Gumtree Scam - Oil Rig/PayPal

Shark on 13/12/2017 - 11:58
Last edited 13/12/2017 - 12:11 by 1 other user

Hi guys,
My brother has a bike for sale on Gumtree and received an email reply which I am 99.9% sure is the usual oil rig scam email. I've included the email below but my one question is if you provide your email address for Paypal, then where is the scam/what do they get out of it? I'm assuming that it's in a forthcoming email that they will then want you to provide money in some shape/form? My brother wants to know is there a risk to provide someone with your email/paypal details.

Anyway, here is the email reply:

"Thanks for the swift response and do as well advise on the least amount you will like to give it away as i am buying this for my daughter and due to the nature of my job and location…i will not be able to come for inspection,am a very busy type as i work long hours everyday,i have gone through your advertisement and i am satisfied with it.

As for the payment..i can only pay via the fastest and secure way to pay online(PayPal) here.

I have a private courier agent that will come for the pick up after the payment have been made…

You can now send me your PayPal email so i can pay in right away and also include your address in your reply.If you don't have a paypal account, you can easily set up one…log on to www.paypal.com.au and sign up its very easy… i would have loved to talk to you on phone but i work mainly offshore, our phone is down on the rig right now due to bad weather, that was why i sent you a text, i even wonder how my message deliver to your phone but for now we can only communicate through the same mailing channel.await your reply.

Thanks.
Carol"

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Comments

  • Rukiata on 13/12/2017 - 12:05
    +25

    its a scam they pay and than take the item, than request refund through paypal probably

    • Marrk on 13/12/2017 - 12:09
      +12

      This, or they use stolen PayPal account details, likely purchased on the dark web.

    • anonymous01 on 15/12/2017 - 09:26
      +3

      LOL I've been reading this forum where scammers get scammed. You should troll him and waste his time. Here's a good article, where the guy tricks his scammer into getting a tattoo.. pretty funny read if you have time.

      http://www.419eater.com/html/okorie.htm

      • 2ndeffort on 22/02/2019 - 13:14

        I used to do this for a hobby…..absolutely hilarious stuff. Look through the archives for some of the stuff from the original and best 'shivermetimbers'. If you can find it there was a guy some years ago who convinced them he was a female porn star looking for fresh blood for her next film. He of course started demanding photo evidence of their … ahem … assets before he would pay for their airfare to the US for an audition. Lets just say that the photos received (and published on 419 eater) were not fit for public consumption but following that thread was possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/12/2017 - 12:07
    +9

    ABC news write up. There's a few ways this can go.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-02/scammers-targeting-car…

    • [Deactivated] on 13/12/2017 - 12:12
      +9

      Once the seller makes contact by email, the scammer sends an email similar to this one:

      Thanks for getting back, I'm cool with the price likewise the condition, I work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin.
      We do not have access to phone at the moment and that's why I contacted you with internet messaging facility. I will be paying you through PayPal linked up with my Westpac bank account, please get back to me with your Paypal details, I have also contacted my courier who will come for pick up and deliver it to my place in Darwin after the whole fund has been cleared into your acct.

      This is almost the same as the one OP received with slightly different details.

  • Rukiata on 13/12/2017 - 12:13
    +9

    also if their phone is ''down'' how can they text? xD

  • Shark on 13/12/2017 - 12:13
    +5

    Thanks for confirming. Run Forrest run.

  • smashed on 13/12/2017 - 12:14
    +10

    Or they will send a fake Paypal payment to your email address but not actually make the payment.

    • Agret on 15/12/2017 - 11:18

      Yeah this is why they request your address as well as your email so they can fake the payment receieved email

  • thatonethere on 13/12/2017 - 12:18
    +10

    Just say you only acceptWestern Union money transfers

    • Baysew on 13/12/2017 - 13:08
      +5

      or Bitcoin.

    • DesiBoy on 15/12/2017 - 11:55
      +1

      Tell the courier company to pay cash to you and he can pay back to courier company.

