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Public Service Announcement - scams on Gumtree / UKash

Blimey, somebody just tried to scam me on Gumtree...maybe a lot of you know about this nasty little scam, but I thought I'd just pass on my experience. I'm sure many folk on here look at eBay for various bits of music gear, and I'd been trawling eBay for some PA equipment, like you do...and had a quick look on Gumtree to see if there was anything local. It's a want ads site that I don't often look at, but I have been successful in the past buying some great deals...a drum kit, guitar necks etc.

Anyhow, I saw something I wanted..it did seem rather cheap for what it was (the first warning sign!), but nothing ventured nothing gained I thought, contacted them via Gumtree...got a text back from seller with an email address...but no mobile number to be able to return the message.

The upshot was I emailed to say I'd have it and I could collect, cash on collection. Well, they said they could courier it round to me at no extra cost (as they happened to work for a distribution company...perks of the job). So I said well if it's no problem, but I can still collect it....this morning a strange email arrived from purporting to be from Parcelforce..saying I just needed to get a UKash voucher for the full amount (by paying cash at one of their numrous outlets), send the details to the seller and they'd get Parcelforce to deliver. I immediately smelled a rat,never having heard of UKash, and of course a bit of checking online revealed that UKash is a favorite scammers payment method.

It's put me right off Gumtree...although in the past it's been fine for face-to-face deals where the seller puts a phone number on the ad. I won't go on at length about the ins and outs and ploys of this particular scam...but the seller makes themself out to be very plausible, and there are some pretty cute variations I can tell you...and the whole UKash thing is a complete no-no as far as I'm concerned...it immediately means SCAM!!!

Well, that's the end of my Public Service Announcement...apologies if this is old news for a lot of you, but here's wishing you all a happy and scam-free New Year...and in the meantime I'm still looking for a decent pair of Mackie SRM 450 speakers!

3 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jabes on December 31, 2012 at 1:06am

cheers for, and a H N Year

Permalink Reply by Jamie MacBlues on December 31, 2012 at 3:08am

Cheers, John ma man, Not heard of this particular scam. But here in Glasgow , I use Gumtree a lot (and sometimes Edinburgh gumtree). Always got great deals, and actually sold two guitars last night.

Of course I've seen the odd attempt at scams. Some scammers just want to add your name to their list of sellable, active e mail addresses, and have no interest in what you are selling! (they will specifically, from start, ask you for an email adress) Some others sell Chinese Hummingbirds, but tell yo they are not Gibson, but nearly just as good, and tell you the price is good! Not so, they import cheap, and make livung form selling copies (very few will actually TRY now to pass these Chinese imports off as actual Gibsons, as people waking up)

As long as the buyer or seller sticks to some simple rules:

1.ask for phone number, even if just mobile. Anyone serious about transcation will give you a phone number.

2. Never do ANYTHING by post (Gumtree is NOT E Bay)

3. Never pay in anything but cash.Give out NO details re credit cards etc. But DO give your phone number, if you get theirs

4. If selliing, never say you will get back to buyer in a few day, as you are off to Spain on holiday! (especially if you have put your post code in advert, or given your address to buyer!!). You might come back to find not only the thing you were selling gone, but verything else as well!!

5. Check out all gear before you buy. If an electric guitar , or acoustic/ electric , ask to hear thru amp (even if you got to take a wee amp along).

Could suggest a few more things, but for last will just say

6. Use your commonsense!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year, John, ma man :)

Permalink Reply by Sleepy John on December 31, 2012 at 3:10am

Many thanks for posting that.

Happy New Year to you, and all on here

(Us "John's" have got to stick together!!)

Permalink Reply by Chris Thomas on December 31, 2012 at 3:12am

Thanks for that John first I have heard about it mate, all the best for the new year, Chris. :)

Permalink Reply by David L. on December 31, 2012 at 3:25am

I have never used Gumtree but just had a quick look at the local guitars for sale - they seem a lot more pricey than ebay. Are you expected to pay the asking price or haggle?

For buying online I prefer to deal via paypal or cash if I collect.

