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What scam is this ?


frankS

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I currently have a car for sale on Gumtree. 2006 Commodore wagon. Placed add 9am this morning and I now have a guy who wants to buy the car. ( hah hah ) 

He is in Exmouth W A and wants to direct deposit the money into my bank account and have an agent arrange to pick up the car.

Why would anyone be prepared to pay for a car so far away ? surely there are cars in WA that he could buy. 

I know it's some sort of scam but how can anyone scam just by having bank details ? nobody can withdraw funds without my password.

Should I report him to Gumtree OR don't they care ?.

Frank

 

Edited by frankS
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Scam, scam, scam.

Can't remember exactly how it works, but they put more money into your account than the car is sold for, you give them the difference back via eft and they then contact their bank and have the original amount returned to them. You loose the money you gave them.

Edited by Renegade460
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It's a scam Frank, they will provide a fake payment receipt hoping you will allow them to take the car before funds clear.

Another version of this they will want to use PayPal so they can reverse the transaction once they take the car.

Gumtree (eBay) do not care. You can report scams at the below link.

www.scamwatch.gov.au

But even they will do nothing.

Edited by SquibblyDibbly
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I sold a vintage motorcycle to a buyer in Tasmania a couple of years ago.

After a couple of phone calls I emailed him my account details, the account detailsI sent him were an account that had no money in it so its not like they can take any money out.

 

The funds came through while he was arranging shipping to Tasmania.

 

As soon as the funds were in my account($11,000) I tranfered it to another account.

 

He got his freight handler to pick up the bike 7 days later.

 

Deal done.

 

I have done plenty of sales of different items the same way, when I see the money I send the item.

 

The would be person who is trying to scam you would have to have a lot of personal information about you already, yes there are people out there trying this stuff but if they dont want to call you & ask about intimate details about the item then it would sound sus.

 

 

 

Edited by kingie chaser
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Another thing Frank is while you say they have cars there, more than likely cars in other states & remote are all over priced & it can cheaper for someone look at a vehicle in another state, pay shipping or come & get it & it would still be cheaper for them.

Some area's also have limited supplies!

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15 minutes ago, noelm said:

Also some ask you to pay half the freight, which you never see, you just lost some cash, no payment for car, no freight is ever organised, just your half in his pocket.

I would never expect to pay someone elses freight charges, they want it they can come get it!

 

The exception is some smaller items I sell via Ebay where offering free freight hightens the chances of a quick sale, but not a car or really anything over 5kg even.

 

Even then, I factor the postage into the sale price, they either buy it or they dont 😉

Edited by kingie chaser
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This bloke doesn't want to talk on the phone cause he has some sort of ear damage caused by his flight to WA , he claims now that he is there for his sons wedding and won't be home till March.

At least email doesn't cost me anything, another scammer is using text and it costs me 55 cents every time I reply to his text.

I was expecting several lowballers to make ridiculous offers but didn't expect so many scammers.

the add is only 5 hours  old and already have 3 different scammers.

No offers yet.

Frank

 

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14 minutes ago, frankS said:

I was expecting several lowballers to make ridiculous offers but didn't expect so many scammers.

the add is only 5 hours  old and already have 3 different scammers.

No offers yet.

Frank

 

Thats what I would expect from Gumrtee & FB market place!!

Time wasters

I said it before, Im prepared to pay to advertise on sites like carsales.com.au or bikesales.com.au to cut out all the riffraff that you find on free sites

 

It was probably closer to 3 years ago, in the space of 4 weeks I had sold, a motorhome, a car & 4 vintage motorcycles all via the sites I just mentioned & all pretty painless sales & negotiations with very few genuine offers.

Car sold within 24hrs, others a little longer.

The only sale not done face to face was the bike to Tassie but still was easy to do.

 

The only things I put on Gumtree are small itmes like swag, tents, camping gear etc, all pick up only.

But I try to avoid using GT at all if possible for that reason.

 

 

 

Edited by kingie chaser
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15 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

Thats what I would expect from Gumrtee & FB market place!!

Time wasters

I said it before, Im prepared to pay to advertise on sites like carsales.com.au or bikesales.com.au to cut out all the riffraff that you find on free sites

 

It was probably closer to 3 years ago, in the space of 4 weeks I had sold, a motorhome, a car & 4 vintage motorcycles all via the sites I just mentioned & all pretty painless sales & negotiations with very few genuine offers.

