Gumtree, flathunting and scammers! aarghgh!!

BFG_2

IMO gumtree is very discredited and is doomed to fail pretty soon.....as the number of scammers will reach such a level that people will stop using it and then it crashes....maybe.

Gumtree_company_representative

geordie_joe wrote: »

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I can only see that you mentioned two things



Gumtree do have a system for reporting ads, it's on the top of the ad at the right hand side of the green bar.

As for leaving comments on other people's ads. Wouldn't this just allow scammers to leave comments on genuine ads saying they were scams. And leaving comments on their own ads saying they were genuine.

Oh right apologies, we have something internally where we note potential scam ads so you guys are correct, we don't have a public facing version of that. I am struggling to see how much it would help and yes, the scammers would probably get hold of it and abuse it. Like I've said before the ideas we going for are quite advanced so the scammers can't outsmart us

Gumtree_company_representative

BFG wrote: »

IMO gumtree is very discredited and is doomed to fail pretty soon.....as the number of scammers will reach such a level that people will stop using it and then it crashes....maybe.

Yeah we've been going through a rough patch the past few months but at the same time, we are one of the fastest growing sites in the UK (now in the top 10 retail sites on Hitwise, we were 16th when I started) so its possible that people are just hearing more of us in the media etc. We have a 'cleanliness rating' of all our ads and the % has stayed the same or improved in most cases

hartcjhart

with all due respect to all,yes gumtree has problems with scammers as do most of the other sites,BUT if you are clever enough to use a computer you should be clever enough not to get scammed,OR is it GREED creeping in and taking judgement away,

Why should an advertising website take the blame for anyone's stupidity

Gumtree_company_representative

Yeah, people do love a good deal so the excitement of the apparent saving tends to cloud some people's judgment! That being said, we should (and do) try our best to keep the website as clean as possible.

BFG_2

hartcjhart wrote: »

with all due respect to all,yes gumtree has problems with scammers as do most of the other sites,BUT if you are clever enough to use a computer you should be clever enough not to get scammed,OR is it GREED creeping in and taking judgement away,

Why should an advertising website take the blame for anyone's stupidity

Many of the people scammed are not greedy, but simply new to using online buying/selling tools.

Look at the number of 'ordinary joes'' scammed on ebay, Autotrader and Gumtree.it's not all about greddy people 'getting what they deserve'.

Gumtree_company_representative

True which is why we are starting video guides for new users to Gumtree. We will also encourage more experienced users to make their own videos and upload them to the page. If anyone here is interested in that, let me know.

hartcjhart

BFG wrote: »

Many of the people scammed are not greedy, but simply new to using online buying/selling tools.

Look at the number of 'ordinary joes'' scammed on ebay, Autotrader and Gumtree.it's not all about greddy people 'getting what they deserve'.

I didnt say anything about getting what they deserve,BUT with the mine of information online,in the papers,and on tele about various scams people are still getting scammed and most of these people are either stupid or greedy or both.

every website that I advertise on has sections about how to avoid being scammed,if these so called naive newbies to online shopping read them perhaps the would not get caught.

yes there is the odd case where people have been caught out when buying cars etc,BUT it is 'caveat emptor'

hartcjhart

Gumtree_company_representative wrote: »

Yeah, people do love a good deal so the excitement of the apparent saving tends to cloud some people's judgment! That being said, we should (and do) try our best to keep the website as clean as possible.

of course you should,but you cannot sit looking over everyones shoulder to make sure they do not get caught,they have to take responsibility for their actions

Gumtree_company_representative

Yes very true!