      • BanannaMan on 15/12/2017 - 12:00

        Thats a good response actually

  • HighAndDry on 13/12/2017 - 12:28
    +5

    Thanks.
    Carol

    I'd dearly love numbers on how many women work on offshore oil rigs. Would probably take maybe 10mins to track them all down and confirm that none of them are named Carol too…

    • Rescue 26 on 13/12/2017 - 15:59
      +5

      There are actually quite a few women who work offshore in the oil and gas industry in Australia. I fly them on and off the rigs and ships on the North West Shelf and I reckon maybe 2 out of every 12 passengers are women.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/12/2017 - 16:35
        +8

        Just to confuse things a little more, I used to work with a bloke called Carol. It's an Eastern Europe version of "Charles", not uncommon in places like Romania.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 13/12/2017 - 12:35
    +7

    Sign up a new paypal account.
    Give a false address.
    Wait for the funds to come in.

    ….

    • benderz on 15/12/2017 - 10:02

      Would there be a time where PayPal would hold it and not credit your account in case there is a dispute?

      • DesiBoy on 15/12/2017 - 12:14

        Generally, there is a wait time before funds are released to the account. That means even if the funds are in your account it will be showing as pending and can take-up to 15 days (i think) to clear. Enough time for scumbs to raise a dispute and get the funds back.

        This has happened to me, idiots sent me an email from paypal@something which seems like a email with receipt from Paypal; showing money has been transferred to my account with some extra money for shipment.

        Actually Paypal should monitor these scumbs as well, new accounts should not be able to transact more than lets say $300 for first few months / transactions.

  • retiredfeline on 13/12/2017 - 12:41
    +3

    Forward the email to [email protected]

  • edwardcr on 13/12/2017 - 12:46
    +3

    The language of the email in itself should be a strong clue as to whether it's a scam.

    Looks suspiciously like Nigerian English to me!

    Pickup and pay in cash on Gumtree - nothing else can be trusted.

    • StrayfireX on 15/12/2017 - 00:04

      Yep!

      that's why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.

  • Ocker on 13/12/2017 - 12:48
    +2

    Even if they pay by PayPal Here (credit card), PayPal can reverse the payment up to 180 days later.

    Your buyer will use a stolen credit card number and sometime after advising you of the payment, the card issuer will reject the payment claim by PayPal on the grounds of a stolen card, or on checking their monthly statement the card holder realises their account has been hacked and requests the bank to reverse the transaction.

    By the time all this happens the "courier" and your bike have long gone to a destination unknown.

  • Ughhh on 13/12/2017 - 12:57
    +6

    One of the oldest scams on gumtree.

    • 2ndeffort on 13/12/2017 - 14:00
      +2

      Long before Gumtree they were sending people SMS and emails from adverts in the paper or on the Trading Post. This is also just a variation on how the "nigerian letter' scam plays out. They all end up with you being asked to send a fee for an agent via Western Union. Any communication that involves sending money for an agent via Western Union is a massive neon red sign that you should run away immediately.

  • 2ndeffort on 13/12/2017 - 12:58
    +7

    Next message will be telling you that the agent coming to pickup the item charges an inspection fee. The amount in the paypal transaction has had this fee added to it, can you please pay the agent fee directly as you've already been given the money. Agent needs the money sent to them ASAP before they will come out to inspect and pickup the goods.

    What is then supposed to happen is that you send your actual money to what you think is the agent (but is really just another account for the same scammer). The Paypal transaction you've been sent is either cancelled or it bounces because it was never there to begin with and no agent ever shows up to inspect/pickup the goods. Scam is called 'Advanced Fee Fraud'. Of course the $2K agent fee you sent through is very real and comes straight out of your bank account.

    My recommendation is to just stop any and all communication immediately.