Car sold within 24hrs, others a little longer.

The only sale not done face to face was the bike to Tassie but still was easy to do.

 

The only things I put on Gumtree are small itmes like swag, tents, camping gear etc, all pick up only.

But I try to avoid using GT at all if possible for that reason.

 

 

 

There's good and bad in all sale points. Back in the day all my advertised sales was through Trading post, wish they were still active. Now I do a lot of buying/selling via Ebay but the last sale cost me 1/4 of the sale price with charges so no big items now.

Frank

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1 hour ago, kingie chaser said:

the account detailsI sent him were an account that had no money in it so its not like they can take any money out.

The funds came through while he was arranging shipping to Tasmania.

As soon as the funds were in my account($11,000) I tranfered it to another account.

I have identical set up KC. I have a transaction account with around $1 in there just for receiving payments in online trading. 

Apart from that, nothing gets shipped/picked up until the funds have cleared in that account and I have transferred them out to another account.

I use eBay and Gumtree ... recently I sold the 200HP Merc on eBay $5999,... and the Mariner 15HP on Gumtree $1700. I list the item on both sites (and the advert description states - This item is listed on other sites as I am keen to sell. ) I charge more on eBay to cover the eBay fees - so I end up with the same amount in the pocket. Some buyers prefer eBay for the same item even at a higher price!

I have a couple of simple rules for both eBay and GT:

1. know the price I am willing to sell at. I rarely post something to test the market. I'd do my research, make up my mind on what I think its worth and why and post it with 10-20% negotiation buffer. 

2. coach low offers to my sell price if they are within 20%. Any offers below that either get rejected with no comment or a thanks but no. No need to waste any more time than that.

3. if I smell a scam I ignore them. If someone has just joined Gumtree and are making an offer beware. If someone has zero transactions on eBay beware.  It's very easy for a banned party to open a new account - it must be a nightmare for eBay and Gumtree to manage.

4. I never give my address via eBay or Gumtree. I request the buyer to post/message their mobile number via the site messenger and I then text them the address.  No one comes to my place without that second id. 

5. If someone want's me to keep an item - then I ask for full payment or a deposit with the commitment to send them a receipt for the deposit. I write the receipt as a bill of sale - stating the item, the full price we agreed on, the deposit as a part payment  against the price and the remaining amount due ... and anything else we may have discussed eg when will they come to pick up/pay the remainder. Final payment has to be either cash on the day, or bank deposit ahead of time so that it clears.

In the case of the 200HP, I also stated the deposit was non refundable, as I was going to have the motor removed from the boat. 

So basically, for me I treat eBay and Gumtree as business as usual - with the common sense and courtesy that you would expect. If prospective buyers seem to lack either of these, I disengage. 

Cheers Zoran

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7 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

I have identical set up KC. I have a transaction account with around $1 in there just for receiving payments in online trading. 

Apart from that, nothing gets shipped/picked up until the funds have cleared in that account and I have transferred them out to another account.

I use eBay and Gumtree ... recently I sold the 200HP Merc on eBay $5999,... and the Mariner 15HP on Gumtree $1700. I list the item on both sites (and the advert description states - This item is listed on other sites as I am keen to sell. ) I charge more on eBay to cover the eBay fees - so I end up with the same amount in the pocket. Some buyers prefer eBay for the same item even at a higher price!

I have a couple of simple rules for both eBay and GT:

1. know the price I am willing to sell at. I rarely post something to test the market. I'd do my research, make up my mind on what I think its worth and why and post it with 10-20% negotiation buffer. 

2. coach low offers to my sell price if they are within 20%. Any offers below that either get rejected with no comment or a thanks but no. No need to waste any more time than that.

3. if I smell a scam I ignore them. If someone has just joined Gumtree and are making an offer beware. If someone has zero transactions on eBay beware.  It's very easy for a banned party to open a new account - it must be a nightmare for eBay and Gumtree to manage.

4. I never give my address via eBay or Gumtree. I request the buyer to post/message their mobile number via the site messenger and I then text them the address.  No one comes to my place without that second id. 

5. If someone want's me to keep an item - then I ask for full payment or a deposit with the commitment to send them a receipt for the deposit. I write the receipt as a bill of sale - stating the item, the full price we agreed on, the deposit as a part payment  against the price and the remaining amount due ... and anything else we may have discussed eg when will they come to pick up/pay the remainder. Final payment has to be either cash on the day, or bank deposit ahead of time so that it clears.

