Gumtree Scammers

[prktkljokr]

Had a guy trying to scam me today on a wanted ad on gumtree.

I have a wanted ad for a body wiring harness for the Ranger, I picked that he was a scammer straight away as a member of another forum I am on was scammed by the same dude last week and posted the scammers profile, first thought was to fob him off, then I thought I would play with him for a few hours while I had lunch.

He was pretty resourceful, he sent me a picture of a wiring harness that was for a ranger but google look up showed it was from a website and it was a 2,2 Auto, not a 3.2 Auto like I was wanting, he assured me that it was a 3.2 Auto, so I asked for the vin number, he sent me a picture of a vin number for a 2015 Ranger, google look up produced nothing, I was thinking this guy is pretty good coming up with the pics.

Anyway he tells me he is in the NT, Fannie Bay to be precise we agree on a price of $100 including postage, I give him a made up postal address and he gives me his bank details, I check it and its a ING account out of Sydney, by this time I finished lunch and he is harassing me if I have sent the funds, So I rated him badly and reported him as a scammer, when I told him he was getting nothing he just replied with LoL.

I have had 7 responses to this wanted ad, they have all been scammers, its getting hard to go online for things without dealing with this sort of trash.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

I have had 7 responses to this wanted ad, they have all been scammers, its getting hard to go online for things without dealing with this sort of trash.

Unfortunately its happening everywhere. Even here in FF. I've had a couple of scammers replying to wanted ads in here, they stand out like dogs balls. A quick PM to Russ confirms they are out of country and applies an immediate ban.

Originally Posted by Toiler

Do not accept payment via PayPal.
The scammer will claim not delivered.
Almost always will get a refund (at your expense).
If they picked the item up or you posted it - you lose the item and the money.

Just need to do it the right way. Post with signature required, so there is no avoiding proof of delivery and load the tracking number into the payment info.

Otherwise force the buyer to pay under the "friends and family" option. This is excluded from buyer protection clause and the money can never be refunded. It would be the first step in establishing the credibility of the buyer. I know a few people who do it this way.