Scam property adverts (& replies) on Gumtree- how do people fall for them?

BrownTrout

I am helping a friends son find a place to live up in the north east (ex coal mining areas so nothing swish), I have put a wanted up and the number of very obvious scam replies with photos that bear no resemblance to flats and such like in areas like Stanley is staggering.  They really need to brush up on their skills!
Given that these replies of offers for property or obviously fake adverts showing places that look to good to be true is how do flat/house hunters fall for such obvious scams?
I mean do people have no common sense?

eddddy

BrownTrout said:

I mean do people have no common sense?

There's a suggestion that some scammers intentionally make their scams 'amateurish' - with errors, poor spelling, poor grammar, dodgy looking photos etc.


It's because they specifically don't want to attract people with 'common sense'. Those people would grill-them, thoroughly check them out etc and realise they're scammers. And they'd potentially report the scammers to the authorities / the police etc.

So they want people with 'common sense' to just ignore their scams, and move on.


Instead the scammers want to attract people with less 'common sense', who are more likely to do things like hand over money without doing any checks first. And perhaps would be less competent at reporting scams to the authorities.

canaldumidi

Interesting suggestion edddy.

It's the same with financial scams, though I think the so-called 'dating scams' are different.

BrownTrout

eddddy said:

BrownTrout said:

I mean do people have no common sense?

There's a suggestion that some scammers intentionally make their scams 'amateurish' - with errors, poor spelling, poor grammar, dodgy looking photos etc.


It's because they specifically don't want to attract people with 'common sense'. Those people would grill-them, thoroughly check them out etc and realise they're scammers. And they'd potentially report the scammers to the authorities / the police etc.

So they want people with 'common sense' to just ignore their scams, and move on.


Instead the scammers want to attract people with less 'common sense', who are more likely to do things like hand over money without doing any checks first. And perhaps would be less competent at reporting scams to the authorities.

Didn't think of it like that at all, trying to help this person made me realise how limited young peoples options are with a limited budget, seen some real dives

Slithery

eddddy said:

BrownTrout said:

I mean do people have no common sense?

There's a suggestion that some scammers intentionally make their scams 'amateurish' - with errors, poor spelling, poor grammar, dodgy looking photos etc.

It's because they specifically don't want to attract people with 'common sense'. Those people would grill-them, thoroughly check them out etc and realise they're scammers. And they'd potentially report the scammers to the authorities / the police etc.

So they want people with 'common sense' to just ignore their scams, and move on.

Instead the scammers want to attract people with less 'common sense', who are more likely to do things like hand over money without doing any checks first. And perhaps would be less competent at reporting scams to the authorities.

Correct.

That's why dodgy email scams will always have spelling mistakes in them. It's used as a filter so that they know that anyone that does reply is actually a decent lead rather than waste time on savvy people that will eventually realise what's going on and not be sucked in.

It's part of scamming 101.

MalMonroe

BrownTrout said:

I am helping a friends son find a place to live up in the north east (ex coal mining areas so nothing swish), I have put a wanted up and the number of very obvious scam replies with photos that bear no resemblance to flats and such like in areas like Stanley is staggering.  They really need to brush up on their skills!
Given that these replies of offers for property or obviously fake adverts showing places that look to good to be true is how do flat/house hunters fall for such obvious scams?
I mean do people have no common sense?

I just think it's really sad that there are always scammers, whichever way you look and whatever you are looking for, these days.

Many people are just very trusting and shouldn't we be able to be trusting? It's a really sad world. 

We all need to be on the alert all the time. I can't see things getting any better either. 

BrownTrout

MalMonroe said:

BrownTrout said:

I am helping a friends son find a place to live up in the north east (ex coal mining areas so nothing swish), I have put a wanted up and the number of very obvious scam replies with photos that bear no resemblance to flats and such like in areas like Stanley is staggering.  They really need to brush up on their skills!
Given that these replies of offers for property or obviously fake adverts showing places that look to good to be true is how do flat/house hunters fall for such obvious scams?
I mean do people have no common sense?

I just think it's really sad that there are always scammers, whichever way you look and whatever you are looking for, these days.

Many people are just very trusting and shouldn't we be able to be trusting? It's a really sad world. 

We all need to be on the alert all the time. I can't see things getting any better either. 

So true.  I remember seeing the same type of scams on spare room 12 years ago!

bbat

It seems a lot of people who are first time renters or young or are desperate for accommodation fall for these things. There's no blame there, its just a bit of lack of experience along with the stress of needing a home/risk of not having a home. It sucks people go to this effort to deceive people. If you weren't helping your friends son, he might not have spotted what was wrong with these replies. 

BrownTrout

bbat said:

It seems a lot of people who are first time renters or young or are desperate for accommodation fall for these things. There's no blame there, its just a bit of lack of experience along with the stress of needing a home/risk of not having a home. It sucks people go to this effort to deceive people. If you weren't helping your friends son, he might not have spotted what was wrong with these replies. 

yes this is true, 

TripleH

Agree with the sentiment here. When younger I would always take the lead from my older brother and what he did. This worked until I finished university before him and got duck in the doldrums for a year not sure what I was meant to do. If you don't have experience (or know what to do through peers) I can see how you might fall for such scams.

With homes, often there is very much the desperation of needing to find a roof ASAP and because everything else looks to be some type of ship-hole, you see what you think is the diamond in the coal and pounce on it before anyone else does when experience would make you check if it isn't actually just glass.

JuzaMum

I see lots of these scams on Facebook marketplace. I report them but they pop up on another account. Each one I have seen has the seller in holiday mode and an email address on the photos. I think Facebook shouldn't list from sellers in holiday mode.
Each one is too good to be true, beautiful properties,  bills included, accept pets and cheap as chips.