The couple, from Huyton, who have three children, were handed 108,754 of taxpayers' money which they were not entitled to. A serial fraudster has been jailed for swindling more than $47,000 from Gumtree sellers, all while serving a suspended sentence for an earlier string of scams. . He admitted 20 charges relating to fraud, acquiring criminal property and dishonestly claiming a wrongful credit. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Discuss, learn and request help on how to obtain, budget, protect, save and invest your money in the UK, Press J to jump to the feed. She was spared jail and given a 18 month suspended sentence as she was the sole carer of two young children. Have you lost money to a Gumtree fraud? A Gumtree scammer with a passion for fashion who conned men online and ran over one of her victims should escape prison time because she has an intellectual disability and a low IQ, her lawyers have argued. . There are some simple steps you can follow to help make sure someone is a genuine buyer or seller on Gumtree: Collect the buyer or seller's full name and do some research online to make sure you can trust them. Benefit fraudster stole 120,000 posing as family friend. Briefly: This might help to illustrate simply what I say below: https://love2dev.com/img/domain-name-structure-diagram-980x469.png. Yes if you keep the information from this guide in mind, PayPal is a safe and secure payment method to use on Gumtree. To join and get updates, click here and you can also follow Neil's Facebook page here. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Something doesn't feel right but I can't figure out what the scam (if any) is. Luckily I am a lazy person, and decided to deal with it later Then completely forgot, received the item, and a few days later learned from an article that the text was a scam. In the most common car buying scams, a buyer will offer to send money via PayPal, sometimes without having seen the car (or other item) first. Find out more about how to protect yourself from phone scams. "The unfortunate thing is when whoever these guys sell this to, when they go to update the machine it won't work as it's been reported stolen it's going to be useless machine.". It was the first time that love scam suspects based overseas were arrested and brought to Singapore for prosecution. Gumtree scam and Australia. Today I nearly fell for quite a clever gumtree scam which Im sure has fooled many people and want to raise awareness so others can avoid it. She was expecting a parcel from RM that day as well, and she would have stepped through it without thinking. Luckily, she was on the phone with me at the time, and I asked her to double-check the link. Do I simply roll over and accept my loss if the bank doesnt come through? Date of experience: 23 May 2022. As a general rule of thumb, read domain names backwards, right to left, starting from the top level domain (.com etc.) Prominent Member. Sadly, this sort of fraud appears common. "The scams can be very convincing," says Claire Cobbledick, Head of Marketing for Gumtree South Africa. This will cause some smoke to come out of the engine during the test drive, allowing your buyer to potentially get a discount on the listed price. Follow the advice in this guide to make sure you avoid PayPal-related scams. In the case of a fraudster having your banking information, we recommend that you also contact your bank directly and notify them as soon as possible. She warned the program was Stratton's 'one and only' chance to avoid time behind bars and that she must attend every court-ordered appointment and assessment. "There are a number of layers to the fraud. Oscar Cainer reveals all. As well as the above, there are plenty of ways to make sure all your payments and receipts on Gumtree are safe and secure: Selling your items on Gumtree can be a quick, easy and positive experience, but its always worth being vigilant. It also says to avoid clicking on any links sent by other users. In the UK, the . Except my whatsapp contact said he wasnt able to pick it up because of his disability making him stuck to his wheelchair. Several cases of Gumtree scams have are being reported in Australia. A middle-aged Queensland man with a history in criminal investigation says falling victim to an online scam is a reminder that anyone can be targeted. Kavanagh was sentenced to four years in prison, at least half of which must be spent inside before she will be release on licence. Request PDF | On Feb 22, 2018, Ajantha Thinakaran published GUMTREE scammers, scams and the scammed Ajantha Thinakaran MURDOCH UNIVERSITY | Find, read and cite all the research you need on . If youre considering reporting a scam to the police, its worth taking a look at our article on reporting first. Image by Author. Tech guy here. The fraud cases that have come through our courts include a tax fraud worth 100,000, a council worker stealing over 200,000 from a care home, and a couple who used 100,000 in benefit cash to jet off on expensive foreign holidays. Keep an eye out for the following scams if you notice any of them, dont forget to report the user to us. :). Always hated it, but was desperate to get rid of the scooter. Yeah the post office one almost caught me because I was expecting a parcel that day. The psychology of the scam is perfect for the pandemic. Luckily Duke DeTain, Chief Wheeler, 2 officers and a faithful police dog are on the scene. The presence of HTTPS DOES NOT mean that a site is trustworthy, but the absence of it, along with the above, is a fairly good indicator of non-trustworthiness. posted 2023-Jan-31, 12:06 pm AEST. Ellis claimed housing benefit as a tenant and then paid it to her partner, Lucas, a self-employed businessman, as her landlord and the property owner. If the part after the top level domain isn't the website you expect to be dealing with, don't use the link you were given. