UPS UKASH UKCASH Gumtree Scam and scams in general

MrReesh

Apologies if this has been posted many times before, but I had a search for this scam yesterday and found no results, and searched today and found an one (from this site) so I thought I would amalgamate all the points into one thread.

After contacting a seller from either Gumtree or whatever site you use, receive an email from that seller telling you that they are going to give you the item you wanted, and that they will provide for its delivery via a UPS business delivery.

Once you confirm that you want the item, you will receive two emails from "UPS United Kingdom", one of which confirms your details along with the shipping payment paid by the seller and is full of very convincing business stuff such as guarantees and shipping rules. The other will be from a person "in charge" of your delivery, and will request you to pay the value of your goods to UPS via UKASH using Paypoint, Payzone or ePay method, and send the 19 digit number to them for the shipment to be sent.

The seller will then email you saying that she (it tends to be a woman who may mention that she is a busy fashion designer) thought you would be able to pay at the door, and that you will be able to inspect the package before you pay, but either way you will have the option of rejecting the package and the driver will give you your money back.

I understand from the experiences of others that after you hand over the 19 digit number, the seller will either thank you or not make any form of contact whatsoever. No tracking number will be provided. No one will answer the phone number at the bottom of the UPS email you received. No one will respond to your faxes, though in all honesty nobody uses fax these days anyway. The payment will be lost and the money untraceable. You will be very upset, and feel foolish.

At all times the seller appears to respond within good time, and messages are not automatic.


Now if you have been caught up in this scam, don't go too hard on yourself as it is very convincing. However there are some tell-tale signs and tips which you can use to avoid such scams in the future:

• If the seller links their sale to a courier of some sort, verify this with the courier themselves. Go on their website (without using a link in an email) and call their customer services. Speak to a person and tell them about what the seller is asking, and what the email purporting to be from them is asking for. They will tell you if this is part of their standard procedure or not, and will confirm whether from their side it appears to be a scam.
  
• Unusual payment methods scream scam. I personally have never even heard of UKASH (or UK CASH) before yesterday, so instantly a red flag went up on the payment. Give it a Google to see what information you can find on the payment method, and if it is rife with scams (like UKASH actually is) then either request another payment method or simply move on.
  
• Check the emails. Couriers on the scale of UPS or EMS or DHL etc have their own websites and send emails to customers via that domain e.g. info@ups .com. Ignore the name on the email address and look at the email address itself. If it is not the courier's official website it is 100% fake, no question. The email I received from "UPS" was from "ups.package.inspection@post.com". The person clearly purchased the domain "post.com" and used it for the scam.
  
• Big companies use safe methods of payment. No self-respecting large scale company like UPS (which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange) will only ever invoice you, or request payment via Paypal (though Paypal is far less common and should still raise a red flag). These types of payment are usually more easily traceable, and so avoided by scammers and the like.
  
• Pay attention to the little clues. These are inconsistencies in the stories the seller is making with their story. I asked this "fashion designer" if she was able to make trench coat belts (as I needed one) and she said she couldn't make one as she only does women's dresses for special occasions. So you can make fancy dresses but are unable to put a buckle on a strip of fabric? Additionally how exactly would the driver be able to refund you the money you paid via UKASH? Do they drive around in their thousand pounds vans, carrying thousands of pounds worth of goods, carrying thousands of pounds? Risk assessment for such a company would be ridiculous.
  
• If its too good to be true it probably is. In my opinion the only perfect thing on the planet is fresh sliced bread, and even then it might not be perfect for someone with a gluten allergy. A great deal on an item (mine was a £380 13 inch macbook pro) with free 24 hour shipping, with the ability to reject the parcel and get a refund is sadly too good to be true and should be looked at with scepticism.
  
• Google it. If you're suspicious, there's no harm in Googling a few things to verify it.

Hopefully this should be of use to some, and any other tips on how to avoid scams would be appreciated.


And here are the two addresses used to contact me, please note that the person's name was "Anne" though it has also been reported that she may use the name "Jessica" instead:
annesigns@gmail.com
ups.package.inspection@post.com

NBLondon

MrReesh wrote: »

After contacting a seller from either Gumtree or whatever site you use, receive an email from that seller telling you that they are going to give you the item you wanted, and that they will provide for its delivery via a UPS business delivery.

Short version....
If the seller asks you to pay anyone other than themselves - find another seller.

If you have never heard of the payment method - find another seller.

If the suggested method of payment involves you paying more than the value of the item and getting a rebate - find another seller.

ashleypride

NBLondon wrote: »

Short version....
If the seller asks you to pay anyone other than themselves - find another seller.

If you have never heard of the payment method - find another seller.

