Scammed - gumtree/paypal

HardSpend

Hi, last week my elderly mother in her 70s who lives in Scotland got gumtree/paypal scammed into express mailing a video camera and accessories to a London address thinking buyer had paid on paypal and PayPal were 'holding' the money until she sent proof of postage. Her email chain with the buyer complete with spoofed paypal emails is so heinous with Christmas present reference makes me sick. At least all she paid for was the courier fees and its 'just' the loss of the camera/equipment. I expect nothing but want to know I've at least done something. I've reported to Gumtree, PayPal (who could not be be less interested) and action Fraud (and also police in Scotland). Any other suggestions where to report?

soolin

I assume this was the old ‘fake PayPal’ scam. It is so well reported that I think any official reports are barely worth the effort. Gumtree and PayPal both have warnings about this and since PayPal are not involved at all as they neither received nor initiated the payment I can see why they are rather dismissive of the report, it is a sad reflection on life that your mother’s report was probably one of many they received that day. 

I’m sorry but I can’t think of anywhere else to report this scam that isn’t already warning people about it. The only way to stop these scumbags is to ensure that people check before they deal with strangers, if people double checked payments etc then these scammers would soon have to get real jobs like the rest of us.