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. The father of two, from Southport, falsely claimed benefits including Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support and Personal Independence Payments, as well as council tax and housing benefits. If you receive one of these messages dont click on the link or enter your payment details. The best seat in the house! Although PayPal and other money transfer websites try to keep customers safe, these systems arent always foolproof. "We work closely with law enforcement to assist with reported incidents, and urge users to report any suspected unlawful activity to the police. If escalated to our Customer Service Team we will forward this information to our specialized team to have the site shut down. 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I got as far as clicking on the payment link before alarm bells started ringing. She repaid him by draining his bank accounts and lying to his face repeatedly when confronted about the fraud. You can learn more about setting up payments with OPP here. Gumtree is full of scammers. In one incident in June last year, Stratton bashed a man's face with the MacBook Pro laptop she was trying to steal as he tried to stop her from driving away by reaching into the car window before helost his grip and fell from the car. Some pocketed hundreds of thousands over the years, Get the latest crime reports and stories from Liverpool Echo straight to your inbox. But with PayPal being a legitimate payment method that many of us use without issue, how do you tell if someone is scamming you on Gumtree? Back in May, the Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to 17 years, meaning that he is likely to be freed on licence in 2027, the halfway point of his sentence. Cuz that makes total sense.). She warned the program was Stratton's 'one and only' chance to avoid time behind bars and that she must attend every court-ordered appointment and assessment. If you see an ad on Gumtree that you suspect is a scam, you can click on "Report this Ad" on the top-right of the ad's page. This is completely fraudulent, as Gumtree does not have any function to make payments. By 9News Staff. Some lenders have signed up to a voluntary code to refund victims of so-called 'push payment' fraud. 14 June 2020 at 10:31AM in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels. We want buying and selling items on Gumtree to be an easy, positive experience and that's just the experience most have. Its a version of the paypal on collection one . "While the majority of our community members have a positive experience, sometimes bad seeds do target our users," she said. Gumtree users are warned to be wary of scammers, How we enforce rules for gambling services, Technical Planning Guidelines for broadcasters, Broadcasting transmitter (apparatus) licences, Renew or transfer a community broadcasting licence, Temporary licences for community broadcasters, Carrier licences and carriage service providers, Rules for operating around submarine cables, Statutory Infrastructure Provider (SIP) register, Follow our rules to supply your electrical product, Steps for antenna installers to fix TV reception, Business operating procedures for spectrum, Delete the message and block the number if it is unknown, Do not call the number unless you are sure you recognise it, If you have lost personal information to a scammer you can contact. Trade Count: Forum Posts: Not a business - A Passion! A co-accused, 17, also linked to the crime spree remains on bail awaiting trial. Western Union at 1-800-448-1492. Ethel McGill, 68, faked dementia and pretended her dead father was still alive in order to claim 750,000 in fraudulent benefit and pension payments. To avoid car purchase scams via PayPal, make sure you only set a date to hand off the car after youve seen the amount reflected in your bank account. This way, youll avoid the buyers who are just contacting you for a bargain price. A FRAUDSTER who conned eBay and Gumtree sellers out of thousands of pounds by faking payment emails has been spared jail. Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordon Li said the love scam involved the con artist getting to know . You can report an ad on Gumtree by navigating to the ad page and clicking the report button under the sellers name. Jonathan Lucas, who with his partner Melissa Ellis pocketed 108,000 in illegal benefits, pretending they weren't a couple. Melissa Ellis, 34, and Jonathan Lucas, 38, stole over 100,000 in benefit payments by falsely claiming to be landlord and tenant. The crook befriended then betrayed wealthy pensioners at luxurious Barton Park Nursing Home in Oxford Road, Southport. I consider myself quite diligent and scam-proof but this one very nearly got me which is worrying for those who may not have such an eye for scams. Rishi Sunak looked like he had won the lottery. Get in touch: Mirror.Money.Saving@mirror.co.uk, Get our money-saving tips and top offers direct to your inbox with the Mirror Money newsletter. It's obously scams post office leaves card if not able to deliver same with other company's some send emails or notifications in apps . Community members have a positive experience and that 's just the experience have!, youll avoid the buyers who are just contacting you for a bargain price selling... Is a safe and secure payment method to use on Gumtree her to double-check the link contacting... Them, dont forget to report the user to us might help to illustrate simply what I say below https. 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