Scammed by sale on Gumtree

[MrPK21]

Hello all,

Short version I tried to buy an item that i found on Gumtree.

I paid by bank transfer, and as you can guess I didn't receive the item.

anyway, my question.

I have been given a full name including middle,
as address, 360mi from where I live "why I wanted it posted"
and bank info,

I have reported this to Action Fraud and have a crime number. "soooo how dose this help me???"


at the moment the most important question to me, is making sure the address matches to where my money went.

Does anyone have any good info on what I should be doing next or who I should contact to get this info.
I still might make the 360mi trip but don't want to waste my time and fuel.

[OilSheikh]

Google maps the place, see what it looks like.
Get as many mates as you can, plenty of baseball bats, ski masks and riot gear > have a lad's night out , retrieve your cash > Thank me when you are back home.

[MrPK21]

not saying that's not a plan, but
7 hours in a car 1 way, really want to know that i have the right address.

[ik9000]

. . . . sorry to hear that. how much we talking?

[MrPK21]

enough to justify doing something about the problem.

[jimbouk]

Speak to the bank and ask them to reverse the transaction? You're unlikely to get the correct address from the bank or the police due to data protection which leaves you in a pickle. If you do have the correct address then you could make motions towards civil proceedings / debt recovery agencies, recorded delivery letter with 30 days notice of further action.

[herulach]

Speak to your bank, but don't expect any joy. If it had gone to the wrong account then the other side is under the obligation to return (i.e. if the name doesn't match the account) however if the acount was in the correct name, they're not. Your bank can ask, but are likely to get short shrift. There isn't a legal way to find out if the name matches the address, however, its perfectly possible if you know the right google-fu.

[Lil-Diabo]

I'd be very surprised if the address you have is real.
If the seller was going to scam you from the start, why would he give you the correct address?


I know people cringe at the very name, but it's one of the reasons I still use paypal.

[Saracen]

Google maps the place, see what it looks like.
Get as many mates as you can, plenty of baseball bats, ski masks and riot gear > have a lad's night out , retrieve your cash > Thank me when you are back home.

And given the possible/potential legal situation of publishers over that kind of remark, I'll point out I regard it as a joke, and facetious.

But for anyone that thinks it's serious, I would advise that it would be a monumentally stupid thing to do, and very likely a superb way of ending up spending the next few months, or years, behind bars.

[mikeo01]

Funny enough I posted two Scams earlier this month and I am still in a position where I've lost money and right now there's nothing I can really do.

Gumtree have been ignoring me so I'm thinking about Action Fraud too; to be perfectly honest they're your only hope now especially if the address isn't real.

If you know the bank details then that's a start; simply put don't make the seller suspicious. Fingers crossed he/she still has money in their bank account for the reverse.

Good luck with it though, I'm in the same shoes as you at the moment. Advise, never use bank transfer ever again

[Saracen]

.... Advise, never use bank transfer ever again

Well, that, really.


If you send money by bank transfer, you're barely better protected than if you'd sent a cheque, and indeed, sending a cheque does at least give you an address .... though for a fraudster, it may well not be much help.

My advice would be to ALWAYS remember that transactions involve an element of risk, and that the extent to which you trust the seller, or any protection (if it exists at all) from the advertising medium, is critical.

There's a reason whyour little classified section here goes to pains to point out that it's a private transaction between the two members, and that while we'll try to help resolve any problems, we aren't party to the transaction and aren't in any way liable.


A barrister friend taught me, as part of my legal studies, that when buying a horse, walk round counting the legs and make sure there's one on each corner. If you find out later it only has three, there's probably going to be nothing you can do about it.

It doesn't help the OP to have 20:20 hindsight, but that horse analogy demonstrates the level of caution, even cynicism, I exhibit when buying.

Personally, if it's an amount I would be terribly upset to lose, I won't buy privately unless it's face to face, where I can inspect and assess both the goods and the seller. The only exception would be someone I knew well and trusted implicitly.

So personally, if it was sufficient funds to be worth a 300+ mile trip (each way), it's of a value that I wouldn't be doing it via Gumtree, and emphatically not via bank transfer. I'd rather buy new (at a much higher price) or not at all, than take that risk.

But if people do opt to take the risk and save the money over new prices, be aware it IS a significant risk, and you might end up with no goods, no money and no effectve way to do much about it.

If you can identify the buyer, then just maybe there's a route through small claims track at County Court. And, it's still possible the buyer will come through and everything is due to cockup, bad personal circumstances (like unexpected illness, bereavement, etc).

But there are a significant number of lying, thieving and duplicitous scumbags out there, and any transaction that effectively places blind trust in the other party, when they're unknown to you is, I'm afraid, simply playing the odds, and I'm afraid it's playing the odds when you don't and can't kniw what the odds are.

Again, it doesn't help Mr PK21 at all, but maybe all he gets from this is that playing with fire sometimes gets you burnt, and the lesson the experience teaches for the future. I really hope it works out for you, but if not, take it as a lesson to avoid an even more expensive mistake down the line.

Depressingly cynical world, isn't it?

[OilSheikh]

And given the possible/potential legal situation of publishers over that kind of remark, I'll point out I regard it as a joke, and facetious.

Wot ? This is an internet forum. I am a packet of data, you are a packet of data and we are all anonymous. Do clarify what you mean.

Moving on, Yes, it was a joke.

But, in reality, being nice doesn't get you anywhere in life. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

[MrPK21]

Well this is what you get from Action Fraud

Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud, l’m sorry to hear you’ve been a victim
of crime.

Action Fraud aims to make the process of reporting fraud and internet crime easier. By
contacting us you are giving the police and other law enforcement agencies vital information
that they need to protect you and others from criminals and bring offenders to justice. Your
information will also help us build up a picture of who is committing which type of crime.
It is not possible for the police to investigate every report they receive and you will only hear
from them now if they are able to progress the investigation further. You should keep safe any
evidence which you feel may be of interest.

lf you need to Contact us again you will need your crime reference number and password as
detailed above. You can add more information to your crime report and find help and support
online at wwvvactionfraud.poliCe.uk Or by Calling 0300 123 2040.

Thank you once again for taking the time to report this crime with us.
Yours sincerely,


right so they might do something, and they might contact me again, this makes me feel that the police are really willing to help me.

Other than that I'm on my own again. I do find this hard to believe, that there is so little legal back up for this offence.

Going back on your posts.

What i should have done was paid using a credit card. Some how i don't think the bank would have the same problem getting the money back, if it was there money.

at the moment it's still looking like i am going to be taking a road trip.

[ufospace]

tell the bank that someone got in your account and done the withdrawal transfer and you never did the transfer. That's the only way to get your money back. Otherwise they will say its your fault etc...

[mikeo01]

Advise for next time:

Treat everyone you deal with as criminals and ask yourself two simple questions. Is there a backup plan in case this goes up AND do I really need to pay for this online?

Do you have a phone number for him/her? If so I'd just be ringing continuously. You could talk to the bank but if it's been a while they'll be looking at you like "Why didn't you come sooner?"

Other than that all you can do is threaten to take some sort of legal action against him/her to scare as going to court isn't the best thing a scammer wants. If it's a large sum of money you can bet they're hidden in the world of the Internet never to be seen again.

[TheDutyPaid]

I saw this story in the local rag the other day.
Man admits internet phone fraud/