GUMTREE - PAYPAL SCAM

Almost got scammed $1050 while trying to sell my car on Gumtree.
Fake Name: Mark Philis
Fake Email: [email protected]
Fake Number: 0428465117

Process: After posting my ad he contacted me by sms interested in purchasing the vehicle and wanted to communicate by email. Claims to be a Marine Engineer out at sea who has limited internet connectiviity and wants to pay for the car using paypal, and advises that the car will be shipped to the Northern Territory. He then asks me to manually pay for the freight, whereby he will pay me the freight money through paypal as he doesn't have access to western union. This, combined with his terribly structured english, got me suspicious. I googled his name and thats what saved me! See dialogue below... (his responses are highlighted in red)


Last

On 06/08/2013, at 7:32 PM, Removed (BW) wrote:

Well it seems that you almost fooled me. It appears that you are quite the regular scammer on Gumtree as I have seen. I will be reporting our conversation and dialogue to paypal and publicly announcing on gumtree media how I almost got scammed. I suppose your little stint may have worked a little better if you could actually construct proper sentences in English. It would be ludicrous to think that a 'marine engineer' would have English as poor as a fifth grader. Please, why bother trying to cheat innocent people looking to sell their stuff on gumtree. It is so immoral and wrong. Find something better to do with your time.

On 06/08/2013, at 7:22 PM, Removed (BW) wrote:


Hi Mark,

I am no longer selling the vehicle.

Regards,

Jamie

On 06/08/2013, at 6:56 PM, Mark Philis <[email protected]> wrote:

I need to inform you about this,just received an email from my pick agent from China...Am most sure i did not include that in my previous email,And they said they won't come for the pick up unless i pay the agent commission fee first in order to be able to schedule a pick up time.I am a Chief Engineer as my position on the sea here,and the ship i am on is the Fleet Aircraft Carrier.I am so busy and can not pay the agent fees from here as they Requested that i pay them with western union So what i will do here is that i will send the payment in the total amount of $4,750.00 AUD. So once you receive the confirmation of the payment from PayPal,you will deduct the promised amount for the good which is $3,700.00 AUD and the remaining $950.00 AUD will be send down to my agent By Western Union.the extra $100 is main for the western union charges.

Kindly get back to me as soon as possible so i can proceed with the payment.

Thanks and reply asap.


On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 9:38 AM, Removed (BW) wrote:
Alright excellent then. My paypal email address is Removed (BW).

After I receive payment ($3,700), freight is welcome to collect the car. The pickup address is:

[Deleted]

We will also need to organise transfer of registration..

Regards,

Removed (BW)


On 06/08/2013, at 6:11 PM, Mark Philis <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks so much mate for the swift response, am ok with the full condition and the price, so kindly advice me your paypal registered email so i can pay in now, kindly advice so i can proceed with the payment asap... looking forward to hear back from you soonest.

Regards

On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Removed (BW) wrote:
Hi Mark,

Since it appears you are willing to buy without coming to inspect the vehicle yourself, I just want you to be absolutely clear what you are buying so that there are no misunderstandings.

The car was originally purchased in November 1997 when our family moved to Australia. For the first 10 years or so of its life it was our family car. After I finished High School my dad lent it to me to use whilst at university. I eventually bought it (internally) off my dad although it is still registered under my dads name (i.e. one registered owner).

The car has always been serviced when required by the log books as we always got a call from Mitsubishi when it was around time to be due, and my dad made sure we got it serviced (he is keen on car safety). It was last serviced at around 197000 km. The servicing has meant that all required major items were replaced at the time required by the manufacturer. The car runs well, and I’m sure it has many many kms in it yet before it causes any problems. The service books will tell your son what needs to be done at the next service.

The reason why I am selling it is because I have made the decision to move to the UK as I am a British / Australian dual citizen, so I’ve been going about the process of selling everything I own.

Now as stated the car runs fine mechanically, however I want to go into more detail with regards to the impact with wildlife as mentioned in the ad as you are not inspecting it with your own eyes. Basically I hit a kangaroo when driving in the country which caused the right side panel to dent, a small crack in the front bumper, and a broken front indicator.

Instead of taking the car to smash repairers, I decided to carry out a self repair involving dismantling the right side panel and straightening it, and purchasing and installing a new right indicator. The finished result looks pretty decent (refer to the photo) although it is clear there is some denting and scuff marks on the side panel, and a small crack on the bumper. Also, since the securing mechanism for the indicator on the car had broken, I devised my own way to safely secure the right indicator to the car involving tying it with high tensile string. In other words, the right indicator is not connected to the car using the conventional screws, but via string. It is however, very secure and wont cause any problems. It is just a cosmetic thing that I think you should know.

