Where is the scam?

[boxst]

I’m advertising a dining table and chairs on Gumtree and have had two emails (one after I responded) from someone that is obviously a scam but I can’t work out how. If it’s a phone or something small where you get the money, someone picks up the item and then some sort of claim back happens. But a dining table?! That seems crazy to me.

Reply:

“ please consider it sold kindly remove the ad as i am willing to pay your full asking price because i need to buy it for my cousin asap due because they need some stuff for their new apartment kindly inform if you have other items for sale, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it,sadly i would not be able to come personally to collect due to my hearing loss and I'm just recovering from heart surgery so I'm home-bound.I have a courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money and i'll pay you via PayPal that is attach to my bank account as that is the only secure form of payment that I have access to right now. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?”

[Thales]

PayPal.

[PositronicRay]

boxst said:

I’m advertising a dining table and chairs on Gumtree and have had two emails (one after I responded) from someone that is obviously a scam but I can’t work out how. If it’s a phone or something small where you get the money, someone picks up the item and then some sort of claim back happens. But a dining table?! That seems crazy to me.

Reply:

“ please consider it sold kindly remove the ad as i am willing to pay your full asking price because i need to buy it for my cousin asap due because they need some stuff for their new apartment kindly inform if you have other items for sale, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it,sadly i would not be able to come personally to collect due to my hearing loss and I'm just recovering from heart surgery so I'm home-bound.I have a courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money and i'll pay you via PayPal that is attach to my bank account as that is the only secure form of payment that I have access to right now. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?”

Could it just be a bot?

[boxst]

Thales said:

PayPal.

Yes, but presumably they are not going to pick up the table so what can they do with my Paypal address or paying money in and then issuing a claim?

[moonigan]

Paypal and collection = buyer raises a dispute to say they never received them or the item was faulty. Paypal refund buyer. Win. If its collected rather than posted then it needs to be a cash transaction.

[anonymous-user]

Fake paypal email or hacked account.

[simion_levi]

Just as likely they'll 'overpay' you and get you to send money on to their courier. Doubtful anyone will then actually collect anything from you.

Once the dodgy funds you've received from the stolen credit card are reversed, you'll be left out of pocket.

[CLX]

I've had this. They only do it with large items, which need collecting.

After a few emails from a potential buyer, I received a fake PayPal email telling me that the buyer had sent funds for the item, plus £200 for shipping by a courier. The funds were temporarily on hold and would be sent to me in due course. In the meantime, I should send £200 to the courier by Moneygram, so they could get the collection organised. I'd then receive payment for the item plus the money for the courier, which PayPal were supposedly holding.

The PayPal email looked pretty good, so I could imagine some people falling for it.

[Spare tyre]

Mess em about as much as you can

If everyone took chunks of their time up they’d have less time to scam more vulnerable folks

[myvision]

CLX said:

I've had this. They only do it with large items, which need collecting.

After a few emails from a potential buyer, I received a fake PayPal email telling me that the buyer had sent funds for the item, plus £200 for shipping by a courier. The funds were temporarily on hold and would be sent to me in due course. In the meantime, I should send £200 to the courier by Moneygram, so they could get the collection organised. I'd then receive payment for the item plus the money for the courier, which PayPal were supposedly holding.

The PayPal email looked pretty good, so I could imagine some people falling for it.

Lad at work fell for it on some decks he was selling he's £300 out of pocket.
Can't believe he was that simple or didn't mention it to any us until afterwards.

[boxst]

Spare tyre said:

Mess em about as much as you can

If everyone took chunks of their time up they’d have less time to scam more vulnerable folks

Yes. Playing. I will keep this updated.

[boxst]

CLX said:

I've had this. They only do it with large items, which need collecting.

After a few emails from a potential buyer, I received a fake PayPal email telling me that the buyer had sent funds for the item, plus £200 for shipping by a courier. The funds were temporarily on hold and would be sent to me in due course. In the meantime, I should send £200 to the courier by Moneygram, so they could get the collection organised. I'd then receive payment for the item plus the money for the courier, which PayPal were supposedly holding.

The PayPal email looked pretty good, so I could imagine some people falling for it.

This is what happened. Although the header is from [e-mail] <[e-mail]> so not that convincing.

scammer said:

The transaction is subjected as MERCHANDISE, so we reserve the right to make this transaction secure. The fund has been deducted from the buyer's account and it cannot be reversed due to the policy of this transaction. It will not be available in your PayPal account history until we process it due to our Merchandise Policy.
Hence, the £675.00 GBP will not be available until we can confirm that you transferred the courier fee successfully. Therefore, you need to send the sum of £300.00 GBP to the courier via Bank Transfer. This measure is done to secure transactions, also to make PayPal a safer way for buying and selling.

Click Here to send all questions regarding this transaction to us and a representative will attend to you immediately.

What do I need to do?
You are to transfer the sum of £300.00 GBP via Bank Transfer to the details below:

Name: Mr Richard BJ Monk
Account Number: 25315269
Sort Code: 01-01-38
REFERENCE: DDT100

[Plymo]

The sort code and account number are valid, surely that's enough information for a fraud investigation?
The name of course can be completely wrong as it doesn't matter for bank transfers - but surely the bank will have been given some documents to open the account?

[Spare tyre]

Plymo said:

The sort code and account number are valid, surely that's enough information for a fraud investigation?
The name of course can be completely wrong as it doesn't matter for bank transfers - but surely the bank will have been given some documents to open the account?

Could have control of someone’s account

I’d troll em by saying you’ve sent it, bit of back and forth then asking them to call

I’d then give em a suitable number like a police station, local pub, fraud department or similar

[boxst]

I’ve asked for the telephone number of the “courier” to confirm payment.

[Sheepshanks]

Plymo said:

The sort code and account number are valid, surely that's enough information for a fraud investigation?
The name of course can be completely wrong as it doesn't matter for bank transfers - but surely the bank will have been given some documents to open the account?

It'll be someone letting them use their account for a fee for handling the money. A PHe'r son got sucked into this.

[CAPP0]

"Richard BJ Monk"



Now take each of those three elements of the name and translate them into abbreviation/slang......

Sounds legit!