HAS THIS SCAM HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE

[amaunurse]

hi, i had an ad on gumtree looking for an iPad mini for my daughters birthday .I received a text from a person who named himself Grant Welsh stating he was selling excess iPads from the company he worked for due to over ordering . He stated his boss was Anthony Hart and gave the bank details as natwest, sort code 60 20 23 acc number 3813324, he gave hiis work address as unit 32 wharf side, rosemont road , wembley , london , HAO 4PE, he also gave home address as 20A 35 MARYLEBONE ROAD , london , nw1 5ls, He used the phone numbers 07516344029 and 07516342009, e-mail addresses that were given were [email protected] and [email protected] he also gave mac agent number asMC/2260024. As i did a direct bank transfer i know i have no comeback , i feel such a fool and now a fool thats £200 worse off

[Clair]

Hi amaunurse, Welcome to Scamwarners. Sorry that you were the victim of a scam. Please post up emails from the scammer along with complete headers. Chances are he is not even in the UK and the headers might help us determine where he is located. Here is an article on finding email headers with the various email service providers: http://whatismyipaddress.com/find-headers

The address where he said he works is a food distribution company. His "home" address is the University of Westminster. The telephone numbers are redirect numbers that appear to be in the UK, but could be any where in the world.

I have reported the bank account details, but it would be good if we had more information to support that a scam did take place. The emails should provide the proof that we need.

[purchaser27]

I also got scammed by that bastard...

Product Iphone 4s 32GB = £230
Telephone number : 44-751-634-2009 (Which is the same number posted against his advertisement)
His email address was [email protected]
Bank details for transfer (Mr Martin Brett)
Sort Code 090127
Account number 81377341
Home address: Apartment 4, 98 holt road, Kensington Merseyside, Liverpool L7 2PR
Work: India Buildings, water street Merseyside Liverpool

Another email ([email protected])
Mac agent number : MC/2260024

It is sad, i have lost every hope in Gumtree or trading on that very site as this experience has ruined every appetite i could possibly have towards the site..

[Bubbles]

Welcome to ScamWarners purchaser27, I am sorry you were scammed. Gumtree is not the scammer, scammers use Gumtree to operate their scams. There are warning on almost every selling site explaining how to reduce the probability of being scammed.

I hope you have reported the account as a scam. The site will throw them off of their site (at least that email name). I hope you will do some reading here and learn how to spot a scam and how to defend yourself against scammers.

Please feel free to ask any questions.

I've been the victim of a scam. What should I do?

We have some top warning signs, but they aren't exclusive. If you feel that you have been the victim of a scam, then you must take immediate action.

You can choose to report it to Gumtree. We can take a look for you and give you advice on how to proceed. We will also take internal action to protect other Gumtree customers.

If you believe you have been defrauded this is very serious and we encourage you to report it to the police.

Gumtree's page regarding scams:

Is it a scam? The top warning signs

Most people you meet online are lovely, genuine people. Everyday thousands of people use Gumtree safety tips to successfully connect through Gumtree. Of course, there will always be the few bad eggs out there, just like in the ‘real’ world.


The number one thing to remember: Gumtree is all about being local. Always meet with whoever you’re dealing with face to face, which is an easy way to avoid any potential scams.


Here are some key signs to help you spot the few unscrupulous people online.


Requests to use money transfer services like Western Union or MoneyGram. These services are not meant for transactions between strangers. In our experience they’re favoured by fraudsters. One popular trick is to ask you to prove that you have funds by sending money to a friend or relative via these services and show them the receipt. All they need is the tracking number from your receipt and they’ll be able to collect your money. Any requests by strangers to use these services in any way should sound off alarm bells and shouldn’t be followed. Always meet face to face to exchange cash and items.

An email allegedly from Gumtree (or another company) asking for your personal details - logins/passwords/credit card details. You get an email that claims to be from Gumtree or another company and requests that you reply or follow a link to provide personal information. These are fake and are known as ‘spoof’ or ‘phishing’ emails. Any emails which combine urgency with a need for personal details should be treated with caution, no matter whom they appear to be from. Website pages can be easily faked. Gumtree and most other companies will never send out such emails. If you get an email alleging to be from Gumtree asking for your personal information, don’t follow any links provided in the email.

Payment or protection services allegedly offered by Gumtree or other well known sites such as eBay or PayPal. You get an email that claims to be from Gumtree, eBay, PayPal or another company and offers buyer protection or an online payment system. This could be directly in connection with a transaction through someone you’ve met online. Or perhaps the buyer or seller suggests you use a payment or protection service from one of these companies and sends you to a link to follow instructions. These are fake and are known as ‘spoof’ or ‘phishing’ emails. Gumtree doesn’t offer any form of payment scheme or protection. While other companies may offer payment or protection schemes, the email or instructions you have received may not be genuine. If you receive an email alleging to be from a company offering a service, always go directly to the company’s official website and look for details of the service.

Request to use Ukash. Ukash is a payment service for online transactions between customers and merchant sites and not for transactions between private individuals who have connected through a classifieds website. Fraudsters may request that you purchase a Ukash voucher and send the voucher number to them or an alleged "courier" as payment for an item. They may also set-up fake websites and email accounts that appear to be Ukash, or a well known courier company such as UPS or Federal Express as part of the deception to trick you. Our advice is simply don't proceed with transacting with anyone that you have connected with on a classified website, where Ukash is requested as part of the transaction. Always meet face to face to exchange cash and items.

Cheque overpayment. A buyer, prospective tenant or even an employer will send you a cheque worth more than the value of the items/rent/job. They’ll then ask for the surplus money to be returned to them or a third party, for example ‘to pay for shipping’. The cheque will clear into your bank account, only to be refused weeks later. At this point, the bank/building society will take the full cheque amount back out of your account. This would then leave you out of pocket for the amount on the cheque and the amount you passed on as the difference.

Fake escrow sites. A buyer/seller or prospective tenant/landlord suggests using an escrow service to complete the transaction. These escrow websites often may look official, but are actually run by fraudsters. They’ll take your money and never send you the product.

Payment for brokerage/importing. A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties or similar fees required to get an item into the country. Don’t pay these fees. You’ll most likely never get the product and will lose any money you paid. Always remember, Gumtree is designed for meeting up to deal with people in your neighbourhood face to face.

Work from home. Some work from home opportunities are fronts for money laundering. A key warning sign should be any 'job' that involves you receiving cheques and cashing them. These jobs are sometimes referred to as ‘money mules’. Another warning sign is a job that doesn’t require a face to face interview. Other work from home offers can be pyramid schemes which require you to recruit other members to get paid. For example, an ad might say that you can make £100 an hour by stuffing envelopes. But to make that money, you need to sell the system to others. For these reasons, we typically don't accept ads that offer work from home positions on Gumtree.

419 scams. You get an email saying that your help is needed to take money out of a country and that you’ll be paid a commission for your help. Eventually the fraudsters will ask you for money to help them take the large amount of money out of the country. Once you pay, you’ll never hear from them again.

Pet shipping scams. A seller will claim to have a pet and will offer to ship them from an overseas location, or even get you to book seats on a plane. These are usually sought after dog breeds such as English Bulldogs, Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas. These ads are usually accompanied by staged pictures. The pets don't exist and the fraudsters are simply trying to get you to pay money upfront. Remember, be wary of overseas sellers.


Tip! Some good resources for information on common online scams are:

Get Safe Online
Action Fraud

http://gumtree.force.com/Help/articles/ ... opup=false