I just thought you should understand this exactly so there is no confusion. I will take some close up photos of the damage first thing tomorrow and send to you so it is clear. If we are still interested after that, then we can make further arrangements.

The only other thing I can think of is that one of the tires will probably need to be replaced soon. Still roadworthy but getting low on tread.

If you are still interested in buying the car, we can make further arrangements as discussed.

Thanks,

Removed (BW)

On 06/08/2013, at 5:23 PM, Mark Philis <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks for the response,I would have loved to call you directly but due to the nature of my work we do not have access to phone at the moment,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.

I am buying this for my first son who just graduated on top of his class at Charles Darwin University in NT ,He studied Building Design & Architecture. I want it to be the perfect graduation gift for him and am making it a surprise package ,Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling if you don't mind my asking. I don't mind adding an extra $300.00 for you just to take down the posting..I am already in talks with freighters that will handle the pickup and delivery .I will really appreciate if you can email more info

Due to the nature of my work i am a very busy man working all day,am a sailor am presently on-board, i don't have access to my bank account online as am not with my credit card details here but i have my ANZ bank account link up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through PayPal to your nominated bank account or better still is if you have a PayPal account ,please get back to me with your BSB and account details or PayPal account so i can proceed with the payment and contact the courier agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it in NT for my son .Await your reply .

Regards

On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 8:21 AM, Removed (BW) wrote:
Good Evening Mark,

Thanks for looking at my ad. As stated the selling price is $3700. Call me or email me if you are interested in buying and / or to come over and inspect. The car is situated in Terrigal. As stated in the ad, it runs absolutely fine and has never, in its history ever run into any mechanical problems as its been serviced every 15000km as per the log books (my dad made sure of this).

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.

Cheers,

Jamie

--
Hello, I came across your listing on Gumtree Ad, is it still up for sale? If yes, kindly get back to me as soon as possible.

Thanks
Mark

google brought me here.

I too have had +61428465117 text

Sent from: marcin
Hi, what is the condition of your car and the lowest price you want it to go for get back to me via [email protected]

this number is becoming famous.

The amusing thing is that scammers also post fake vehicle for sale adverts on ad sites and they must get a lot of scammers contacting them too.



Now there's karma for you.

Attempted scam today by user of 0428465117, again responding to a Gumtree ad. Email account used was [email protected] (pseudonym Paul Jason).
The scammer used the same text and MO as experienced by others in this forum, i.e., using the mobile number to make contact then lame excuse about the need to use email account and then even lamer text (below). Like others in this forum, I have experienced scammers posting fictitious ads on Gumtree as well. Their sole aim is identity theft and illegally accessing private and financial data.
Rule of thumb for potential Gumtree user victims is:
if they're not in the locality and express interest, then beware;
if they cannot provide a local contact at all, be very suspicious;
if they are prepared to purchase sight unseen, be very suspicious;
if they provide a story that just doesn't feel right or make sense, they're scammers;
if they make too-good-to-be-true promises, they're scammers;
if they seek personal and especially financial details; they're scammers.

Gumtree will remove ads posted by suspected scammers, but it's difficult to stop scammers posing as buyers. However, authorities will be interested in their activities under the cybercrime banner. Report them.

Thanks for mailing back,am ok with the price and the condition,i work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kupe project.We do not have access to phone at the moment,its 15days off and 15days on and that's why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.Regarding the payment,i will be paying you through PayPal,please get back to me with your paypal details so i can process the payment,you can alternatively send your bsb and acct number if you have no PayPal acct.I have also contacted my courier who will come for pick up and deliver it to my place in Darwin after the whole fund has been cleared into your acct.
Await your reply

Their sole aim is identity theft and illegally accessing private and financial data.

They are fraudulent, but just to clarify to avoid unnecessarily alarming those who may have mistakenly responded to one of these: The scammers behind these particular ads are not identity thieves. They don't even want what you are selling. They are after quick cash, nothing more. If you have responded to an email like this with nothing more than your basic name and paypal email address or your bank branch and account number, you do not need to be overly worried.

What the scammer intends to do in this scenario is to send a fake Paypal email, claiming that you have been paid for the item PLUS shipping. The email will indicate that the funds are on hold until you pay the "shipper" (who is supposedly going to come pick up the item.) The "shipper" usually requires payment by western Union or Moneygram. The email will claim that once you have paid this money, your payment will be released to you.

In reality, no money has been sent, and the "shipper" is fake. Any money you send for "shipping" will be passed on to the scammer, who will walk away to the cash and disappear. Nobody will ever show up to pick up the item, because the scammer wanted the cash, not the item.

