These aren’t exclusive to Gumtree, they are generic scams that are in use all over the web, but do seem to crop up on Gumtree. Be sure to look out for the warning signs so you won’t be kicking yourself later…
The Old Distraction Technique
You go and meet someone from Gumtree to buy an iPhone, you check it over, it’s a brand new 4S. Nice. You ask Siri what the weather will be like tomorrow and he tells you! If you don’t know much about iPhones, trust us, that means it works well.
You part ways with your hard earned cash and boom… a pretty lady walks past and flashes you the brightest smile you’ve ever seen. Your attention is, understandably, diverted.
Meanwhile the shiny new phone is switched for an old dud, the seller makes a hasty retreat and you’re none the wiser until you sit there trying to ask an old brick of a phone what went wrong. Take a friend along next time, and meet in a public place with CCTV.
Fake Landlord Scam
Now, we’ve dealt with dodgy landlords in another article, so I won’t go over old ground. Suffice to say, this is the old “send me a deposit and bank details for you and everyone you’ve ever met”.
Oh, and here’s some nice pictures of a house that I’ve never been in, let alone own…
Jobseekers beware!
A fake job advert, an advance wages cheque sent to you in the post, but what’s this, they’ve paid too much and ask for you to pay the excess back into their bank via Western Union.
Suddenly you’ve paid out and they’ve cancelled their initial payment. You’re out of pocket and that job doesn’t even exist. Our advice? Don’t pay out money to ‘employers/recruitment agents’ on Gumtree or similar sites.
Background Checks
This could be for a babysitting job or renting a house and usually sounds reasonable.
DON’T send any personal information to these people, or money to cover these checks. No real job offer would require any of this to happen online with no personal meetings.
Free stuff!
No really, it’s free. Yeah right. The daughter of a recently evicted tenant decided to exact comeuppance on the landlord by posting his details online and inviting his house to be stripped bare as it was ‘up for sale’.
“Free stuff” could be offloading of stolen goods, so best to check things out. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Aw, it’s so fluffy!
No this isn’t just an excuse to post a picture of a really cute dog. There are unscrupulous people in the world who will take in a rescue dog one day only to post it on Gumtree the next asking for a ‘rehoming’ fee.
The RSPCA, Battersea Dog’s Home or your local rescue centre are far better places to seek your furry companion.
The Real Horror Story
Now this really is an extreme case, of course, but we wouldn’t be doing our civic duty if we didn’t tell you that this can and does happen.
A man in London went to meet the poster of a perfectly legitimate looking car ad, with a large bag of money. He was met by two very unsavoury characters who robbed and stabbed him.
We can’t say this enough – don’t go to a meeting alone with a large amount of cash. Read more about it here.
Beautiful Lady Wants to be Your Girlfriend!
… it’s just that she’s going through a slight cash flow problem at the moment and can’t meet you until you send her some money.
It sounds like the sort of thing no-one would fall for, but many an otherwise-rational man has fallen for the charms of an online beauty.
Now, Gumtree officially closed its ‘dating and encounters’ free ads section a while back, but they’re still lurking on other sections and other websites, like Craigslist.
Just remember … real ladies don’t ask for money.
Gumtree’s advice on using their site safely can be found here.
To be honest, if you would leave an iPhone in someone else’s hands while you oggle a girl you’ve got no chance with you really deserve to be taken for a fool. If you would pay money for a flat you and the landlord have never been inside, if you would take a job from someone you haven’t met and not be suspicious when they pay you in advance then you really shouldn’t be wearing shoes that lace up. If I had been taken in by some of these scams I’d be too ashamed to admit it.
I have been told that similar items are placed online at a cheap price.
These ‘cheap’ ads are just fakes to give a potential buyer of your wares leverage to get a huge discount as the price you asked was obviously pulled out your bum and unreasonable.
If a potential buyer shows an ad that was posted that morning for 50% of your asking price for a similar item call the ad to check if its real.
What I find completely alarming and disappointing is the total lack of response by Gumtree to FRAUD!
I myself was the victim to the purchase of an Apple MacBook Pro….£399 deposited in to the ‘sellers’ account….no laptop received. traced the mobile no. provided thro Google and found 3 similar adds all within Gumtree. It was reported to Gumtree….they did nothing, accept say go to the police; here yet another joke, no further action from them whatsoever. Why are we not protected, or anything done about these blatant frauds. FYI seller went under the name of MIck…07522 290494
I even have the guy’s account no. with Nationwide….and yet no investigation….absolutely crap!
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what annoys me about gumtree in the flat share section is that for example they will put £50 a week in a flat share but then when you read it it is actually £200 per week, gumtree need to have an system reading each one and if the rent is diffrenent to what is advertised then they should reject it.