GUMTREE SCAM

rbirkett

I've been a moron and fell for a scam big time
PLEASE DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE

At the weekend I saw a Cervelo p3c on Gumtree for £900. I thought it was a bargain and enquired.
I got a reply from the seller with more photos and the spec - it all looked good and honest.
I could either pick up the item (it was originally listed as in London but seller said they had changed job & moved house - from: 7 St Barnabas Road, Middlesbrough TS5 6JR) or use an escrow. As the item was far away from me, I opted for the escrow which the seller sorted out.
They used: www.gps24servicio.t35.com which looked sound enough. I even got a tracking number to trace the order.

On the order statement were instructions of how to pay - via Western Union to: Tomas Freeman, Tees Dock, Middlesbrough TS6 6UD..

I did all this and since then (surprise, surprise) have heard nothing. Via Western Union tracking, I can see that the money has been collected but the order tracking still says pending payment. All emails to the seller and escrow have fallen on deaf ears.

I was a fool to not read the signs. Please don't make the same mistake.

FransJacques

Ouch, what can we say, that sucks dude! Did you speak to anyone on the phone at all?

I bought some cranks from someone on BR last month, I sent a cheque and the seller waited until it cleared before he sent them. I could have been screwed as well but luckily the seller was legit.

There is a lot of luck involved. £900 is an expensive learn, but it's only money and it's not the end of the story, you might hear from the guy again.

Gumtree is the wild fricken west, best way to part a fool from his money.

rbirkett

Yep, definitley learnt a lesson. As you say, only money but a fair whack.

Remember:
1) If it's too good to be true - it probably is.
2) Always best to pick up the item yourself. If you do use a service, book it yourself.
3) Payment by Western Union gives you no protection whatsoever.
4) Don't put any trust into someone who is taking your money. I've bought off this forum before and all the transactions have been great but not everyone is as honest as you guys.

Also, would it be any use in going to Middlesbrough police about this? Not after money, just don't want anyone else to get conned.

ShutUpLegs

How much do you want for the Cervelo?

Mr Dog

Sad news, that's a lot of cash to loose. Contact the police. I really hope you get your money back.

Bar Shaker

FransJacques wrote:

you might hear from the guy again.

sungod

gumtree - bike likely to be stolen

western union for payment - likely to be a fraud

gumtree+western union - it's going to end badly


fwiw i gave the police the phone number of the guy flogging 5-6 stolen bikes, including mine, on gumtree, response was they didn't have time

if you aren't rich and/or powerful, the police aren't interested

nochekmate

I feel sorry for you because £900 is a lot of money to lose.

There are a lot of these so called 'good deals' flying around on Gumtree - I occasionally email them to offer 'cash on collection' and always have to laugh at the stories that come back via email. As soon as an Escrow service or Western Union is mentioned it's time to move on.

As somebody has already said if it smells of shyte then it probbaly is shyte. Pursue it as far as you can (and you may have to do the legwork) because at the end of the day it is fraud!

lone wheeler

FransJacques wrote:

Ouch, what can we say, that sucks dude! Did you speak to anyone on the phone at all?

I bought some cranks from someone on BR last month, I sent a cheque and the seller waited until it cleared before he sent them. I could have been screwed as well but luckily the seller was legit.

And you expected the seller of the cranks to send them out before waiting for the cheque to clear?! ......A not so honest (fraudulent) buyer could of sent a rubber cheque or stopped the cheque once the cranks had been posted. Trust has to go both ways. Unfortunatly it doesn't always work.

RDW

Ouch indeed! Inform the police now - you never know. Unfortunately t35.com seems to be the hosting provider of choice for scammers, phishers and malware distributors:

http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/t35.com

This Firefox plugin can help warn you about sites like this in future:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... sing-tool/

(though as far as escrow sites go, always assume it's a scam unless you have extremely good evidence to the contrary).

Zachariah

Ay, that's a raw deal you got there - very recently I posted this on the stolen bikes section which I just chanced upon while browsing for something completely different. I'd never have considered it was a scam (other than being a stolen bike) without the wisdom of the responses from here.

As said above, too good to be true = too good to be true.

tri-sexual

sungod wrote:

gumtree - bike likely to be stolen

western union for payment - likely to be a fraud

gumtree+western union - it's going to end badly


fwiw i gave the police the phone number of the guy flogging 5-6 stolen bikes, including mine, on gumtree, response was they didn't have time

if you aren't rich and/or powerful, the police aren't interested

words of wisdom

RDW

sungod wrote:

fwiw i gave the police the phone number of the guy flogging 5-6 stolen bikes, including mine, on gumtree, response was they didn't have time

If in London, it would probably be worth contacting the Met Cycle Task Force directly. Details in this thread:

http://www.lfgss.com/thread52193.html

shockedsoshocked

7 St Barnabas Road = TV Repair shop named "John Walls"

MountainMonster

Avoid using western union like it gives you worm aids. That's the choice of people who scam. I don't care even if a sale is genuine, I will NEVER use western union. Paypal+ verified or certified customer or whatever is the only way to sell or buy things privately online if your not meeting in person.

