Almost fell for a scam… a bit disturbed

[Opal93]

Yesterday I put an add up for a sofa on gumtree. I had someone message very interested saying they wanted it and could I remove the add. I said to please pay via PayPal or bank transfer and sent him my email but not my bank details. I then got an email from him saying he was in a wheelchair and having an issue with his courier they wanted paid first, so he had sent me £500 and bank details of the “courier” and could I please pay this and then PayPal would release the funds to me. This is when alarm bells rang. I then got a very fake looking email from his address claiming to be PayPal threatening legal action and a link to pay, and if I didn’t pay in two hours they would suspend my account. I emailed him back saying this is obviously a scam and please don’t contact me again. He said what do mean etc PayPal took the money and it’s non reversible and did I not read the email from PayPal ! I said the email was not from PayPal it was from you. I didn’t click any links but I’m just panicking a bit because he does have my email address and address and phone number now so I’m worried he can get access to my email account somehow as these scammers know every trick in the book. What action should I take from here ?

If he's attempted some kind of draud/scam, surely it's reasonable to contact the police?

HumunaHey yes I was going to but then wondered would they even do anything

I think it’s Action Fraud you need to report this to.

I had an immediate reply from a person in a wheel chair wanting to buy a chair from me (add on gum tree)

When I went back and looked at the add, no one had viewed the add

They never got as far as an email as I thought it was dodgy as they’d not looked at the add

So never responded

Definitely a scam. Someone a week or so bad mentioned an ad for a car on gumtree. The seller talked about problems with a courier and wanted a deposit, before they even saw the car. It seems to be a scam going around on Gumtree at the moment.

#a week or so back, not bad.

Given that they have a whole department devoted to this kind of fraud, and this seems a particularly inept fraudster, yes, it seems pretty likely that they will act on your report.

I'd be changing my passwords in the first instance and reporting it

There was another thread like this one a few weeks ago. It's an organised scam and they're probably nowhere near you, or even in the UK, so don't worry about them having your address. It's a numbers game, if you don't bite they move on quickly.

The same activity was attempted when I was selling a car. The scammer was in a wheelchair and wanted to surprise his daughter .. scam scam scam.

You should never offer PayPal for collect items anyway or you are opening yourself up to a different, well known scam. You have no proof of delivery so they collect then claim back from PayPal
Ideally collect items should be cash on collection

Definitely a scam, they’re likely abroad and doing this to hundreds of people on gumtree every day banking on the minority who fall for it

I had something like this on FB Marketplace recently. The guy responded almost immediately to the ad going up and then he said he was going to pay for a courier to bring cash to me and then take the item away. He was going to pay but I needed to pay some kind of insurance (which he assured me would be added to the cash I was going to get for the item). All sounded a bit suss and then came a dodgy email so just blocked him.

Does shake you up when things like that happen - made me realise many people could be vulnerable to falling for them as it sounds convincing..for a while

Just did a quick google by entering "gumtree wheelchair scam"

www.facebook.com/gumtree/posts/had-an-attempted-fraudscam-today-its-the-usual-ill-send-money-for-full-amount-bu/10156221465240464/

^Kerrie SouthwartGumtree UK
8Nove8Scmbe6onar 18,g 2a0r1t1te5 · Hipperholme, United Kingdom ·
Had an attempted fraud/scam today. It's the usual "I'll send money for full amount but I'm in a wheelchair/deaf/disabled so I'll get a courier". PayPal email came from [email protected]. If you don't look closely you'll think it says PayPal. Be aware!^

Other comments in the Facebook thread say similar.

www.paypal-community.com/t5/Security-and-Fraud/gumtree-scam/td-p/1037177
^ I've just had the deaf in a wheelchair email wanting to but my fitted kitchen. Came from Suzy gmail complete with a stock photo of a grey haired elderly lady in a wheelchair!

Scams been going for years and is all over this forum and the internet if you do a search, glad you were not caught out.

The scam is that they send you a spoof email that looks as if it was from paypal saying the buyer had paid but before its released you have to pay the shipping courier via western union or moneygram.

They don't want your item / car etc they just want that payment and you never see the funds in your balance.^

I am glad I didn’t click any links or send anything, just worried that this person now knows my email address but I guess the email address by itself is public information anyway

There's no way the police want to be contacted about this kind of scam. Just ignore.

I had similar with EBay. I bought £1,300 worth of insulation and it was delivered by a local DIY store. A week later I had a call from the DIY store to say that the payment had been taken back by the seller /buyer and had I installed the insulation? All of it was between two leaves of masonry by then and as I wasn't at fault, I would have been reluctant to give the insultation back anyway!

The DIY store had taken a transaction from a foreign country in payment and the rules are different there. The transaction wasn't in my name so I can't even claim the (self build) VAT back!

I said I would give them copies of everything I had if they wanted to pursue it but I heard no more.

I contacted EBay and they took the seller off but he reappeared a few days later under a different name.

I am glad that you didn't click on any links . However I would like to say , please stop interaction s on email with this person. Report it . Your county police station website will have more details on how to report it .