GumTree scam

[Neversure]

Hi All,

I have been contacted by 3 different "buyers" on Gumtree in 24 hours all offering a variety of scams via PayPal. I've been using Gumtree for a while and have never experienced this before but having searched the archives I can see that this has been going on for a long time.

Here is the text from "courtney bella" 

Thanks once again!The price is a good buy for me... please remove the advert and consider it sold as i am paying your full asking price of £180 because i need to buy it for my cousin as a gift, i have done thorough check on the advert and i'm fine with it,sadly i would not be able to come personally to view or collect it due to house bound went through throat cancer surgery and couldn't talk more but will be ok soon  but i have an 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 today and pick up will start after you have cash your money today..if that is ok with you.
Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the agent about it now and send me your registered paypal email and name,so i can make arrangement for payment.Thanks

p.s. The last one was from a UK mobile and much more credible

I couldn't work out initially how they would get any money with just my PayPal details (which I didn't pass on) but having read the experience of others I am now a little wiser.

I have sold items on Gumtree via PayPal in the past but if anyone mentions PayPal now for a purchase alarm bells will definitely sound.

Hope this may help others.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Neversure 

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a 'direct' Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.
No funds or activity of the transaction shows in your Paypal account and any emails 'may' go into your junk or spam folders.

They don't quibble on cost and may also say they can't view the item as they are disabled or working abroad etc etc but they will arrange a shipping agent to collect it.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't because they don't actually have a Paypal account and have no intention of paying you.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.

The 'fake' paypal email will tell you that the buyer has paid for the item + shipping costs but you must send those shipping costs to the courier/ shipping agent via anther payment processor than Paypal OR via providing some vouchers or tokens BEFORE the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want that couriers/shipping funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

They also 'sometimes' threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.

Once you have become a victim they may try again with more fake Paypal emails with other 'reasons' that you must send them a payment for custom fees etc.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram or Western Union etc.
Also their is no seller protection on paypal for any type of motor vehicle or item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[Anonymous_User]

Hi This also happened to me when I listed my car on gumtree. They wanted to communicate via email rather than over gumtree messages. This character ‘Lara’ claimed to be buying the car for a friend but couldn’t view as she was assisting in fighting the covid 19 pandemic. All email as appeared legitimate and was even given phone number with WhatsApp profile pic displaying a picture of a nurse in protective head-wear. There was heavy emphasis on a ‘quick and easy sale’ and there was no interest in negotiation on price. It all started to look sinister when a story of collection came about asking me to pay a courier on their behalf if they sent me the money. I later saw a fake pay pal email with a request for payment from this Lara person in my spam folder but my paypal account did not display such information.

[BaraA123]

I had been contacted with the same scammer through Shpock advert. They took the conversation into email and then asked for the same process. Received the exact same email as above. Thank you guys for reporting!