    • jnewau on 13/12/2017 - 13:33
      +5

      This

      anyone claiming they will take the goods doesn’t understand how this scam works. They have never been interested in the product, they just want you to send them money via Western Union for “fees”

  • outlander on 13/12/2017 - 13:04
    +5

    Tell Carol she should live her life more honestly, and that Oxidation is loss while Reduction is gain

  • [Deactivated] on 13/12/2017 - 13:06
    +3

    With gumtree, never accept anything less than cash in hand

  • dbui8743 on 13/12/2017 - 13:19
    +2

    I actually enjoy conversing with these scammers just to pass time lol.

    • 2ndeffort on 13/12/2017 - 14:01
      +3

      www.419eater.com have a read of some of the stories and look at some of the 'trophies'. Funniest stuff i've ever seen on the web.

  • Quantumcat on 13/12/2017 - 13:20
    +3

    Ask "Carol" to make a bank transfer

  • Savas on 13/12/2017 - 13:32
    +3

    Oh yeah sure, "no phone, too busy, bad weather" lol

    • Rukiata on 13/12/2017 - 14:03
      +5

      but net and wifi and powers is fine, dont worry about it!

      • 2ndeffort on 13/12/2017 - 20:55
        +3

        HAHAHA ask about skype call, pretty sure they will say email and wifi ok but skype is down!

  • hell0 on 13/12/2017 - 14:53
    +1

    I knew it was a scam when I heard it was 'Carol', a female, working on an oil-rig.

  • Rescue 26 on 13/12/2017 - 16:01
    +3

    I advertised my car for sale on Carsales last week and very quickly received 2 responses worded almost identically to yours.

  • Ozbargainite on 13/12/2017 - 17:20
    +12

    All these oil rigs without proper functioning comms is the biggest disgrace going around at the moment.

  • SupplyandDemand on 13/12/2017 - 20:13
    +5

    I got the exact same email when selling my bike on gumtree last week. I wasted as much of their time as possible.

  • fantombloo on 14/12/2017 - 00:46

    Oxidation is loss, reduction is gain.

  • wildbill on 14/12/2017 - 07:47
    +1

    I just told them to send the agent round with US$10,000 cash and I would give the agent the item and the change.
    Never heard back.

  • chumlee on 14/12/2017 - 07:53

    Here is a recent scam involving paypal and motorcycles

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/outer-east/man-who-sold-m…

  • Punda on 15/12/2017 - 01:07

    People have been sending emails to my work requesting catering along these lines. It's hard to weed them out but you dig a little and you have to conclude they're scamming. Also….. I'm of the opinion Facebook market place has more time wasters than gumtree!

  • skywards on 15/12/2017 - 07:57
    +2

    Isn’t this carol person better off buying a new bike and delivery direct to their supposedly daughter? Surely these folk make good coin at these oil rigs?

  • Wiede on 15/12/2017 - 08:30

    Easy, the person will never actually send the payment via paypal. They will send you a scam email masquerading as a Paypal payment. It might be obvious but remember you are not their target. They send tens of thousands of emails everyday and they just need a couple of people who might not be computer literate enough to see through their scam (having said that some of the newer scams I have seen are quite sophisticated, but that is a topic for another day). The reason why the emails contains so many typo and grammar error is to weed out the smarter ones and to target those who were fooled by an obvious email scam.

  • Herbse on 15/12/2017 - 08:54

    Also watch out for emails from the Nigerian Prince. Also a scam from memory.

    • xuqi on 15/12/2017 - 10:50

      And the more recent variant of emails from prince; Al-Waleed bin Talal :)

  • devilbabies on 15/12/2017 - 10:53

    I dont think Trevor is good for you, Carol

  • noramando on 15/12/2017 - 11:00

    Maybe the buyer is using NBN. That could be the reason why the buyer cannot communicate. "Carol, are you ok? are you ok? Carol."

  • pformag on 15/12/2017 - 11:11

    Gumtree. Cash in hand or nothing.

  • myusername on 15/12/2017 - 12:45

    gumtree = scumtree

  • jsofikitis on 18/02/2019 - 16:17

    Carol seems to have a new friend called Mary Wilson.

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