Fraudsters get away with it, because no-one actually does anything.

gfmoore

Last month using Gumtree I offered to by a second hand phone - a Samsung Z Fold 5 - off a seller in Taplow, I live in Stoke-on-Trent, some distance away. I offered the £300 he wanted and he agreed, I also asked for the phone to be sent next day delivery to which he agreed.

Then I made my mistake. From the conversation everything seemed fine, so I got his bank account details and made a bank payment to his account for £313.

Then I heard nothing. I did get a Whatsapp message - he asked for my email and phone number so he could send me the Royal mail tracking information (probably not a good move in retrospect) saying it was on its way. Then that was that. No phone. No responses to my messages, texts, whatsapps etc.

I knew I had been scammed! You just know.

So I then went through an interminable process of TRYING to contact gumtree. Eventually got through on a chatbox. the guy said to send him details so he could read through it and reply to me the next day - he didn't.

Then the bank (Nationwide) where talked to a real person who was nice and passed me on to the fraud team, she was also nice - directed me to a website on how to avoid scams!

Then I reported it on the Report Fraud website, thinking they were police. That took ages and was a very poorly designed site, lots of duplicated questions and no facility to upload any documentation - response: Thankyou, please wait 4 weeks or so!

So I decided to go down the small claims route (which is still in progress.) This starts off with asking if you have tried to contact the person to sort it out. So I had a name, (I'd put it here, but I guess it would be removed) and an area so I paid £5 to do a lookup and hey presto got the scutter's address and it matched with other information.

So I wrote a letter and sent it by recorded delivery and hey presto I actually got an email reply (to the email address I'd previously given him.) He alleges he'd sent it and it had been returned and that Royal Mail had charged him nearly £90 for returning and then re-sending the parcel. he had even put together an email purporting to be from Royal mail with all these facts. Clearly a lie as on the Royal Mail website they say they wait at least 18 days before returning anything…

I replied to him that I was about to take out a small claims against him and if necessary I'd arrange for the bailiffs etc etc. He needed to refund me by Paypal (which I should have used in the first place I guess).

Of course no reply.

I reported him to Royal Mail as well thinking they might be interested in the fraudulent use of their name, letterhead and text. Guess what, they weren't bothered.

Gumtree weren't bothered - we have removed him from the system.

The bank weren't bothered - doesn't fall within the terms of such and such…referrered me to a website about how to avoid fraud.

And now this morning Report Fraud say they aren't doing anything - well that's obvious, they haven't. They did gave me tips on how to avoid fraud…

I did get a few calls from Victim Support - fat lot of use they were - all they did was again refer me to websites about how to avoid being defrauded, like telling a depressed person to cheer up!

So, now just waiting a few more weeks to see what the court does. I don't hold out much hope and it cost me another £50.

What I don't understand is why can't a policeman just go round to his house and nick him.

No-one cares, no-one does anything, it has just cost me money, time and effort for no prgress at all. These bodies all get paid and money for doing nothing. It's disgraceful.

There I've ranted.

p.s. please do not refer me to any website or give advice on how to avoid fraud, that horse has bolted. :)

Isthisforreal99

An alternative view is that they get away with it because people send them money all too easily.

I can think of no situation where I would send cash to soneone I don't know for a product that may or may not exist.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82055725#Comment_82055725

As above, I would only buy a second hand phone from a known retailer, like Music Magpie, Backmarket etc.

Exodi

Sorry but I think the reason everyone has kept referring you to resources on how to avoid fraud was because this was entirely preventable.

gfmoore

Last month using Gumtree I offered to by a second hand phone - a Samsung Z Fold 5 - off a seller in Taplow, I live in Stoke-on-Trent, some distance away. I offered the £300 he wanted and he agreed, I also asked for the phone to be sent next day delivery to which he agreed.

Then I made my mistake. From the conversation everything seemed fine, so I got his bank account details and made a bank payment to his account for £313.

Why did you bank transfer a stranger money on a platform with no buyer protection? This is basic stuff.

I buy a considerable amount of stuff off third party marketplaces, and while most of the time I will try to collect, if I decide to take the risk asking someone to post an item, I will absolutely ensure I pay via PayPal G&S so I have at least some level of protection.

gfmoore

Then I heard nothing. I did get a Whatsapp message - he asked for my email and phone number so he could send me the Royal mail tracking information (probably not a good move in retrospect) saying it was on its way. Then that was that. No phone. No responses to my messages, texts, whatsapps etc.

I knew I had been scammed! You just know.

I'm not sure I understand the thinking here. The first paragraph is where the potential for being scammed was created. Them contacting you to ask for your email and phone number for Royal Mail (which I don't think is strange, Royal Mail does indeed ask for recipients contact details to send them tracking information). If the intention was to simply scam you from the outset, I'm not sure why they reached out after you paid. Even more bizarrely I don't know why it was this point you state you knew you had been scammed.

If I had to guess, I'd say the original intention was not to scam you, but upon realising you had transferred the money with no protection, they saw an opportunity and took it.

I know the default response to this is usually along the lines of "oh so I'm in the wrong and the scammer did nothing wrong", but that's not what anyone is saying. Obviously they're a complete scumbag, obviously fraud is wrong, obviously we all hope they get their comeuppance, but unfortunately we must also accept that this was entirely preventable. If I hand my wallet to a stranger in the high street while I tie my shoelace, I have to accept some level of accountability if they run off with it.

Ectophile

The purpose of Action Fraud is to keep you away from the police. If the police had to investigate every small scale fraud, they would have no time to do anything else.

So instead you have to report to Action Fraud. Who will log it, and may decide to pass a file onto the police if they see a regular pattern of fraud by someone.

Small scale fraud is now effectively a civil law matter. In some cases, you can get the money back from the bank. Otherwise, it's up to you to get your money back.

savergrant

Unfortunately gumtree isn't set up for high value distance purchases and doesn't process payments or track deliveries. I also suspect there was a message from nationwide advising you not to make the payment when you did.

gfmoore

Yes I know I was an idiot. My point is that the response of all these bodies is to do nothing. So there is no real point in trying to get anything done, you're just wasting your time and energy. Fortunately, it was only £300 (well only is relative), but all these bodies seem to easily get out of doing anything. If I drove down to London with a couple of mates I daresay I'd soon get some recompense, but you can bet I'd be the one immediately getting a visit and in court. The fact is that there is no deterrent to fraud is there. They get away with it. Anyhow thanks for all the sympathy!

gfmoore

btw If I hand my wallet to a stranger in the high street while I tie my shoelace, I have to accept some level of accountability if they run off with it.

True

dumpster_fire2025

Gumtree is a classified ads site, it's not eBay. It offers no buyer protection that I can see as sales are expected to be concluded in person (although admittedly that doesn't mean you absolutely cannot be scammed.)

soolin

it’s horrible to lose money, I’d feel completely sick if I’d lost £300 in such an old scam and I really do feel for the OP.

However , whilst you might not feel referring you to online fraud prevention sites was not helpful I would have to disagree in part. It’s too late for this scam , but it is an old scam been doing the rounds for absolutely years and fairly obvious especially as banks now put a lot of effort In preventing people just sending money to scammers by bank transfers . I doubt whether you would ever fall for this again, the fact that you fell for this might make you vulnerable to other scams, so referring g you to websites about fraud prevention might be beneficial in the long run.

These scum bag scammers are lowest of the low, and perhaps by seeing how easily they con their victims might save you, or a family member or friend in the future. These scum bag only way to stop these horrible people is to learn how to protect tourselves. .

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82055922#Comment_82055922

Im not clear what you expect these various groups and companies to do? What would have been an acceptable outcome for you?