I think ive been the victim of fraud on Gumtree. Advice please

Major_Disaster · 2 October 2012 at 9:47AM

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum - so please move and accept my apologies if it is not correct.

Anyways, after having my iPhone stolen i was looking for a replacement and turned to Gumtree. After a lot of looking, I narrowed down a seller. After a couple of days of communication via email (in which at no point were my suspicions raised at all), the seller gave me his bank details and i transferred the money. He emailed back that night comfirming he had recieved the payment, promising to send it the next morning (this was Sunday 23rd). After that i heard nothing. I have sent a couple of emails and have had no reply. I only have an email address.

Looking back, I was clearly very naive. Is there anything i can do? I bank with First Direct (HSBC) - can i get them to reverse the payment?

Thank you for any advice.

Wywth · 2 October 2012 at 10:12AM

Major_Disaster wrote: »

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum - so please move and accept my apologies if it is not correct.

Anyways, after having my iPhone stolen i was looking for a replacement and turned to Gumtree. After a lot of looking, I narrowed down a seller. After a couple of days of communication via email (in which at no point were my suspicions raised at all), the seller gave me his bank details and i transferred the money. He emailed back that night comfirming he had recieved the payment, promising to send it the next morning (this was Sunday 23rd). After that i heard nothing. I have sent a couple of emails and have had no reply. I only have an email address.

Looking back, I was clearly very naive. Is there anything i can do? I bank with First Direct (HSBC) - can i get them to reverse the payment?

Thank you for any advice.

Yeah, it sounds like you've been done up like a kipper mate.
Gumtree has a lot of scammers lurking ready to pounce on the naive.

Gumtree even post the following advice specifically about buying a second hand mobile phone advertised through their website.

Meet with your seller. Never agree to send a seller funds from your bank account ...

http://blog.gumtree.com/buying-a-second-hand-phone-don%e2%80%99t-get-ripped-off/

Major_Disaster · 2 October 2012 at 10:35AM

I do feel really stupid. Is there anything i can do to get my money back? I have the seller's name, email and bank account details. I also have confirmation of my transfer and his email confirming he received it. Thanks

CAB_National_Representative · 2 October 2012 at 3:28PM

Major_Disaster wrote: »

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum - so please move and accept my apologies if it is not correct.

Anyways, after having my iPhone stolen i was looking for a replacement and turned to Gumtree. After a lot of looking, I narrowed down a seller. After a couple of days of communication via email (in which at no point were my suspicions raised at all), the seller gave me his bank details and i transferred the money. He emailed back that night comfirming he had recieved the payment, promising to send it the next morning (this was Sunday 23rd). After that i heard nothing. I have sent a couple of emails and have had no reply. I only have an email address.

Looking back, I was clearly very naive. Is there anything i can do? I bank with First Direct (HSBC) - can i get them to reverse the payment?

Thank you for any advice.

Hi there - this isn't an area that our CAB representatives are covering at the moment. However, we'd recommend a couple of steps -
1) getting in touch with the Gumtree website, as they take an interest in making the site safe for people to use. See this page on their site - http://blog.gumtree.com/making-gumtree-safe-for-buyers-and-sellers/
2) you might also consider reporting this to Action Fraud, especially as this happened over the internet - http://www.actionfraud/
3) if you need more help or advice, contact our Consumer Helpline - 08454 04 05 06, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

We hope this helps.

shockpain12 · 2 November 2012 at 8:30PM

i have been scammed on wed 31st 2012 just 2 days ago a seller posted an ad for an i phone 4s 32gig for 325 as i was lookin for an i phone i went on gumtree first the seller e mailed me then he rang me like 3 times and seemed very genuine we sorted out how i will pay him by posting it to me by special delivery the next day i asked for a tracking number which he completely ignored i rang him so many times but he's phone seems dead the number which he called and texed me from so the basterd conned me so i advice anyone please please do not buy gfrom gumtree pay abit extra and go to a high street shop to buy mobile etc it is terrible being scammed i been so hurt iam made a fool i have been cussing the man all day now

DevCoder · 2 November 2012 at 8:57PM

So how did you pay him?

Colin297 · 2 November 2012 at 11:49PM

TS- report to the police!!

You've got his bank details.

ILW · 3 November 2012 at 12:02AM

Colin297 wrote: »

TS- report to the police!!

You've got his bank details.

Which will have been emptied by now.

maninthestreet · 3 November 2012 at 12:12AM

shockpain12 wrote: »

i have been scammed on wed 31st 2012 just 2 days ago a seller posted an ad for an i phone 4s 32gig for 325 as i was lookin for an i phone i went on gumtree first the seller e mailed me then he rang me like 3 times and seemed very genuine we sorted out how i will pay him by posting it to me by special delivery the next day i asked for a tracking number which he completely ignored i rang him so many times but he's phone seems dead the number which he called and texed me from so the basterd conned me so i advice anyone please please do not buy gfrom gumtree pay abit extra and go to a high street shop to buy mobile etc it is terrible being scammed i been so hurt iam made a fool i have been cussing the man all day now

Did he also steal the full stop key from your keyboard??

I think ive been the victim of fraud on Gumtree. Advice please

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