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]

@Loulabelle63

This scam has been all over this board and the internet for years.

Just remember paypal never tell you to send an item until the funds are in your paypal balance.

Paypal would never tell you to use a rival money transfer service.

There is also NO paypal seller protection for motor vehicles.

[mattev78]

This scam is still happening, complete scumbags. Be careful!

[pUNIT007]

I received the below message as well..

Thanks for your response,

I want you to consider this a deal as i am willing to pay your full asking price! i actually want to buy this for a family member who is urgently in need of it, i have checked through your posting and i'm fully satisfied with it kindly email me with pictures of it.. 

Unfortunately, i would not be able to come personally to view/collect, i work offshore as an instructor on a oil rig so i don't have time at all, but like i said i am 100% OK with the advert.

However, I will pay you via PayPal once you are ready and send my courier agent to collect after you have fully received your money via PayPal as that is the only means of payment available to me at the moment. I would also appreciate if you could remove the advert asap.

I will contact the courier agent now so please get back to me with a suitable collection time. X

[Pantera06]

Thank you for posting this, someone just emailed me kinda like this but saying they have cerebral palsy and can't collect it but different email to you but funnily enough called Rachel too

[xccx]

Just received same Txt and email. ..so scam still active.

[szmidt199]

I had the same scam on Tuesday night, but saw through it. I did a Google search and this found that someone had posted about this scam on another forum. It was a guy selling a BMW on Gumtree who had exactly the same text message and emails that I had from the same person who was Sarah Wallace. . Here is the email that follows if you text back to say your car is still available: 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 only pay via PayPal 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 and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now? Awaiting your reply soon... I reported the scam to PayPal yesterday.

[JR2016]

i have this same problem now. thought if i maade another paypal up that i need to worry about then i will see if this is legit. been getting loads of miss-spelled emails from "paypal" then an "agent" then the "FBI"  kept asking me to pay the agent fee then the full paypent will go through to my paypal. i kept saying that i am not sending my own money etc thats when the emails came through about legal action and so forth. told Paypal and they confirmed it wasnt legit.  but I agree with Paypal and have now left it. I guess some people may think it is legit or get scared with the threatening emails, therefore give the money over.

[EmmaDoig]

I get messages like this almost everyday: Do you still have the jewellery?pls msg me xxxxxx

Post edited to comply with forum guidelines.

[EmmaP1]

I received the same this morning...I had a feeling it was too good to be true so I googled the buyers email address jenniferannie007 and this thread popped up... here's the 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 can only pay via PayPal 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 and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now? Awaiting your reply soon... Of course I would not give the sofa over without the money in my bank account however I'm glad I googled her...