Scammer alert for Gumtree sellers

[JLH]

Hi JLH,

 

Can you confirm who the email came via? Gumtree or Bike Hub?

 

Edit: I assume gumtree given the nature of this thread, but just making 100% sure

 

Thanks

Matt

It was sent via gmail so I am not sure if he got it via gumtree or the hub. 

[ramo]

someone should have the pickup agent arrested. 

[Grebel]

This is just a heads up to anyone that may stumble across this person. Forewarned is forearmed. 

 

My son was looking for a graphics card for his PC recently and one came up on Gumtree that he was interested in. (A Geforce GTX 1080Ti for around R4k). Looked like a really good price (Usually priced at around R6-8k second hand so not an unrealistic bargain) so he contacted the seller. 

 

After some WhatsApp chat and a few pictures of the card in the tower, a deal was struck, Delivery address was confirmed and payment was maid via E-Wallet.

 

That's when the comms went dead and we realised that he had been scammed.....

 

User name and details:

Isaac van der Walt

0664297171

0870945575

 

Dialled the number but goes to voice mail (Not surprisingly)

 

The cell number has been traced and was last active in the Pretoria area.

 

All I can say is that I hope that Isaac needed that money for something really important because if he didn't, the universe has the amazing ability to restore balance. It has reduced my son's faith in humanity and taught him a few life lessons. If it looks too good to be true, it usually is. Trust no one.

 

Nothing to be done except to warn others.

[T_Boss]

This is just a heads up to anyone that may stumble across this person. Forewarned is forearmed.

 

My son was looking for a graphics card for his PC recently and one came up on Gumtree that he was interested in. (A Geforce GTX 1080Ti for around R4k). Looked like a really good price (Usually priced at around R6-8k second hand so not an unrealistic bargain) so he contacted the seller.

 

After some WhatsApp chat and a few pictures of the card in the tower, a deal was struck, Delivery address was confirmed and payment was maid via E-Wallet.

 

That's when the comms went dead and we realised that he had been scammed.....

 

User name and details:

Isaac van der Walt

0664297171

0870945575

 

Dialled the number but goes to voice mail (Not surprisingly)

 

The cell number has been traced and was last active in the Pretoria area.

 

All I can say is that I hope that Isaac needed that money for something really important because if he didn't, the universe has the amazing ability to restore balance. It has reduced my son's faith in humanity and taught him a few life lessons. If it looks too good to be true, it usually is. Trust no one.

 

Nothing to be done except to warn others.

Sorry you got caught up in this. Rule of thumb though is never ever ever pay an unknown 3rd party with ewallet/cashsend etc.

[Lomar Botha]

What's with the scammers wanting to pay with payfast these days?

The last week I had one of these idiots rashing me, was very insistent that I open a payfast acc and that he pay via them. Strung him along for a while then told him to collect the item at the cop station

 

 

 

i dont know????

it’s always payfast or paypal

and when you tell them no

they send you a link to paypal and tell you how to set it up????????

[T_Boss]

i dont know????

it’s always payfast or paypal

and when you tell them no

they send you a link to paypal and tell you how to set it up????????

I'm a bit confused as to how a scammer uses payfast or PayPal to their advantage. On both platforms you need to be "verified" with copies of bank statements, proof of address, government issued ID's etc.

 

PayPal payments clear into the recipient account instantly, and in a p2p payment, like a classifieds sale, there is no way for the person making the payment to claw back the money, without the cooperation of the recipient.

 

Payfast on the other hand is an online payment gateway for accepting credit card payments, and the recipient waits days before funds clear, and they withhold amounts as security in case of fraud, sometimes up to a month.

 

I really don't understand what angle people use to use those platforms for scamming. Paying anyone via Cashsend or Ewallet however is a whole other ballgame. Why anyone would do that is beyond me

[MORNE]

Scumtree and Bolx = cash sales only. Easy as that. The interested oarties will make a plan. case And point:

 

I once listed a old large format architectural plotter/printer on there for around R8k cash. I started getting phone calls from Zim...answered, but with the utmost of discretion. It seemed initially like i was entertaining a scammer. Anyway, i told the guy...cash on collection...if he comes with R8k cash and a means to put that motorbike sized printer into/onto something...i will have no qualms selling it to him.

 

Fast forward 4 weeks later...i get a random phone call one day and its the same guy. He says he’s in cape town and I must keep it for him if still available. I tell him the same thing...come with the cold hard cash and you can have it...and to my surprise we set up an appointment. I naturally make sure i have plenty of backup at this stage lol.

