Gumtree - blitz of 90+ fraudulent adverts by one scammer

It consists of an astonishing number of cars, caravans, tractors and camper vans and now even construction machinery. In fact he'll advertise anything he can get a photograph of from the internet.

It's pretty obvious that the photos have merely been scooped from every other ad site on the internet showing vehicles in gardens, on the road, in the countryside and farmyards and posted as if they're for sale in Wembley. I doubt that all the vehicles are located in the UK let alone the London area.

That would represent, at a conservative estimate £400,000 of stock, occupying a space considerably larger than a back garden. This figure is likely to increase significantly.

As this scammer re-uses the same photos over and over, it's handy to have copies that can be spotted when used again in the future.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2005-volkswagen-t5-diesel/1058301313

2005 VOLKSWAGEN T5 Diesel £5,800

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2001-peugeot-autocruise-vista-diesel/1058300877

2001 PEUGEOT AUTOCRUISE VISTA Diesel £6,400

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2007-fiat-doblo-dynamic-danbury-petrol/1058301768

2007 FIAT DOBLO DYNAMIC DANBURY Petrol £5,900

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1993-talbot-express-1300-d-diesel/1058294345

1993 TALBOT EXPRESS 1300 D Diesel £3,900

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1995-ford-autosleeper-duetto-diesel/1058295188

1995 FORD AUTOSLEEPER DUETTO Diesel £5,800

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1996-compass-drifter-peugeot-boxer-diesel/1058296098

1996 COMPASS DRIFTER PEUGEOT BOXER Diesel £6,000

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1996-elddis-autoquest-elite-diesel/1058296721

1996 ELDDIS AUTOQUEST ELITE Diesel £5,900

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1997-compass-drifter-360-le-merit-diesel/1058297195

1997 COMPASS DRIFTER 360 le Merit Diesel £6,800

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1997-peugeot-harmony-petrol/1058297667

1997 PEUGEOT HARMONY Petrol £5,870

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1998-elddis-suntor-petrol/1058298233

1998 ELDDIS SUNTOR Petrol £5,250

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2000-auto-sleepers-symbol-petrol/1058299300

2000 AUTO-SLEEPERS SYMBOL Petrol £5,800

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2001-hymer-swing-494-diesel/1058300479

2001 HYMER SWING 494 Diesel £5,300

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2009-volkswagen-transporter-t5-19tdi-84bhp-day-van-diesel/1058302718

2009 VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER T5 1.9TDI 84BHP DAY VAN Diesel £6,800

Bizarrely the same photos from above are also used in the advert below offering a completely different make of camper van for sale, but as the fraudster has possession of neither vehicle, it doesn't really matter.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/ford-transit-350-lwb-td-diesel/1058303257

FORD TRANSIT 350 LWB TD Diesel £5,800

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2006-bailey-pageant-burgundy/1058305116

2006 BAILEY PAGEANT Burgundy £3,650

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2009-valtra-n92-hi-tech-diesel/1058291898

2009 VALTRA N92 HI-TECH Diesel £9,100

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2009-bailey-pageant-provence-series-7/1058309157

2009 BAILEY PAGEANT PROVENCE series 7 £5,100

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2006-massey-ferguson-6480-dyna-6-tractor-diesel/1058290091

2006 MASSEY FERGUSON 6480 DYNA 6 Tractor Diesel £12,300

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2014-shire-450l-4-x-4-diesel/1058292655

2014 SHIRE 450L 4 X 4 Diesel £7,000

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2012-iseki-th4335-diesel/1058292354

2012 ISEKI TH4335 Diesel £6,700

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/john-deere-6620-premium-powerquad-2002/1058293014

JOHN DEERE 6620 PREMIUM POWERQUAD (2002) £10,700

The scammer got up to page 10 totalling nearly 100 fraudulent adverts before Gumtree deleted them all, but now he's replaced them with two pages of adverts for motorbikes.

I'll add some more examples of his earlier work and get up to date with examples of his new stuff.

This cleans up with a small sample of other examples of adverts the scammer posted.

The scammer was back again yesterday and just re-posted all his 89 fraudulent adverts which, apart from covering tractors, camper vans and construction equipment, also includes motorbikes.

They're still there

http://www.gumtree.com/sellerads/1058478366

His profile states that he's been posting items since March 2014. Though it wouldn't stop him, I would have though blitz posting fraudulent adverts was sufficient grounds to delete the profile.

When criminals are loading ad sites with this level of fraudulent adverts they make the site worthless. I doubt that he'll hook many victims, but he only needs a few successes per week to be able to turn over a multi millions pound criminal enterprises, especially as Gumtree isn't the only ad site affected.

I'll collect and post further examples of his fraudulent adverts as he keeps re-submitting them.

They have now been removed but I have no doubt they'll be back shortly, This scammer doesn't bother posting fraudulent adverts individually. He blitzes ad sites and I'll post further examples when he posts the next batch.

The tractor man has begun posting on Gumtree again tonight, so I should get a chance to copy some more examples of his ten pages of fraudulent adverts.

http://www.gumtree.com/sellerads/1058979162

I'm quite shocked at how quickly Gumtree reacted to my report.

I didn't even get a chance to collect the full set - another day perhaps.