I am pretty sure someone has tried to scam me using paypal. What it is i am selling my moped and placed an ad on gumtree last night and within 10mins i got a text message on my home phone asking me to email if still for sale, i replied saying yes then got an email saying they could not come and view the bike as they worked out of town but only wanted to pay for it using paypal and once the funds had cleared they would send an agent to pick the bike up. they then asked for more pictures of the bike today, as i was at work my wife sent the pictures they then said they wanted the bike so my wife sent them the paypay details , when she rang me and told me i told her to cancel the paypal account. The emailer was someone called MEGAN SMITH, so i was wanting to know if anyone had heard of a scam like this one before and if so what are they trying to do with a paypal account. Any help and advice would be appreciated . Thanks.
Yep, that's a scam all right. See here: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ne...olving-gumtree-paypal-and-western-union-oct14
Yeah, I had 2 the other week when selling through gumtree. Always sell for cash, face-to-face. Thats how Gumtree is meant to work. Its a pain when you field queries on the item and then they want to pay by paypal. Wasting your time, the bastards.
WOW feel a bit of a twat now, at least i stopped it before they could take it further, thanks Tuckin.
Tell them you have changed your mind and you want a million quid for it. The scammers always seem keen to continue to buy at the new price. Can be quite amusing baiting them. I once asked for a camel to be thrown in (after sellng a car on eBay to someone who then wanted to send a cheque for more cash etc etc....) and the scammer carried on the deal without batting an eyelid. They often work to a script and you can work it out with a weird offer back to them that a normal person would question immediately!
A while back I got an email from some random woman in Africa who apparently had a lot of money she wanted to give me. We strung "her" along for ages in my dinner hour at work to the inevitable point she asked for money to come to the UK. After several days of emails back and forth, I divulged I was a penniless farmer with just one goat and one plough........ Never heard from her again funny that......
The thing to remember is this...... If it sounds to good to be true then it is. Most scams now are very easy to deduce. I am always getting emails saying that my Barclays Bank account needs a security update. All I have to do is confirm some details. Just one problem.... I don't bank with Barclays.
The old scam was to send you a cheque for ten grand, for a [car] you have just sold them online for less. You pay it in, and then sent the the refund... For some reason they could then bounce the cheque even after it was paid in. Seemed legit apart from the fact that it never seemed believable they insist on sending a cheque for more money! People were scammed as they didn't realise the cheque could be pulled even when cashed into the account. I had hours of fun saying I had painted mine pink overnight and did hey still want it? They always carried on with the script and seemed oblivious. ...well, maybe not hours of fun
Thing with Gumtree is that if you are selling an item of any reasonable value, you are likely to get one of these scams aimed at you. I've stopped selling through it as it irritates me more than it probably should.
Had a similar thing whilst selling a car on gumtree, They would only email,I kept asking them to call, I got fed up they wouldn't call, when I said have you lost The use of you voice ? Ring me or **** off.. Never heard from them again.....
Capt.Bruce Schwob <[email protected]> Jan 3 at 7:00 PM Message body Dear Sir/Madam, I am sorry to encroach into your privacy in this manner, I found you listed in the Trade Center Chambers of Commerce directory here in Iraq and I find it pleasurable to offer you my partnership in business. I only pray at this time that your address is still valid. I want to solicit your attention to receive money on my behalf. I am CAPT Bruce Schwob, an officer in the USA Army and also a West Point Graduate presently serving in the Military with the 82nd Air Borne Division Peace keeping force. I am on the move to Afghanistan and i really need your help in assisting me with the safe keeping of two military trunk boxes. I hope you can be trusted? Kindly view for your record: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7444083.stm. If you can be trusted, I will explain further when i get a response from you. Nevertheless, reconfirm the following to me as follows and please ensure to reply via my private e-mail address: [email protected] 1.Name: 2.Address: 3.Telephone: 4.Copy of drivers license: Thanks for your cooperation, God bless you and America !! Best Regards, Capt Bruce Schwob US ARMY. Any takers of this opportunity of a lifetime! Please find it in your hearts to offer this fine man your help and funds. Mind you last November he was called Capt Phillip Randy
Ha ha these scammers have just emailed me again saying there is £1,950 pending into my paypal account, all i have to do is send them £500 shipping fees as this bloke is at sea at the moment and he would pay it himself but he has forgot his credit card. 1. i cancelled my paypal account so how its pending **** only knows. 2. i was only asking £1,350 for the bike, so even giving the 500 back someone cant ad up dumb arses