I have been scammed on gumtree

hollydays

George_Michael wrote: »

Since when has fraud been a civil matter?
If the "seller" is advertising something for sale and accepting payment with no intention of actually sending goods, it is a criminal and not a civil offence.

How could you prove he hadn't sent the goods?

George_Michael

hollydays wrote: »

How could you prove he hadn't sent the goods?

Why would you have to? and anyway, how can you possibly prove it?
Generally, unless agreed otherwise, goods remain at the sellers risk until delivered to the buyer.
You wouldn't have to prove that he hadn't sent them. It would be up to him to prove that he had and he would also have to prove that they had been received.

hollydays

George_Michael wrote: »

Why would you have to? and anyway, how can you possibly prove it?
Generally, unless agreed otherwise, goods remain at the sellers risk until delivered to the buyer.
You wouldn't have to prove that he hadn't sent them. It would be up to him to prove that he had and he would also have to prove that they had been received.

Utter tosh . This isn't criminal law you are " quoting" . A person is innocent until proven guilty.
If the op didn't bother to ask what happened if the goods didn't turn up, that's his issue.

Silver-Surfer_2

hollydays wrote: »

Yes I shouldn't have said without proof ,in this specific case, I should have said this isn't defined as criminal behaviour. It's contractual.
All you have here, is one person will say they have posted an item out-the other says they didn't receive it.

And to establish that they'd have to investigate it. To investigate it they have to record the crime. To record a crime you need evidence of one. The op has that so this is a criminal matter until there's evidence to the contrary.

hollydays

The op has posted on another forum where they initially say they rang the police and were told it was a civil matter.

lovinituk

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

And to establish that they'd have to investigate it. To investigate it they have to record the crime. To record a crime you need evidence of one. The op has that so this is a criminal matter until there's evidence to the contrary.

They won't investigate it. Unless you are very very lucky, the police will tell you it's a civil matter and they won't do anything. If you are very demanding they might give you a crime number but you can get that from action fraud. 99.9% of the time the police will not put any time in to it.

daytona0

What if OP was the fraudster and the seller was innocent?

Funny how some third parties are happy to jump on the bandwagon. I suppose that's why the police tend to consider these as civil matters, a sort of "he said she said" thing. The golden "innocent until proven guilty" mantra applies equally to the seller in this instance.

Moral of the story is pay by DC/CC and not bank transfer.

hollydays

daytona0 wrote: »

What if OP was the fraudster and the seller was innocent?

Funny how some third parties are happy to jump on the bandwagon. I suppose that's why the police tend to consider these as civil matters, a sort of "he said she said" thing. The golden "innocent until proven guilty" mantra applies equally to the seller in this instance.

Moral of the story is pay by DC/CC and not bank transfer.

Exactly!
When people post on the net you don't know if they are the wronged party or a scammer trying to perfect his scam.
This is why being impartial is what the police practice.

pendragon_arther

LadyDee wrote: »

I have bought and sold many things on Gumtree and, if used in the way it was intended, meet face to face in a safe place, exchange goods for cash then it works.

Paying by bank transfer is the problem, not Gumtree.

It's highly noble for you to support the site, but:


Police receive 250 calls a week about scams on Gumtree: Criminals use site to target consumers
Criminals are using Gumtree to target consumers, it has been revealed
Site does not require users to register or provide their name and address
This means fraudsters can remain anonymous while preying on victims
Comes after young mother tried to sell her four-month-old baby online


Turn stolen items into cash
Target people for robbery if they are selling high value items
Tempt people to locations to buy or sell things, then rob them
Con people into paying via bank transfer but never deliver items
Trick people into paying rent deposits on flats which do not belong to them
Find vulnerable women to sexually assault


The company reports such crimes to the National Fraud Authority, which generates a crime reference number.
But Gumtree then uses the Data Protection Act to refuse to provide the victim with any details.
In theory, the National Fraud Authority vets the reports and passes details to police for investigation. But three in four victims never hear from the police.

lovinituk

pendragon_arther wrote: »

It's highly noble for you to support the site, but:


Police receive 250 calls a week about scams on Gumtree: Criminals use site to target consumers
Criminals are using Gumtree to target consumers, it has been revealed
Site does not require users to register or provide their name and address
This means fraudsters can remain anonymous while preying on victims
Comes after young mother tried to sell her four-month-old baby online


Turn stolen items into cash
Target people for robbery if they are selling high value items
Tempt people to locations to buy or sell things, then rob them
Con people into paying via bank transfer but never deliver items
Trick people into paying rent deposits on flats which do not belong to them
Find vulnerable women to sexually assault


The company reports such crimes to the National Fraud Authority, which generates a crime reference number.
But Gumtree then uses the Data Protection Act to refuse to provide the victim with any details.
In theory, the National Fraud Authority vets the reports and passes details to police for investigation. But three in four victims never hear from the police.

So people just need to be aware. It's stupidity, lack of awareness and/or greed that make any transaction potentially unsafe, Gumtree or not.

I use Gumtree regularly to buy and sell. I recently purchased two Xbox Ones in different transactions via ads on Gumtree. Would I have considered sending the funds via an unprotected payment method? No bl00dy way! I got in the car and tested them first before handing over cash. That's the safest way to do it. If everyone did this, there wouldn't be any scammers.

Don't agree to meet in random locations.
If you are vulnerable take someone with you.
There are sensible precautions for all scenarios.

It's not the platform, it's the people that use and abuse it that are the problem.