 

Long story short...he eventually makes it there...with his uncle from EC in n golf 1. He got on a bus in Zim with his $US500 od..rode that bus down to PE for a week long, the drove with his uncle to cape town for the first time in his life. His first time ever in SA. Went to a foreign exchange, got randelas...and paid me the money. Then Loaded that thing into said golf 1 ( i didnt think it was possible) and his uncle drove him straight to the bus station again where they were going to load that thing in the bus and he was riding the bus back to zim. Crazy.

 

Turns out, with the economic ‘upturn’ in zim after bob died...there is alot of building happening again but a huge shortage of guys able to print large format architectural plans for projects. This guy trusted me enough to come to a new country for the first time in a bus to buy something that would be an investment in his business and future. His story and tenacity made me self reflect a bit that night....

Edited June 26, 2020 by morneS555

[BaGearA]

Scumtree and Bolx = cash sales only. Easy as that. The interested oarties will make a plan. case And point:

 

I once listed a old large format architectural plotter/printer on there for around R8k cash. I started getting phone calls from Zim...answered, but with the utmost of discretion. It seemed initially like i was entertaining a scammer. Anyway, i told the guy...cash on collection...if he comes with R8k cash and a means to put that motorbike sized printer into/onto something...i will have no qualms selling it to him.

 

Fast forward 4 weeks later...i get a random phone call one day and its the same guy. He says he’s in cape town and I must keep it for him if still available. I tell him the same thing...come with the cold hard cash and you can have it...and to my surprise we set up an appointment. I naturally make sure i have plenty of backup at this stage lol.

 

Long story short...he eventually makes it there...with his uncle from EC in n golf 1. He got on a bus in Zim with his $US500 od..rode that bus down to PE for a week long, the drove with his uncle to cape town for the first time in his life. His first time ever in SA. Went to a foreign exchange, got randelas...and paid me the money. Then Loaded that thing into said golf 1 ( i didnt think it was possible) and his uncle drove him straight to the bus station again where they were going to load that thing in the bus and he was riding the bus back to zim. Crazy.

 

Turns out, with the economic ‘upturn’ in zim after bob died...there is alot of building happening again but a huge shortage of guys able to print large format architectural plans for projects. This guy trusted me enough to come to a new country for the first time in a bus to buy something that would be an investment in his business and future. His story and tenacity made me self reflect a bit that night....

*little faith in humanity restored #wholesome

[Mojoman]

This is just a heads up to anyone that may stumble across this person. Forewarned is forearmed. 

 

My son was looking for a graphics card for his PC recently and one came up on Gumtree that he was interested in. (A Geforce GTX 1080Ti for around R4k). Looked like a really good price (Usually priced at around R6-8k second hand so not an unrealistic bargain) so he contacted the seller. 

 

After some WhatsApp chat and a few pictures of the card in the tower, a deal was struck, Delivery address was confirmed and payment was maid via E-Wallet.

 

That's when the comms went dead and we realised that he had been scammed.....

 

User name and details:

Isaac van der Walt

0664297171

0870945575

 

Dialled the number but goes to voice mail (Not surprisingly)

 

The cell number has been traced and was last active in the Pretoria area.

 

All I can say is that I hope that Isaac needed that money for something really important because if he didn't, the universe has the amazing ability to restore balance. It has reduced my son's faith in humanity and taught him a few life lessons. If it looks too good to be true, it usually is. Trust no one.

 

Nothing to be done except to warn others.

Thanks for the heads upI have been looking for a GPU for a while and have seen a few 'good deals' on Bumtree. Ive also seen a couple of the Ti's floating around out there...I think I'll rather hang on and try and buy new or from someone I know...hopefully this pile of turd gets a good kicking somewhere at some stage....

[T_Boss]

Scumtree and Bolx = cash sales only. Easy as that. The interested oarties will make a plan. case And point:

 

I once listed a old large format architectural plotter/printer on there for around R8k cash. I started getting phone calls from Zim...answered, but with the utmost of discretion. It seemed initially like i was entertaining a scammer. Anyway, i told the guy...cash on collection...if he comes with R8k cash and a means to put that motorbike sized printer into/onto something...i will have no qualms selling it to him.

