I have a mover that will be coming for the pick up once payment clears and they will be handling the title for me. So I look forward to hearing from you soon. Kindly get back to me with your Full Name: PayPal E-Mail Address: Firm price: Phone Number Wilcox.

[Gorno]

This is a scammer. Beware!

Beneficiary Bank name: Guaranty Trust Bank   Name: Abodunrin <removed>  
Address: <removed> Postal code:<removed> City:Ibadan State:Oyo Country: Nigeria
Account number: <removed> Email: <removed>

[neongaming]

I am having this exact issue right, although I am having fun with the scammer. 

I have items for sale on Gumtree as I type this, and got a text this morning stating the following "Hi is this Bed available for sale? Pls msg" followed by the scam email as noted in the OP, so I reply and they tell me contacting through email would be better. So, I played ball for fun.

They sent me that blanket response everyone else has been getting about telling me "consider it sold" and "take the listing down" along with "I am disabled" which is their excuse for not being able to pay through bank transfer (blah blah blah), then asking for my PayPal email, address to arrange courier and contact number... even though they contacted me initially on my contact number lol.

So, they said they wanted me to tell them the cost of the item, which I told them to check the listing.  They then said they wanted to be specific with the cost (surely the cost is on my listing and working out the 3.4% is not hard). Also, this shows they don't actually check your listing for what you're selling as such. They then tell me to give them the cost plus 3.4% for fees on paypal. So I play ball.

They said they will send the fee to me and arrange a courier, I have told them "How can you send for delivery of stuff when I have not provided an address?" So, this is where they tell me they are going to allow the funds to clear into the account and then arrange a courier.

Right now, I am on the phone to PayPal telling them what is happening and the adviser I am speaking with was not aware of this, but found it funny that I am trying to find a way to beat the scammer. That said, I asked this person who they intend to use as a courier, and they told me a "Private Agent". I told them I will not accept unless it is through a reputable and well-known courier like DHL etc... and I get no reply.

In conclusion, especially for those that are worried, do be careful and do not provide any details to them that might compromise your safety in any capacity. I am only having fun with this person because I am a veteran seller on eBay, and I do not take kindly to idiots like this trying to take advantage of unsuspecting people... Take care and ALWAYS check anything you find to be unusual, because more than likely they are scammers trying to swindle you of your goods and/or money.

[novo11]

Same as you encountered, one named <removed> with her email address <removed> asked me to post my goods to her cousin in the US.

[trinhdau20]

thank you for your post. I am about to get scamed today. 

[Ella56]

This happened to me on Shpock, the ‘lady’ used the EXACT same text, except said she was in a wheelchair so couldn’t go to the bank. I didn’t pay as it was too fishy but Shpock should do something to prevent this!