In the case of the 200HP, I also stated the deposit was non refundable, as I was going to have the motor removed from the boat. 

So basically, for me I treat eBay and Gumtree as business as usual - with the common sense and courtesy that you would expect. If prospective buyers seem to lack either of these, I disengage. 

Cheers Zoran

Great example of a solid set of selling rules Zoran.

Security should always be in the forefront of your mind when selling stuff, there have been some examples in both FB & GT market places where sellers have come to grief both at thier homes & elsewhere.

Getting scammed online is one thing, getting mugged, stabbed or even murdered is another, you only have to google it, it happens!

 

Only thing for me with ebay is they charge you 10% of sale price & I think paypal take 1.5% or 2% of deposited money so you have to either try & add that on which is hard as you go higher up the price scale or choose a site that has a set advertising price which is sometimes way more economical. 

 

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Smells like a scam.

I have sold a number of "small" stuff over ebay when it was less greedy.  Now prefer Gumtree over ebay, and local transactions for a pre-agreed price. 

My last car (5 y.o.) was sold also through Gumtree for the fair price and even without test drive. Local buyer.  Paid by a bank cheque issued in my presence in the local bank branch. The "clowns" were coming from 2 specialized paid car sales websites.

 

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1 hour ago, frankS said:

This bloke doesn't want to talk on the phone cause he has some sort of ear damage caused by his flight to WA , he claims now that he is there for his sons wedding and won't be home till March.

At least email doesn't cost me anything, another scammer is using text and it costs me 55 cents every time I reply to his text.

I was expecting several lowballers to make ridiculous offers but didn't expect so many scammers.

the add is only 5 hours  old and already have 3 different scammers.

No offers yet.

Frank

 

I'm bored.I'm going to put my boat up for sale really cheap and have some fun with them.🤣😂

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It's worth noting that eBay, PayPal and Gumtree are all owned by eBay and despite operating in Australia, with staff in Australia, facilitating sales from Australians to other Australians and taking over a 10% cut of all sales (earning over $7 million in profit per day) they pay ZERO tax in Australia.

Makes you question who the real scammers are.

Edited by SquibblyDibbly
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1 hour ago, frankS said:

There's good and bad in all sale points. Back in the day all my advertised sales was through Trading post, wish they were still active. Now I do a lot of buying/selling via Ebay but the last sale cost me 1/4 of the sale price with charges so no big items now.

Frank

Trading post is still around.It's just gone online now.

Screenshot_20210131-161606_Chrome.jpg

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4 minutes ago, SquibblyDibbly said:

It's worth noting that eBay, PayPal and Gumtree are all owned by eBay and despite operating in Australia, with staff in Australia, facilitating sales from Australians to other Australians and taking over a 10% cut of all sales (earning over $7 million in profit per day) they pay ZERO tax in Australia.

You probably meant zero Income tax. It is not just Ebay, most big international companies do the same thing,  and not just in Australia once they can afford it. I guess the governments  accept it as long as they can charge taxes from earnings of company's employees  and companies still pay local indirect taxes and duties, GST/VAT, FBT, payroll tax, workcover, etc etc - it's all contributes to the collected revenue. 

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One of my brothers sold his Holden V8 ute late last year. He had phone calls from other states, including Tas. Many phone calls all wanting to pay cash.

Most callers told him there was a shortage of V8 utes. The Tassie bloke told my brother a mate would turn up from Sydney, give my brother cash then the Tassie bloke would fly up, collect ute and drive home.

Others willing to drive up from Vic to buy it, sight unseen.

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37 minutes ago, savit said:

You probably meant zero Income tax. It is not just Ebay, most big international companies do the same thing,  and not just in Australia once they can afford it. I guess the governments  accept it as long as they can charge taxes from earnings of company's employees  and companies still pay local indirect taxes and duties, GST/VAT, FBT, payroll tax, workcover, etc etc - it's all contributes to the collected revenue. 

No mate, zero tax on their earnings. Ask any seller on Ebay, ebays fees do not include GST as they "realise" the profits overseas.

The Aussie sellers on there are paying tax but Ebay isnt paying a cent on their revenue in Australia.

Edited by SquibblyDibbly
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