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A few people on here may remember a post I made in another thread in early December, but for those who don't i'll just re-cap the story;
I posted a wanted ad on Gumtree in search of parts for my Nissan Bluebird, and more or less instantly I got reply via text from a guy in Birmingham breaking a black example, I enquired about the bonnet which he said was good and gave me an instant price including postage, so I done payment via bank transfer (guy seemed so genuine no alarm bells went off). Up to this point we had been exchanging messages more or less instantly but as soon as I confirmed that the payment had been made - well, you can guess what happened. Over the course of the next two weeks he would only reply after I sent at least 3-4 messages and always with a different excuse for not confirming it had been posted, then when I finally got fed up asking for tracking details or if it had actually been sent and asked for my money back - he went very silent, what a surprise.
Anyway, just a few days ago I re-posted the ad, as there a still a few bits I need, and guess what? someone replied almost instantly via text, saying they had a black Nissan Bluebird they were breaking but said they were located in Manchester. A few texts got exchanged with questions, replied to almost instantly - and as before, guy gave me an instant price for the parts I enquired about of £100 including postage (notice a pattern here?), before sending a message saying 'but how will you pay me?' the EXACT same message the guy from 'Birmingham' used. I now had a choice - do I confront them or play them on for a bit longer?
I decided for the latter option, as having lost the previous individual's number I could not be 100% sure if they were one and the same and did not want to be rude towards an innocent person, although the last few digits of the number rang a bell - so I was about 97% sure.
So I decide to call their bluff and asked if they would take payment via PayPal (even though I don't have an account but know people who do). The messages went very quiet after that, funny enough, only for them to reply a couple of hours later to reply no - but would I pay via another method? and I have heard no more.
I'm not sure if this was an isolated incident targeting just my advert or part of a wider scam, or indeed just pure co-incidence , but if anyone gets a reply to a wanted ad. from a mobile ending in 524542 - proceed with caution.
I am posting this in the hope that by doing so I might be able to prevent someone else getting ripped off in the same way I did.
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fazzer
Part of things
Posts: 213
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Gumtree is full of scammers,look at vw campers you can pick up a 2015 fully kitted out model for 4 grand.A dead giveaway is look at pictures of said van and one of pics will be an email address they want you to use,I'm always reporting dodgy ones.
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If you want anything off Gumtree and can't collect it, I find asking for a photo of the part/car with a recent newspaper in the picture usually scares off the scammers.
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1993 Fiat Panda Selecta
2003 Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI van
2006 Mercedes Kompressor Evolution-S AMG SportCoupé
"You think you hate it now, wait til you drive it"
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Just pay for stuff using paypal, simple.
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To be fair, i've always paid for stuff purchased in this way by cheque/bank transfer - going right back to the days when you had to look for parts in the Autojumble section at the back of Practical Classics magazine  , and this is the first time its ever gone wrong (lucky for me I know), maybe i've been a bit too trusting in people's good nature, which is a shame, because incidents like this tar all the good honest people with the same brush as the scammers.
Probably long overdue that I set up a PayPal account, but have been put off up until now by a couple of people I know who have had problems with PayPal holding on to their money for far too long- anyone on here had problems like that? but given the increasing amounts of incidents like mine I might have to re-think my reservations. |
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fazzer
Part of things
Posts: 213
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if you pay cash to a scammer your never going to see your money again,if you pay through paypal you have a good chance of getting it back.Ive been with paypal for years and been lucky and never been ripped off plus if buying off evilbay I always read peoples feedback as it gives a good indication of someones character.
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It's a nuisance when trust is abused in this way, I know.
There's a lot more safeguards with ebay / Paypal. If buying through Gumtree a landline number gives some reassurance.
Have you tried popping that mobile number into a Google search to see if it pulls anything up?
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Always send a cheque and write what it is for on the back of it, it's slower but you have an address if things go t!ts up and the bank can supply a copy of the banked cheque front and back for evidence.
I hate paypal btw, when you have been on the receiving end of their nonsense enough times you will feel the same.
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Jan 10, 2017 19:49:46 GMT
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It's a nuisance when trust is abused in this way, I know. There's a lot more safeguards with ebay / Paypal. If buying through Gumtree a landline number gives some reassurance. Have you tried popping that mobile number into a Google search to see if it pulls anything up? Hadn't thought of that , good idea, will do so and see if anything comes up. |
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There's a busy Facebook group for bluebirds, have you tried on there?
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Maximum signature height: 80 pixels
87 Nissan Bluebird
88 Mk2 Vauxhall Astra
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Jan 15, 2017 20:31:10 GMT
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There's a busy Facebook group for bluebirds, have you tried on there? I'm not currently on Facebook (I know, i'm behind with the times  ) but got a week off soon, so hoping to set an account up then, trouble is, my phone is useless so i'd be doing everything via my laptop.
Which would be ok for me, i'd only mainly be on there for the car groups (bluebird owners page will be first port of call), as i'm not one of these people who feels the need to post online every time they wipe their  ! 
Have managed to straighten out my bonnet though, which actually came out better than I thought and will hardly need any filler- surprising as the front lip was bent quite badly, so can cross that off my wanted list.
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, and this is the first time its ever gone wrong (lucky for me I know), maybe i've been a bit too trusting in people's good nature, which is a shame, because incidents like this tar all the good honest people with the same brush as the scammers.
) but got a week off soon, so hoping to set an account up then, trouble is, my phone is useless so i'd be doing everything via my laptop.