Scam on Gumtree

[Loulabelle63]

My husband advertised his car for sale on Gumtree to day and received a text via Gumtree saying 'Do you still have this car? pls message me on xxxxxx. He emailed back to say yes and received this reply, 'Great! please consider it 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 me being on wheelchair. I would appreciate if you email me with more photos (if available) since i'm unable to see it in person. 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 today. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?'. I thought that I'd heard of something similar so googled it, which brought me to this website, which confirmed my suspicions, potential scam. Gumtree advise to only sell on face value. I just wanted to share our experience to help others from becoming a victim of a similar scam. It's sad that there are some people who could be taken advantage of. Not sure what a scammer would achieve from this but best to steer clear.

post edited to comply with forum guidelines, email address removed. 

[kernowlass]

@rosaann

However buyers like paypal for its buyer protection, so that is why I offer it.

You aren't subject to scams as long as you read up on seller protection and make sure the funds are in your paypal balance before you ship.

I have been using paypal for 10 years now and can count on 1 hand the number of times i have missed out.

[bofbof]

I have received same today. Jennifer annie and initially text from 07451 248961. Same message as the above ones.

I thought it sounded off but was going to wait and see, obviously now I've seen these messages I'm not expecting any payment to actually show up on paypal account.. but can they do anything with my postal address ?

Thanks 

[LightMark]

I also experienced this from an advert on AutoTrader and Facebook:

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-------- Original message --------

From: Mary Cambel <marycambel24199*****.com>

Date: 14/03/2018 14:15 (GMT+00:00)

Subject: Re: Motorhome

Great! please consider it 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 me being in a wheelchair. 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 today. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?

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When I pushed back and said I don't use paypal and it would need to be by direct banking I got:

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I'm sorry as i am home-bound i don't have access to other payment methods..so i can only pay via PayPal.

You can setup a PayPal account at www.paypal.co.uk it's very fast,safe and secure. Also it's very easy to set up within few minutes.

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Don't be fooled!

[Jeffandchris]

Thanks for sharing this. I had exactly the same email, word for word! I thought it looked a bit dodgy.