Latest Gumtree scammer

Zoomzoom said:
Can someone do an article on precisely what to look out for with these things? How do you tell the difference between a legitimate EFT sms notification and a fake one, or between a legit payfast payment and a fake one?
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Don't trust sms or email messages.

When you can draw the money from your account, that's when you release the goods.
 
Crowley said:
Don't trust sms or email messages.

When you can draw the money from your account, that's when you release the goods.
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Fair enough, but all the same, while you are taking 3 -5 working days to see if funds clear, you are losing other potential buyers.

And scammers on Gumtree aren't the only people who might be paying you for stuff long distance. So it would be very useful for someone in the know to draw up a list of things to look out for that would help differentiate a real POP from a fake one.
 
WaxLyrical said:
Basically this.
You must be able to touch the paper before you lose sight of the product.
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As a general rule of thumb yes, but there are other factors here - what if you are small online business just starting up and selling via FB for example (I know quite a few people who are doing this) and cash in hand isn't so easy when your business model is online sales, with a courier delivery, but you aren't big enough to sign up for one of the payment systems.
 
Zoomzoom said:
As a general rule of thumb yes, but there are other factors here - what if you are small online business just starting up and selling via FB for example (I know quite a few people who are doing this) and cash in hand isn't so easy when your business model is online sales, with a courier delivery, but you aren't big enough to sign up for one of the payment systems.
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Not even online retailers release a product until the EFT has cleared. So you can only make clear to buyers that goods only get dispatched after you see green. Take it or leave it.
 
R13... said:
Not even online retailers release a product until the EFT has cleared. So you can only make clear to buyers that goods only get dispatched after you see green. Take it or leave it.
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Unless there is some magic fast clearing system for an online payment orders do get dispatched faster than the payment could possibly appear. I've done EFT payments to both Makro and Takealot that have been dispatched the same day - no way the payment was in their account already. Admittedly both are big stores, but they still can't afford to lose stuff with payments that don't clear.
 
Zoomzoom said:
As a general rule of thumb yes, but there are other factors here - what if you are small online business just starting up and selling via FB for example (I know quite a few people who are doing this) and cash in hand isn't so easy when your business model is online sales, with a courier delivery, but you aren't big enough to sign up for one of the payment systems.
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If you have a business people should trust you with their money before you trust them with your product.
 
You know, if you don't know the answer to a question, it really isn't helpful to answer it with a non-answer. There are posts here bragging about how the poster spotted the scam - so come on - share what you saw in the POP that said 'fake' to you. What did you check? Otherwise I'm going to dismiss the whole blinking lot of you as faking your scam spotting skills.
 
Tldr. Either pay me cash or immediate eft and I must see funds in my Acc. Pop doesn't mean anything to me. Don't have that then we don't have a sale.

On that note I do the same. I never waste the sellers time. I always meet. If its too good to be true its likely a scam. I pay cash of immediate eft. Pref cash.
 
I did not know about this thread. I sold a few things on Gumtree lately and I had so many scammers contact me, many of them take their time now rather than being too eager. I generally have these rules when I want to sell something,
  1. Must be in the area I am advertising in.
  2. If you asked to communicate via email only you're out. Communication via phone only.
  3. Meet in person, in a public space usually at Exclusive Books.
  4. No EFT unless we've met in person and you're on FNB.
I also look out for bad grammar. I am always suspicious of everyone lol.

I like selling on Gumtree, I sold my almost new MacBook to someone, who just had theirs stolen for so much less than a new one and a new PlayStation to someone who would have only been able to afford one next year had they bought one in store.
 
Snyper564 said:
Tldr. Either pay me cash or immediate eft and I must see funds in my Acc. Pop doesn't mean anything to me. Don't have that then we don't have a sale.
... .
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Same here.

When I sold my phone on Gumtree last year I had a lot of responses from people who wanted to send me a POP and I told them I was only going to send the phone to them once the money reflected in my account. They would then mention that they needed the phone urgently so I asked them to do an immediate EFT. Once I said that they would disappear.

If they prefer to do cash, then I prefer for them to come to my work office, where 1) there are security guards, and 2) I'm not going to be walking around the street with cash.
 
I've only sold 1 thing on Gumtree, had a dji mobile gimble which was just laying around.

I know a friend who swapped an old ipad for an iphone, turns out it was icloud locked.
Trust no one on the classifieds!
 
Had a guy send his driver from Pretoria to Roodepoort, at least they got knocked on the fuel. Idiots
 
VegOtter said:
Yup, still very active. Just got a message from him today too.
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Sigh, so just to keep this list up to date, this scammer tried the exact same thing on me from a different account and number and just posting it here so people googling it can find it:

Known scammer aliasses:
[email protected]
0767721165

and

Zuhar Charles
[email protected]
0720921181

I have reported all these details to all the relevant scammer databases as well.
 
Once bought a second hand PSU from Gomboom, had to go to a very scaley part of Germiston in a very disgusting building, only afterwards thought I could well have been murdered there, easy peasy.
 
gamer16 said:
Once bought a second hand PSU from Gomboom, had to go to a very scaley part of Germiston in a very disgusting building, only afterwards thought I could well have been murdered there, easy peasy.
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I always google maps the area, turned down items 2 or 3 times due to dodgy areas... not worth it.
 
Snyper564 said:
I always google maps the area, turned down items 2 or 3 times due to dodgy areas... not worth it.
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I'd just bought a new GPU then, was so exited and then promptly pissed when I couldn't get it to work even after trying so many power adapters, I just wanted a proper PSU then so just winged it.
 
Andy1998 said:
Good day.

I got scammed same way as everyone but slightly different, I posted an ad on olx of my canon 600d camera and a women called Candice Jacobs sent me a text saying she is interested in the camera and she also claimed she was working offshore and we should only commnicate by email, I fell for everything and she sent me fake Paypal payments emails and also requested that I should send the package using Aramex and not other courier lines and little did I know it was all a lie, I went to the mall then sent the item from Alberton Pick n Pay to 18 pascoe avenue in Kempton Park yesterday and it was delivered a day after, after he/she received the package he/she proceeded to say my payment will only be released If I were to pay a sum of 200USD(R2,700) using e-wallet and that's when I realised everything was a scam.

Please keep your heads and be on the look out for such scams, I just lost my camera worth R10 000 over a scammer.

Look out for Candice Morgan
Email address : [email protected]
Phone number: 0 63 240 5457
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the email addy had to be the giveaway
 
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