StillGoing

Which force did you report it to? If they've told you they are too busy pen a letter to the Professional Standards Department. Personally I'd try Cleveland as the mail drop address is on them. You're not likely to see a result as most of these scams originate from outside the UK but they should still have looked into the account with both Gumtree and Western Union to see if it presented detection opportunities.

yocto

MountainMonster wrote:

Avoid using western union like it gives you worm aids. That's the choice of people who scam. I don't care even if a sale is genuine, I will NEVER use western union. Paypal+ verified or certified customer or whatever is the only way to sell or buy things privately online if your not meeting in person.

+1

Western Union transfer is only useful for sending money abroad, say to family. And as said, it offers no protection whatsoever and is the choice of scammers.

Paypal all the way. Although I hate their charges (as a seller), at least you have some protection.

A while ago I won a PS3 off ebay. The seller seemed legit, good rating etc. To cut a long story short, the package never showed up. I filed a complaint to paypal and within something like 3 weeks I got my money back.

dilemna

To the OP. This is awfully rotten luck. But if something does appear to be too good to be true it generally is.

Herbsman

As has been pointed out, just the words 'Western Union' and 'Escrow' make it obvious that it's a scam as those are the payment methods scammers always request. I thought this was common knowledge. Gumtree is rife with scammers too, that's common knowledge. You've got to be insane to send the best part of a grand to some random dude over the internet, and that website you linked to looks like a GCSE web design project from 1997.

I hope you get your money back.

rbirkett

Thanks for the support, just have to save up again for that TT bike!

Have reported it to Middlesbrough and my local (Suffolk) police forces. Whether they bother remains to be seen but can't imagine there's a lot they can do about it.

Contacted Gumtree and they sent a load of info, most of it of little use. They really do need to get some method in to verify sellers or some feedback scoring so we know who to trust. Anyway, I won't even be going on the site again.

petemadoc

yocto wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

Avoid using western union like it gives you worm aids. That's the choice of people who scam. I don't care even if a sale is genuine, I will NEVER use western union. Paypal+ verified or certified customer or whatever is the only way to sell or buy things privately online if your not meeting in person.

+1

it offers no protection whatsoever and is the choice of scammers.

Bit late now but . . . . +1

Sorry about your loss mate

Pross

Surely the operators of Gumtree have some kind of duty of care to protect against this sort of scam? Ultimately they are going to go out of business as trust in their website will disintegrate. The same with Western Union, they must surely have methods to obtain the details of someone setting up and account that they can pass to law enforcement authorities.

upperoilcan

Gumtree is renowned for being dodgy,so for that reason i steer well clear,and i personally also give people a very wide birth who ask to be paid via Western Union seeing as there are plenty of other more safer ways to make a transaction...

Headhuunter

Pross wrote:

Surely the operators of Gumtree have some kind of duty of care to protect against this sort of scam? Ultimately they are going to go out of business as trust in their website will disintegrate. The same with Western Union, they must surely have methods to obtain the details of someone setting up and account that they can pass to law enforcement authorities.

Do they have any more duty than say, a newspaper has to prevent fraud in its classified section or inaccurate advertising?

Tracy Rogers

Thanks so much for posting, we were about to be lured in by the exact same scam, but this time the price is £850. Can't believe he is still getting away with it!

rick_chasey

Tracy Rogers wrote:

Thanks so much for posting, we were about to be lured in by the exact same scam, but this time the price is £850. Can't believe he is still getting away with it!

Same name as mentioned in the OP?

Tracy Rogers

Not sure what OP means, but seller is Paul Nelson, I can show the photos he sent in an email...

MattC59

Tracy Rogers wrote:

Not sure what OP means, but seller is Paul Nelson, I can show the photos he sent in an email...

OP is Original Post.
Yes please, if it's the same guy and he's using the same pics, it may prevent someone else falling for the scam.

Tracy Rogers

Thanks, sorry I am a novice at this.
He has probably changed his name/email account number, but address given was 17 Gladstone St, Redcar, Redcar and Cleveland TS6. I have attached a pic.

Cleat Eastwood

wow that is spooky if you google maps and street view it theres what looks like a red devil looking out through the door - eek.

rolf_f

But why oh why do people think they can get a bike like that for less than the value of the wheels alone?