Permalink Reply by Jamie MacBlues on January 1, 2013 at 2:49am

Dave, ma man, you CAN haggle, if seller puts O.N.O., or even try your luck re haggling, if seller just sets a fixed

price. Soem sellers put "no offers or swaps" (as some people will try their offering exchange of gear etc).

Some sellers may WANT a swap (ie Gibson SG, will swap for telecaster)

Other combinations etc, but if ever intending to be a Gumtree user, wact site, and reply to a few adverts, jsut for experience, to get familiar with the site. Then, once you see something you want to buy, or sell, you will know the ins and outs. Happy New Year, ma man

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on December 31, 2012 at 3:52am

It's a really nasty scam this one - I'd had some great bargains on Gumtree, but they have always had a phone number contact, a home address for collection and cash payment. As Jamie says, Gumtree is NOT eBay..it's perfectly fine as long as both parties to the deal operate honestly, agree a sale, exchange phone numbers and arrange a place for face to face collection and payment.

With this scam they may give a mobile number...but say that reception is poor so best to email them (but it's a fictional unobtainable number anyway). The scammer often assumes the persona of a pleasant, personable and busy woman (even giving links to family photos..just like my would-be scammer), and will build up a fiction of what their working pattern or family commitments are in terms of maybe not being able to get back to you straight away as they are "just on the way out to visit mum" or being called in to work to do some unsociable overtime, all to build up a false sense of trustworthiness and reliability. They set the scene that they are so busy that it's difficult to make a convenient time to collect the item, so they offer to courier it over to you via UPS or ParcelForce (...isn't that nice of them?), with the offer that you'll be able to inspect it before accepting it. There's no mention of anything other than payment by cash except right at the last moment when you get this weird request for payment via a "UKash" voucher system (which appears to be sent by the delivery company, complete with reference number and other nonsense requesting payment before they release the item for delivery). This request for payment is "The Sting", because they will have played a pretty long game by now...putting out the bait with an attractively priced item, reeled you in by agreeing the sale, taken you into their confidence and then you'll be off your guard, ready to take delivery of that great bargain. The scam items are often just ripped from eBay in terms of photo and description (I now realise why the item looked sort of familiar, but it's not unknown for people to put things up on eBay and somewhere else to increase the chances of a sale)..but they don't exist and won't be delivered, they'll just take your money via UKash, Western Union or some other money transfer scheme.

It's dashed cunning....so watch out..and have a Happy New Year.

Permalink Reply by Jamie MacBlues on December 31, 2012 at 5:32am

Well put John. Main thing think is NEVER POST OR AGREE TO ACCEPT BY POST on Gumtree. Regular buyers/sellers get to feel when something is not right. But before one becomes an old hand on gumtree, there is chance scammermight by luck her someone not yet savvy. Lucky you used gumtree enuf to know somethin not right.
Cheers ma man :)

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on December 31, 2012 at 6:18am

Thanks for the tip-off
I once nearly got scammed buying a second hand caravan
There are lots of dodgey people out there.
If I sounds too good it probably is.

Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on January 4, 2013 at 2:10am

wow John clever escape! though whatever anyone says about ebay i always manage to get my money back on faulty goods, and a call to their hotline sorted out a scammer a few years ago! ( a hijacker trying to advertise my stuff cheap and run off with the money, a £400 guitar for 200...?).

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on January 4, 2013 at 2:52am

It wasn't a clever escape...it's just that the whole UKash thing sounded fishy. I'd never heard of UKash before, it seemed a strange thing to ask me to do, and immediately I thought "scam". I simply Googled "UKash Gumtree scam" and hey presto...loads of info up there.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on January 12, 2013 at 7:43am

I went onto Gumtree again...being very cautious, and spotted this...a lovely Santa Cruz guitar, local to me - a really rare model, that's why I thought it was a bit odd...but only £750...for something that would be about $3000 new. Sure enough, did a little Googling and found the pics and description had been copied direct from an eBay ad in the USA from a few days ago.

I've reported it to Gumtree...but it's reinforced my impression that there's a lot of this particular nasty scam about...be careful people.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/santa-cruz-roy-smeck-model-guitar...

eBay item 230896340525 if you want to see what it's copied from.