Looking for ideas to mess with a gumtree scammer 17 May 2020 at 12:26PM edited 17 May 2020 at 12:44PM in Boost your income 11 replies 1.5K views

Disjoint

Hi all -
I am again selling a lot of stuff on gumtree and getting the usual scammer - "can't meet you in person but will send a courier, will pay full price via PayPal and please contact me outside of the gumtree messaging app"
When he asked for item location and after I replied in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean he has asked me for my paypal email and paypal first and last name. I was tempted to replay [email protected] and first f... last YOU!
Tempted to be a bit smarter about it - how can I make him lose some time and potentially some money?
Ideas welcome! Let's get the scumbag!!!

Full text of scammer in case someone is being scammed on this at the moment [For knowledge: NEVER transact outside the gumtree app, pay via PayPal, and give to a courier giving you no proof of delivery of good:)
I really appreciate your quick response! i will want you to consider it sold kindly remove the ad because i am willing to pay your full asking price because i need to buy it for my cousin asap due because they need some stuff for their new apartment kindly inform if you have other items for sale, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it,sadly i would not be able to come personally to collect due to my hearing loss and I'm just recovering from heart surgery so I'm home-bound.I have a courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money and i'll pay you via PayPal that is attach to my bank account as that is the only secure form of payment that I have access to right now. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now

latte19

So what is it they are actually wanting from you? Your house address and PayPal email? What can they do with that? Hate scammers. 

soolin

latte19 said:

So what is it they are actually wanting from you? Your house address and PayPal email? What can they do with that? Hate scammers. 

latte19 said:

So what is it they are actually wanting from you? Your house address and PayPal email? What can they do with that? Hate scammers. 

They send a fake PayPal email saying that funds are available once item is shipped and the courier of course needs the address to collect the goods.

It you haven’t come across this common scam look it up on google , whilst it seems an obvious one many people do still fall for it unfortunately. 

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

Give him the address of a police station?

Bobby_Bouche

I sell lots on Facebook and gumtree.
I never use paypal unless its payment via friends and family. If not its bank transfer only.
I sold an SSD for a macbook a few days ago, the buyer said paypal and pay postage and I thought oh here we go again. Turns out he was legit as paid via bacs.

slenderkitten

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

Give him the address of a police station?

lol good one

scaredofdebt

Send dog poo?

Coffeekup

Bobby_Bouche said:

I sell lots on Facebook and gumtree.
I never use paypal unless its payment via friends and family. If not its bank transfer only.
I sold an SSD for a macbook a few days ago, the buyer said paypal and pay postage and I thought oh here we go again. Turns out he was legit as paid via bacs.

Excuse my ignorance... I'm staring to list unwanted stuff around the house on eBay. I was under the impression PayPal was safe and secure for eBay... So I take it there is issue's.
I've not used eBay or PayPal for atleast 8 years hence me being out the loop.

theoretica

Coffeekup said:

Bobby_Bouche said:

I sell lots on Facebook and gumtree.
I never use paypal unless its payment via friends and family. If not its bank transfer only.
I sold an SSD for a macbook a few days ago, the buyer said paypal and pay postage and I thought oh here we go again. Turns out he was legit as paid via bacs.

Excuse my ignorance... I'm staring to list unwanted stuff around the house on eBay. I was under the impression PayPal was safe and secure for eBay... So I take it there is issue's.
I've not used eBay or PayPal for atleast 8 years hence me being out the loop.

Paypal seems to work so long as YOU send the item and keep proof of postage (or tracking/delivery for higher value items).  Paypal is not advised if the buyer arranged delivery or collects as you cannot prove to paypal that you sent it.

kipsterno1

marmaladeatkins said:

Probably best to report to gumtree and paypal and just move on. They're probably not even based in the UK so the police can't do anything - not even that they would even if they could the useless c*nts.

Really?

Sandy46

I want a laptop for my granddaughter would anyone advise getting one from Music Magpie? They do advertise on TV that all computers etc have a 12 month guarantee. Has anyone bought one from them? I’m looking at different options because I can’t afford to pay the full price for one at the moment.