GRRR!!! i walked right into it!!

[Kuffy]

So I listed a coffee table for sale on gumtree. and within the first 5mins I received a sms msg asking me to confirm the asking price via email. I thought it was odd because the price is right there on the sale ad, but figured some ppl miss the obvious and I went about to confirming the price via email. Received a reply soon after saying that she will pay 550bux (I was asking 450, which was another eyebrow raising moment, but 450 is so damn cheap, im practically giving it away) and that she will send her friend around to pick it up after the funds have cleared. it also asked me to give the bank details or paypal account name which was fair enough.

so i sent back an email with my bank details bsb/acc#'s as well as clearly stating that the price is 450bux and I will not allow pickup of the coffee table until I have the cleared funds in my bank account, so tomorrow arvo or monday arvo at the earliest. i did not get a reply to this which seemed odd because the previous email/sms had a real sense of haste/urgency about them. and then i started thinking..........

and as a result of my thinking, i have removed all access to my bank accounts/credit cards via paypal. as an added measure i have made my public bank account have a zero balance. i dont need to do any of this, because im probably dealing with someone that thinks he is clever, but there is a slight chance im dealing with someone more sophisticated.

I think i figured out how the scam works....
-they offer to pay for something for more than the asking price. +100bux in this case.
-they pay via paypal (using a hacked account)
-there friend comes around to pick up the coffee table, but tells me that i must pay him the extra 100bux as a courier fee.
-he goes off with the coffee table and the 100bux cash
-the actual owner of the hacked paypal account does what he does to recover his losses (paypal will chargeback most transactions)

The scammer gets 100bux cash +coffee table, and i get royally screwed right up the...

so im thinking i should actually send another email saying that she seems trustworthy enough and that she can pick up the coffee table tomorrow arvo if she can provide a transaction receipt (easy to fake). and then when the bloke comes around to pick it up, i can umm...encourage him not to do this stuff anymore in a most persuasive manner

[Kuffy]

lmao...as i made this thread i received the reply from the scammer.

she has deposited 1000bux into my paypal account (supposively)
but since the sale was for 450bux, i need to send the extra 550bux to the courier company via money order to a home residential address in china.

I guess no one will ever show up at my house....so im after ideas of what i can actually send to the address because someone must be there to receive the mail because thats where they get there money...ideas that will annoy them but wont get me thrown in jail preferably.

[_fly_]

I read a scam thread where they sent broken notebooks, when they ordered 20 new notebooks.
Funny part was he had them pay the postage at their end.

When he was asked he said a bad employee did it and he would rectify it on the spot.
Sent them another big box full of parts and made them pay postage.

Guy finally rang and said his Nigerian bosses were not happy.
Told the guy, send me a picture of you holding a sign saying your a crook (with his family).
This the guy did and he sent a third box of rubbish, he got them 3 times.

Maybe you can send some offcuts, a pack of nails a bottle of glue and a hammer.
You'll have to give instructions as well.

Did they give you a story why they can't pick up themselves, Working in dubai or working on an oil rig??

[BobL]

lmao...as i made this thread i received the reply from the scammer.

she has deposited 1000bux into my paypal account (supposively)
but since the sale was for 450bux, i need to send the extra 550bux to the courier company via money order to a home residential address in china.

I guess no one will ever show up at my house....so im after ideas of what i can actually send to the address because someone must be there to receive the mail because thats where they get there money...ideas that will annoy them but wont get me thrown in jail preferably.

Walk away - don't even get involved and forward the details to the authorities.

[Bushmiller]

Sounds like the same scam crooks use to buy a used car. The "wake up" is when they offer more than the asking price.

The old story, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true!

Regards
Paul

[Kuffy]

Did they give you a story why they can't pick up themselves, Working in dubai or working on an oil rig??

yeah, they were away at sea due to work commitments.

Walk away - don't even get involved and forward the details to the authorities.

its good advice, and since all i can think of is anthrax laced snail mail...i probably should take your advice.

[artful bodger]

If you are selling anything on gumtree, or ebay for that matter it is best to clearly state on your add that "text messages will be ignored" or "do not text me about this product" etc. I am sure everyone who tries to sell anything of value gets these scam messages. I know I have, even when I say dont text. If someone really wants what you are selling they will phone you.

[elanjacobs]

Send a photo of the table

[Evanism]

Kuffy, this is exactly how this scam works. Report everything to Gumtree.

[Mobyturns]

That one is a scam.

Yep - cash on pick up only!!! My son is selling an aluminium bull bar off of his Prado as he put a steel one on. Ad clearly states condition, price, terms of sale but the idjuts still request him to package and sent via courier so they can inspect and send the money if they are happy. Yeah right, mate it hasn't rained here in a long time. That one goes over their heads.

Another scam is the re-sellers of listed items. They re-post your item at a higher price and act a middle man to a third party. Bit like the "car boot sale" shenanigans.

[Chief Tiff]

I've come across the same scam a couple of times, first E-mail asking for your best price and the next explaining that because they are unable to collect personally they will arrange a courier. They then deposit a sum of money into PayPal that is somehow locked and can only be released by sending a Western Union money gram to an address in China. The messages from "PayPal" seem to be legit and contain links to their system so it all looks legit-ish. If you ignore them the letters actually get threatening!

My eBay account name and my Email address name are the same, but my eBay account is linked to my partner's email address and my PayPal account name is her Email address name. So if I ever receive messages from eBay or Paypal we know they're fake.

To avoid this ever happening in the first place never have your Email address or mobile number visible in the advert, list a landline number and make buyers contact you via the site, a bit like our PM system.

[Handyjack]

I listed a car on Gumtree and very quickly got a response.
It rang a lot of bells.
I am in Victoria, they wanted the vehicle for NT.
Car did not have air conditioning and I was asking $1500 for 24 year old car.
Who in their right mind would want to take a 24 year old car without air conditioning to the NT.

Also normal story about unable to get here in person etc.

To good to be true, probably is.

Gumtree - fixed price or negotiate down - it is not an auction.
Ebay - fixed price or bid up - it is an auction.

[rrich]

I was looking for a dog on Craig's list (Similar to GumTree). One of the responses was, free, just pay shipping and soon another would arrive with a fee for the vet so that the dog could be shipped. The scammers were in Houston but their phone area code was 1500 miles away.

I told them that I had a contract with Swine Avionics and they shipped pets for me all the time. I also said that the Swine Avionics office was at the end of the road between Hertz and Avis rental car lots and that my account number was (their phone number in reverse). And of course, pigs do not fly.

Another one was trying to get me to go to a very bad area of town at about midnight with cash. You can't believe the howls when I said no thanks because I didn't want to be mugged. (I'm not sure what your term is for strong arm robbery.)

I had another one tell me to send a text when I was on my way. I responded with ROTFLMAO which was not appreciated.

But then I'm told that I am a very distant relative of a Nigerian Prince and the only next of kin.