For example, let's say you post an ad for a kitchen set for $1000.
-The scammer sends you this email (note how it doesn't even mention what the item is--that's because he is sending this email to hundreds of people selling everything from furniture to clothing, and he doesn't want to spend his time editing it.
-If you agree to sell him the item, you provide your paypal email address.
-Scammer will send a fake paypal email, claiming that you received $1500 (this is just an example number, it could actually be more or less.) The email will state that the money is on hold, and it will be released after you send proof of the shipping payment.
-Often the email will have some idiotic claim about how this particular transaction cannot be reversed.
-The email will instruct you to send the "extra" $500 to his "shipper." You will most likely be told to send the money via WU or Moneygram.
-If you don't send the money, the scammer may start to harass you, claiming that you have stolen his money since he can't reverse the "payment."
-If you send the money, and send the "evidence" as required, it will quickly be collected.
-After the money sent to the "shipper" is collected you will find that there is still no money in your paypal account. If you contact paypal, they will tell you that no payment was made to your account.
-The $500 you sent to the shipper can't be taken back if it has been picked up.
-Nobody will show up to pick up the furniture, because the scammer got what he was really after: $500 of your own money.

In the (less common, many of these scammers will invent reasons why it ultimately has to be paypal) bank account variant, the scammer may "flash" your account, making it temporarily seem like a real deposit has been made, then he will follow the exact same course, walking away with the "shipping" costs.

Hi All

Last night decided to finally sell my car as my missus has her inlaws coming to live with us for 6 months so I need to get a bigger car. I got replies back within 60mins the first 2 were legit and I saw them today.

Well I wouldn't have believed it myself until it happened to me
but during the day I got 2 sms's both asking me to reply back to their email addresses rather than reply sms strange I thought but to the first I sms him anyway as I could see a phone number the other I emailed as it was private I guessed.

They both asked what was my best price and the condition of the car I gave them an honest reply and dropped $500 off for a quick settlement.

Later I checked my emails and I got a reply see below .....

On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 6:44 PM, Rivard thompson <[email protected]> wrote:

Thank you for the mail,i am okay with the condition Likewise your
asking price is quite reasonable and affordable considering others
I've seen lately, I'll have it for the listed price,please kindly send me your
BANK details or pay pal payment email and name to set up purchase,as i don't have access to my bank
account online as am not with my credit card details here on our mine site but i have my ANZ bank account
linked up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through PayPal to your nominated bank account
I will arrange for pick up and delivery of my freight agent after the cleared payment to your account.
Many Thanks

Knowing Paypal and how they work I thought well thats secure they can't get cash out of me but its a bit strange to buy the car without even looking at it?

So I Googled "scams that run in Gumtree" just in case and found this site then after reading a couple pages I was reassured my gut was right.

The 1st Bastard is using the phone which appears all the time in here 0428 465 117 his name is Mark whom I texted the other hides his number but goes by the email address [email protected] shows his name Rivard but no number.

Googled Rivards email as I didnt find anything here and got another site

"http://www.dungbeetlebiker.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1235.html"

they dont hold back on that site so probably not a good idea to read it if your a church goer.

I havent even bothered to reply back to Rivard not gonna give him the nice warm feeling hes had that already.

As always if its too good to be true it probably is and remember some bastard is preying on that

Scammers use free online SMS services to send their bulk messages because they don't want to spend any money.

It stands to reason then that if you're contacted by SMS and you can't SMS back you're dealing with a scammer. The SMS services don't allow you to receive messages. E-mail service providers are much quicker to spot and shut down mass mailers and the scammers like replies to go a different service to avoid losing potential victims if their mass mailing is detected.

Another way to catch them out is, if they don't mention what type of vehicle it is you're selling, don't mention what it is in your reply. Then see if they know what it is they're buying. A scammer won't as he's not interested in your vehicle at all. You can always tell him you have two adverts and ask him which one he's responding to.

Hi there I have had an identical case , I advertised my partners van on Gumtree.The man John Derek claims he is a marine engineer and is buying our van for his son and is at sea. Hmm I smelled a rat straight away however my partner was unsure so I set him up a PayPal account, now he wants £300 to pay for pick up to his agent and yes he has overpaid also, this is just to hook you in and try and make you feel responsible, he has also sent me several fake PayPal e-mails, you can tell they are fake from the address as it is now from a woman [email protected] claiming she is from the PayPal team. REALLY ! Anyway he is getting nothing. His phone number is also widely known online it is +61428465117 I am playing stupid at the moment,
he has no idea I am aware it is a scam, I figure if I waste some of his time it might be one less person he gets to scam today, as he is prolific. I feel sorry for the people who have actually paid the idiot. I think gumtree should have something in place to stop this as it is getting too common place. Good luck to everyone and hope you don't get scammed by this creep.

Welcome to Scamwarners scotchiebird.