If the suggested method of payment involves you paying more than the value of the item and getting a rebate - find another seller.

Even shorter version.

If the buyer isn't coming over with cash - find another seller.

thecrazycarper

this scam is still being used on gumtree ive just nearly been fooled by it myself luckly i smelt the rat someone selling a carp fishing set up from leeds a fashion designer again this time called Diane

haylee2uk

I also was nearly scammed yday by " Diane" a fashion designer. It was for a £235 fridge freezer and would have gone ahead if it hadn't of been for this post, so thanks very much

Moglex

This person has been cropping up on various forums for quite some time now. Many months, if not years.

You can't help but wonder how much money 'she' is making.

It's a pity the police are so utterly useless in cases such as this as 'she's probably scammed thousands by now but because any complaints made will be spread around different stations/forces 'the police' as an entity have no idea of the scale of the problem.

g33za

Just to say this scam is still alive, just had a scammer pretend to use Parcelforce to deliver a bed. This time they used Royal-Mail-Group@post.com as the sending address.

retrovintage

Hi, replied to an add for dyson vacuum. Seller wants me to pay with UKASH voucher and email address is [EMAIL="Royal-Mail-Group@post.com"]Royal-Mail-Group@post.com[/EMAIL]. Calling herself Alexa & a picture appears of her in the email. She claims this is a company "perk" & this will save me time & money. Thanks for this thread warning.

retrovintage

haylee2uk wrote: »

I also was nearly scammed yday by " Diane" a fashion designer. It was for a £235 fridge freezer and would have gone ahead if it hadn't of been for this post, so thanks very much

Yes me too, pretty sure its the same gang. This time a dyson vacuum on gumtree.

Ejs_2

retrovintage wrote: »

Hi, replied to an add for dyson vacuum. Seller wants me to pay with UKASH voucher and email address is [EMAIL="Royal-Mail-Group@post.com"]Royal-Mail-Group@post.com[/EMAIL]. Calling herself Alexa & a picture appears of her in the email. She claims this is a company "perk" & this will save me time & money. Thanks for this thread warning.

Exactly the same person trying the same scam on with me- Alexa, selling a Wavesport Big EZ kayak. Thought it was annoying they kept sidestepping my questions about the condition of the kayak, and weren't at all interested in discussing kayaking. Looked up the scam before sending the UKASH thankfully, but now need to work out how to get a refund.

bannerdown

Just had a similar ParcelForce . UKash scam attempted by Alexa Connel from Gloucester trying to sell me a printer for £100. The Parcel force email is attached below to warn others what to expect.


Almost fell for it but couldn't see Parcel Force paying money back!

Dave


On 23/05/2012 19:12, Alexa Connel wrote:
> Unfortunately I got called into the office so very busy till next week. Back at work we have some shipments for large items with parcelforce all week long. Just thought it would save you time and hassle if I'll send it along with them free of charge company benefits .
>
> I asked around and it seems you can pay cash upon delivery/inspection. It's quite simple since they're able to wait for you to check it out, if not as described they can just void the shipment.
>
> If that's alright with you I'll need a name, address, contact number and time frame when someone's home, can book a specific time slot if it helps.
>
> Working long hours so If you want to pop in and pick it up you'll just have to wait till next week when hopefully I'll get my head around .
> Let me know either way.
> Alexa.
> You can check out Alexa's profile on Google+ here : addressurlhttps /plus.google.com/u/0/116731263126404310309

Parcelforce email

Parcel Tracking details
==================
At the request of Alexa Connel, this notice is to confirm that the following shipment is in transit.

Important delivery information

---

Temporary parcel number: PBIE5569536882 *Pending-Not valid to track online*
Status: In progress(Arrived at delivery depot)
Ships to: Address name
Road
Town
post code
tel no

Payment required within 24 hours:
Instructions:
1. Find a corner shop, newsagent, convenience store, supermarket or outlet that has the PayPoint sign as you can see bellow:

2. Ask the shopkeeper for a £100.00 UKASH voucher.
3. Reply to this invoice directly with a readable scan or a photo of the UKASH receipt.
4. Our department will automatically validate your voucher and release the parcel out for delivery.
5. The delivery agent will call you on *077xxxxx50* 1 hour prior to delivery. You are able to inspect the contents and if satisfied you will need to sign for it. If not, our agent will do a bank transfer and return the parcel as rejected.


Parcel Force Package Inspection Department
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in and accompanying this communication may be confidential and is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this communication please delete and destroy all copies immediately.
Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd.
Parcelforce Worldwide's principal office is Lytham House, 25 Caldecotte Lake Drive, Milton Keynes, MK7 8LE.
Royal Mail Group VAT registration number: GB243170002