UPS UKASH UKCASH Gumtree Scam and scams in general

Cornwall2000

vax2002 wrote: »

The Scam will stop when Greedy mugs stop thinking they are getting something worth more than they are paying for it.

Err... I think the general idea of buying second hand items is to get something worth more than what you are paying for it.
You on the other hand obviously like to buy things that are worth less than what you are paying for it.

Please don't come on here and aggravate people. Noone likes a know-all.

Cornwall2000

Really sad this person has got £100's in the last few days since I had an exchange with them.
Gumtree will not take the adverts down for some reason.
I think if they took them down as soon as one person reported it for attempted fraud, then there would be a lot less adverts and therefore a lot less victims.
Please report them to Action Fraud but I cannot support victims having to call an 0905 number for gumtree.
Someone suggested posting duplicate adverts with a warning, I have tried this and see if Gumtree take notice.

Cornwall2000

Well posting a duplicate advert worked.
I have had an email from another potential victim.
Apparently "she" is now using the name Melanie Whereton

I feel sorry for all the people who have had their names/identities stolen and havingtheir names dragged through the mud.
Everyone post up a duplicate advert if you are approached by this person and spread the word. Gumtree seem completely disinterested. I wonder what percentage of their ads are actually scams. There are certainly not many phone numbers.

gnus

squowse wrote: »

Please don't come on here and aggravate people. Noone likes a know-all.

Unfortunately, and this isn't a poke at anyone, its not a matter of being a know-all, its about using a bit of common sense, intelligence and research and NOT getting scammed by a variation of a scam thats been doing the rounds for years.

Only difference between this scam and the old nigerian 419 is the use of gumtree and ukcash.

Of course the scam is plausable, it wouldn't work if the person stated, "hey, I'm going to rip you off, but send me cash anyways".

Is there a safe way to buy of gumtree, yes, pick the goods up from a safe environment and pay cash after inspecting them. The old pick the goods up and get mugged is another favourite method.

I have personally bought and sold on gumtree, posted and received items via mail, but only low value, £10 odd, stuff. If it was for a sum I could not afford to lose I would buy local. Maybe I've missed a bargain or two doing that, but at least its safe.

As for send money transfers to complete strangers, errrr, NO.

older_and_wiser_3

sooo pleased I googled this site today, I was about to be had by the so called 'Melanie Wherton' who is currently advertsing a leather l shaped sofa with matching footstool for £100.00 Ad ref 107752938, kent area(its still on the gumtree site!) should of known it looked and sounded too good to be true. Delivery is supposed to be this Friday! I can't believe I nearly fell for it.

PJH1983

hi - so glad i found this thread, me and my wife have been looking for a bugaboo pushchair on gumtree and found one which looked like a good deal (but not so cheap as to set off the alarm bells!) for £320. There was no phone number or contact name provided which i thought was a bit odd in comparison to other (legit) adds i had seen but after replying through gumtree i received a text message from "Melanie.s.i", very strange, as the name appeared in my phone straightaway and there was no phone number available which has never happened to me before and we could not send a reply. She provided an email address with the name Melanie Wherton, i emailed straight back offering to pay cash and to pick it up from Norfolk. I heard nothing back so out of curiosity I googled the name this morning and was very suprised when a link to MSE came up! At least we havent been done for any cash as i would never pay for anything up front but i now have a very disapointed wife who had her heart set on this particular pushchair!

Blogzy

Nearly got scammed by this person or persons today. Tried to get me to pay for parcel force service through paypoint, then take a photo of the reciept and send it to them as proof of payment. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Had some convincing emails of her, him, them!!!!!! One even had a link to show photos of a happy looking Melanie whereton at work and play, so God only knows who that poor person in the pics is, but shes being dragged through this as well.

whatnocanoe

PJH1983 wrote: »

but i now have a very disapointed wife who had her heart set on this particular pushchair!

Hi, I think that's the main problem. Our desire for the object over rides any logic we have. Glad you found out before it was too late.
I have a reply from gumtree:

Thank you for your reply, I am so sorry to hear about your experience.

We work hard on reducing the risk of this kind of activity being experience on our site, but on this occasion we weren't successful. We take matters like this extremely seriously and will do our best to use the details that you have provided to prevent any further occurrences of this or similar incidents.

I have taken the appropriate action to stop this seller from advertising on Gumtree again.
We do work closely with the police but we do recommend that you also report
this matter to them. Unfortunately we can't report this on your behalf,
but please give the police our dedicated law enforcement contact
details (fax number: 0208 711 5441 or email: lawenforcement@gumtree.com)
so that we can assist them in their investigation as much as we
possibly can.



Apologies,.
*******
The fact is they haven't stopped this on their site as its still going on. My conclusion, they don't know who's selling what. Even if you're lucky enough to actually buy and receive goods they could turn out to be stolen and they would have no more chance of identifing the seller than you would buying it from "a bloke in a pub".

bodman_3

I was minutes away from getting scammed. I would of lost 160 pounds buying an Al Merrick surfboard that was getting delivered this Friday if it wasn't for the people writing here on this site about the scam!
The email replies were exactly the same as the ones posted above and had the link to that fake [text removed by MSE Team] profile.I was about to buy the Ukash voucher.
Gumtree does not care,thanks for this site and i'm sorry for the people who fell for this person,i was just lucky and hopefully now the wiser.

Cornwall2000

bodman wrote: »

I was minutes away from getting scammed. I would of lost 160 pounds buying an Al Merrick surfboard that was getting delivered this Friday if it wasn't for the people writing here on this site about the scam!
The email replies were exactly the same as the ones posted above and had the link to that fake [text removed by MSE Team] profile.I was about to buy the Ukash voucher.
Gumtree does not care,thanks for this site and i'm sorry for the people who fell for this person,i was just lucky and hopefully now the wiser.

Please everyone post duplicate ads if you get approached by these scammers. It's the best place for a warning to others
Keep the title the same as the original advert like this duplicate advert