It can't be stressed enough, but if someone is offering to buy a vehicle without viewing it first, they're either an idiot or a scammer. Of course they don't tell you they won't view it but that's why they're giving you the marine engineer story up front. Apart from you not expecting them to view it, you will not be surprised that they arrange someone else to collect it.

The tricky bit is when they send you a spoof Paypal message overpaying you a sum including the money for the shipping company's expenses that they want you to pay by Western Union or MoneyGram. Sellers are often a bit dizzy by this stage, but simply, a seller should never pay a buyer anything. They don't want your vehicle and there is no money other than the money you send to the fake shipper that the scammer will pick up.

When the scammer is selling vehicles, the same caution should be applied. If you can't view the vehicle beforehand, don't buy it. Scammers have set up the most ingenious fake schemes and phoney websites designed to make you believe purchasing vehicles unseen is safe. It isn't, there is no more better way to safeguard your money than to actually see what it is you're supposed to be buying. If you pay money to a stranger and he turns out to have been a scammer, your money is gone.

Thank god for this site... Looks like this scammer is still at it .
My story is a similar one... Listed a car on gumtree got a quick response from mobile number +61428465117
Unable to reply via text so email to .. [email protected]
Many emails came from "Steve" claiming to be interested in my vehicle he would pay via PayPal etc and then dramas with the shipping co and if he sent extra could I send money via western union etc... SCAM ALERT
no way buddy... Please people if it sounds to good to be true.... It usually is ...

I listed my car on gumtree today .. this evening I received a text from 0427767864 that says "I saw your vehicle on gumtree what is the last price offer and why are your selling it? Pls email me on [email protected] "
I knew straight away this was dodgy but decided to play along to see where this goes.
I emailed Simeon Jones answering the questions.
I received this reply:
"Roxy,
Thanks for the response,i am very satisfied with your advert and your price,kindly get back to me with its condition,i will be requesting this transaction should be done via PayPal,kindly send me your PayPal email or send me money request,you can alternatively send me your bank account details if you don't have account with PayPal,so that i can proceed with the payment asap as am very busy at work and do not have much time around me.Make sure you get back to me asap,so that we can arrange for pick up as i will like the pick up to hold at your residence location,so no shipping.
Looking forward to read from you asap. "

This one seems to be less involved than previous emails I have read here - with less attempt at the English. But I have no doubt any future emails will add the various specifics such as a courier company - working offshore etc ...
I am actually curious what version the story will be.

Anyway, glad I found this forum which confirmed what I already knew - and hope adding this person's 'details' here will help inform others.

I will post any further update to this here.

There are two basic versions lionel99, depending on whether you are buying or selling a car. In either case the buyer/seller won't come to view the car or allow you to come and view it. In the case of them selling a vehicle they now use bogus 'escrow' sites to try and reassure you that your payment is secure (It isn't). They particularly favour a bogus Ebay Protection Scheme. and send a lot of fancy messages to back up the scam.

In the case where you're the seller, the basic idea is that they overpay you to cover payment to an imaginary collection agent by Western Union who is, of course, them. They spoof a Paypal payment message to pretend they've sent the money. Log in to Paypal to check whether or not you have received any payment. Don't rely on e-mail messages that can easily be spoofed.

It's a cheap and cheerful scam, and easy to send off hundreds of SMS messages or e-mails and hope a few will bite.

It might sound nice and easy if someone will buy your vehicle without viewing it first, but most times it's a scammer wasting your time. Get to know what to watch out for and you can just ignore hem.

I just realised the mobile phone number I wrote in my previous post as being from the supposed 'buyer' has been listed a few times on this thread ...
this person certainly gets around !

I knew straight away this was dodgy but decided to play along to see where this goes.

Playing along or "baiting" can be fun to do but you need to know the risk involved and the steps you must take to protect yourself....

I am also playing with the scammer who responded to my gumtree add but only because I listed my gmail addy on gumtree and not my bigpond addy....
Also the paypal addy I gave the scammer is under a made up name with same email and was made that day...
In other words my scammer can never find me....

Just to prove that my scammer is not in Australia and knows nothing about Aussies I told him that I was going to be away for 3 days kangaroo riding with my friends in the mountains....
After 4 days when he kept emailing wanting to know where his money is I told him that a rattle snake spooked my roo and threw me off....I broke leg and arm and am now in hospital.....
He bought my BS hook line and sinker...))

Well I received the expected story.

I was told to send Western Union payment to:
Natalie Hoskin
46A Scalby Street
Doubleview, WA 6018
Australia

I would like to know how they collect from the Western Union office for this scam. Do they simply have people everywhere with fakes ID's ?

Shouldn't Western Union be doing something about this also ?