Gumtree scam jennifer <removed>

francescaemily1
Contributor
Contributor

Got a text asking if my item was still for sale and then it went to email. 'Great!please consider it sold and take the ads down off gumtree,i am buying it for my son and i am ready to pay your full asking price, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it and i will be glad if you can get back to me fast,sadly i won't be able to come for the inspection and pick up due to my disabilities,i loss my hearing and being on a wheelchair but I have a courier agent that will help me to pick it up at your preferred location . Regarding the payment..i cant make an online banking am having technical issue with my bank and i can only access my PayPal account at the moment and I will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction kindly get back to me with your PayPal email,Phone Number and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now? Awaiting your reply soon...' Annoyingly I gave her the email which is the only email I use for everything so they would have had it regardless. But I'm looking out for any activity to report straight away. Stay away from emails like this!

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9 REPLIES 9

COYI
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for posting as I put my motorbike up for sale yesterday and then today I received an email from somebody saying they were the daughter of a person who wanted to buy the bike immediately, providing an email address for me to contact, which I did. I then got this, strangely similar to yours! I also googled and found that this same email has been posted online circa 450+ times over the last 4-5 years by people saying it's a scam. Usually it's they are buying for their cousin and rather than busy, are disabled and / or deaf. It's a disgrace and a scam designed to engineer money from you as it develops further. You will not win on this. I replied to "Williams" and I got another email back, saying the same thing. I'll post my reply below for your reference. 

 

"Hi am Williams, and it's a pleasure getting your response, Please can you assure me that i will not be disappointed with it. I'm ready to pay your asking price because i'm buying this for my dearest son..The issue is that I'm very busy since i work full time and am not around but i have a courier agent coming for the collection after the payment has been made to you and the courier will be present for all necessary things that is needed to be done. Due to my job there is strictly no call that is why i ask my child to send you an email our server has been down due to work. But I'm able to access my mail anytime as i will make use of wifi. i have gone through your advertisement and i am satisfied with it so we are good to go..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 as my mode of payment because it will reflect into your account. 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 pictures if available, if you don't have an account with PayPal, it's pretty easy, safe and secured to open one within few minutes. Just log on to paypal website..Kindly get back to me with the following details for payment: PayPal Account Name with PayPal E-Mail Address: Firm price: Phone Number: I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible.. So i look forward to hear from you soon"

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COYI
Contributor
Contributor

This is what I replied back with... seems to have gone quiet now though...

 

"Hi there Williams,

I will only accept the full asking price of <REDACTED> for the bike and will only accept BACS payment direct into my own UK bank account. If you are within the UK or the EU and you have a Bank Account, you will have access to transfer money securely, per Financial Services Regulations, as PayPal and Western Union can be subject to scams. In my line of work I have to be careful, as I work within the Cyber Crime and Security Fraud Division of the Metropolitan Police, so please let me know how you would like to proceed, and please also provide me with your name, direct contact details and identifying information so that I may run your details through but if you aren't able to respond, do not worry, as I can manage this from our end, so please do expect a visit soon.

Kind Regards,

<REDACTED>"

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francescaemily1
Contributor
Contributor
I'm glad you didn't get caught into it for too long! Luckily the actual scam they pose is quite obvious as they attempted to still go through with it after I found out. They pretended to send me more money than the asking price, and asked me to then transfer the excess money to their courier through a bank account. They sent a PayPal email that faked a transfer of theoney going into my account. Luckily by this point I'd already found out it was a scam and told them, they didn't reply after that haha.
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Kentsford
New Community Member
This scam is still running luckily I googled the name before proceeding as it looked odd so thanks all for flagging it up. No response once I asked for there location.
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Lisahall68
New Community Member
I have just received the identical email to this. Stupidly I initially thought it was genuine and replied with my contact and collection details. Then I received this reply. Regarding your PayPal email,sorry you will need an alternative email like Yahoo or hotmail account in order to be able to receive payment confirmation from PayPal as Gmail email delays payment..i have had problems with them in the past..just create a Yahoo or hotmail account and attach it to your PayPal account..let me know once you have done that please so that i can proceed with the payment. This is when my alarm bells rang and I found this thread. I have reset all my security as a precaution but I do feel foolish for initially believing the email.
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AD50
New Community Member
Still using this email and exact same wording Asks you to set up a new email address as PayPal won’t work with your existing one Avoid avoid avoid
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Rya1174
New Community Member
Active again , I have just had the same email after a text message asking if my bike is still for sale !!
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JJ2007
Member
Member

Thanks for this thread! I had the same experience just now!

 

 

 

"

Great! please consider it sold and take the ads down off gumtree,i am buying it for my son  and i am ready to pay your full asking price, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it and i will be glad if you can get back to me fast,sadly i won't be able to come for the inspection and pick up due to my disabilities,i loss my hearing and being on a wheelchair but I have a courier agent that will help me to pick it up at your preferred location .
Regarding the payment..i can't make an online banking am having technical issue with my bank and i can only access my PayPal account at the moment and I will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction kindly get back to me with your PayPal email,Phone Number and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?
 
Awaiting your reply soon...
"
 
 
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WhitsHisFace
New Community Member
Thank goodness I found this page. Just got a text regarding my bike I am selling on gumtree. Asked to email to email a Jennifer Annie then received the below: "Great! please consider it sold and take the ads down off gumtree,i am buying it for my son and i am ready to pay your full asking price, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it and i will be glad if you can get back to me fast,sadly i won't be able to come for the inspection and pick up due to my disabilities,i loss my hearing and being on a wheelchair but I have a courier agent that will help me to pick it up at your preferred location . Regarding the payment..i can't make an online banking am having technical issue with my bank and i can only access my PayPal account at the moment and I will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction kindly get back to me with your PayPal email,Phone Number and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now? Awaiting your reply soon...'
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