 

Fast forward 4 weeks later...i get a random phone call one day and its the same guy. He says he’s in cape town and I must keep it for him if still available. I tell him the same thing...come with the cold hard cash and you can have it...and to my surprise we set up an appointment. I naturally make sure i have plenty of backup at this stage lol.

 

Long story short...he eventually makes it there...with his uncle from EC in n golf 1. He got on a bus in Zim with his $US500 od..rode that bus down to PE for a week long, the drove with his uncle to cape town for the first time in his life. His first time ever in SA. Went to a foreign exchange, got randelas...and paid me the money. Then Loaded that thing into said golf 1 ( i didnt think it was possible) and his uncle drove him straight to the bus station again where they were going to load that thing in the bus and he was riding the bus back to zim. Crazy.

 

Turns out, with the economic ‘upturn’ in zim after bob died...there is alot of building happening again but a huge shortage of guys able to print large format architectural plans for projects. This guy trusted me enough to come to a new country for the first time in a bus to buy something that would be an investment in his business and future. His story and tenacity made me self reflect a bit that night....

 Wow.... Never expected to find a good news story on a thread about Scammers..... Im going to have a better day, just becasue I read that...

 

[Grebel]

Thanks for the heads upI have been looking for a GPU for a while and have seen a few 'good deals' on Bumtree. Ive also seen a couple of the Ti's floating around out there...I think I'll rather hang on and try and buy new or from someone I know...hopefully this pile of turd gets a good kicking somewhere at some stage....

 

If it raises awareness in just one person I am happy.

 

Like I said, when he looked at it, it didn't shout scam (The price was very good but in light of the state of the current economy, people are selling things off to put food on the table so not a completely unrealistic price if he was planning to move it quickly)

 

I am not happy that we lost the money (Mom lent him the cash), but what hurt more was seeing how it affected him because he's responsible.

 

Unfortunately you can't go through the school of life without paying some school fees. Lesson learned I am sure.

[DR ◣◢]

Listed a bike this morning on scamtree

 

It wasn't 15 minutes before the first whatsapp call came in. Guy wanted the bike without asking a single question and asked for banking details. 

 

Told him it's cash only and he said he would phone me again. Needless to say I won't hear from him again. 

[Me rida my bicycle]

Just had a ad removed from Facebook these scammers are everywhere. I just love it when they can't even copy of the names. Full carbon Santa Cruz but it's was clearly a alu Chameleon, he said Sram photo said Shimano SLX?? And guys where sending messages like crazy because price was R10k.

I am sorry if you get scammed by a ad like that it is your own fault. It took me 2 minutes to find the photos on the web and know for sure it's a scam.

[Mojoman]

If it raises awareness in just one person I am happy.

 

Like I said, when he looked at it, it didn't shout scam (The price was very good but in light of the state of the current economy, people are selling things off to put food on the table so not a completely unrealistic price if he was planning to move it quickly)

 

I am not happy that we lost the money (Mom lent him the cash), but what hurt more was seeing how it affected him because he's responsible.

 

Unfortunately you can't go through the school of life without paying some school fees. Lesson learned I am sure.

Yep, if there is one thing in life for certain its that its full of lessons for us....Tell him not to feel too bad...we all get burnt and its how we learn....

[hyltonenglish]

Just had a ad removed from Facebook these scammers are everywhere. I just love it when they can't even copy of the names. Full carbon Santa Cruz but it's was clearly a alu Chameleon, he said Sram photo said Shimano SLX?? And guys where sending messages like crazy because price was R10k.

I am sorry if you get scammed by a ad like that it is your own fault. It took me 2 minutes to find the photos on the web and know for sure it's a scam.

Also reported this advert. Took a screenshot of it too and it was taken down. He posted another advert last night selling a Shimano "12" speed Derailuer and crank. It was 11 spd XT and a Race Face Crank. It's now been taken down. He posts on Secondhand bike stuff group on Facebook. Please be aware. His name is "Alex Smith"

Edited July 2, 2020 by hyltonenglish

[Bomberman]

Also reported this advert. Took a screenshot of it too and it was taken down. He posted another advert last night selling a Shimano "12" speed Derailuer and crank. It was 11 spd XT and a Race Face Crank. It's now been taken down. He posts on Secondhand bike stuff group on Facebook. Please be aware. His name is "Alex Smith"

Not sure if hes a scammer or just  very clueless with bike parts. Hes trying to sell me a gravel fork, told me its a 120mm  boost fork which be bought for 11k, its actually a 40mm fork gravelbike  and he wants 4k???