Giving out Bank Details to Purchaser - Is This A Gumtree Scam?

Dklovesnl on 10/09/2018 - 17:56
Last edited 10/09/2018 - 18:38 by 1 other user

Sorry not sure if this is the right place to post this question.

My friend was trying to sell his car on Gumtree and this person messaged him asking for his bank details including BSB, account number, name and email to make a transaction. After my friend gave all these details he suspected that it might be a scam. He then rang up the bank and the bank said the only thing that person can do with these details would be depositing money into his account. The bank also asked him a lot of question on phone to confirm his identity such as those security questions, his bank card expiry date etc.

Just want to double check is there still a risk of his money being taken out without his permission in this case? thanks!

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Comments

  • mbck on 10/09/2018 - 17:58

    muahahah it was meeee muahhahahah

    ps, he'll be fine. Unless he can find other information about your friend, then answer the security questions………….

    • Dklovesnl on 10/09/2018 - 18:03

      thanks for the reply although it sounds a lil bit troll haha

  • RolandWaites on 10/09/2018 - 18:19
    +2

    My concern would be the person is going to deposit money and then take possession of the car, before cancelling the deposit - thereby getting the money back and keeping the car. I've heard similar stories on here.

    • HighAndDry on 10/09/2018 - 18:23

      The scammer is on an oil rig or someplace remote, they don't want or care about the car.

      • GangGang on 10/09/2018 - 20:04

        Nah, he's interstate.

  • HighAndDry on 10/09/2018 - 18:22
    +8

    Just want to double check is there still a risk of his money being taken out without his permission in this case?

    There's no risk of that happening. This is still obviously a scam, but how it works is this:

    1. Scammer has already hacked someone else's bank account, or has deposited a bad cheque into an account.

    2. Scammer asks for your bank account details to buy a car/boat/other expensive thing.

    3. Scammer deposits the price (e.g. $15,000) PLUS EXTRA (e.g. $5,000) into your account for courier fees/delivery fees/etc.

    4. Scammer asks you to transfer the EXTRA (the $5,000) into an account pretending to be a courier or delivery company/etc.

    5. The problem in (1) gets discovered, and the banks reverse that transaction, and then reverses the entire transaction in (3) as well.

    6. You're now out the EXTRA amount (the $5,000) you transferred elsewhere.

  • tsunamisurfer on 10/09/2018 - 18:25
    +8

    First rule of Gumtree.

    Cash Only.

    • subywagon on 10/09/2018 - 18:45
      +4

      First rule of ozbargain: Escalate straight to bikies no matter how trivial the matter.
      Second rule: Contact ACCC if you don't receive an item due to a price error regardless of how ridiculously low it is.
      Third rule: Bonut.

      • Ughhh on 10/09/2018 - 19:05
        +7

        First rule of ozbargain: Escalate straight to bikies no matter how trivial the matter.

        Shouldn't first rule be to make a post on Ozbargain forums, prior to contacting the business or doing basic googling?

        • subywagon on 10/09/2018 - 19:08

          Definitely.

        • toristo on 10/09/2018 - 21:59
          +3

          @subywagon:

          … unless it's a motor vehicle accident, in which case you should first spent 38 seconds drawing a detailed diagram in Paint to upload with the post and details of how you couldn't afford insurance

      • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2018 - 20:53

        I thought it is

        First rule - contact ozbargain

        Second rule - cash only

        Third rule - contact ozbargain

  • Ryanek on 11/09/2018 - 08:10
    +2

    For big purchases like a car, the only reasonable way is to use a bank cheque. I've sold three cars this way on Gumtree now with no problems.

    • Quantumcat on 11/09/2018 - 09:48

      Bank cheques can be cancelled

      • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 10:15
        +1

        Stop spreading FUD! They can be, but only after a very complex process including a lot of checks by the bank. AND EVEN THEN, if the cancellation turns out to be incorrect because the Bank Cheque was used to purchase something, the BANK (not the buyer - because it's a Bank Cheque not a personal cheque) still has to honour the Cheque itself.

        There's no realistic risk of being scammed in accepting bank cheques. It is effectively as safe as cash.

        • Quantumcat on 11/09/2018 - 10:42

          You could take a bank cheque; however these are not entirely secure and can be cancelled.

          Source: RACQ

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 10:43

          @Quantumcat: Okay? RACQ are wrong here. It wouldn't be the first time, it certainly won't be the last. You can tell, because they recommend:

          Electronic transfer via internet banking

          And I hope we all know that that is definitely not secure. The scam I described in this thread is designed to work via EFTs.

        • harro112 on 11/09/2018 - 13:40

          This isn't true in my experience. Years ago, someone I knew sold their car privately. The buyer paid with a bank cheque, drove the car off, thrashed the absolute living hell of it to the point of destroying the motor, and then brought it back the next day claiming it was defective. They then (apparently) signed a stat dec claiming the cheque had been lost, and when my friend attempted to cash the cheque it bounced. talked to the bank manager, a lawyer, everything - nothing he could do. in practice, a bank cheque is not as safe as cash.

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 13:45

          @harro112: You say "in your experience", and then proceed to tell a story about "someone you knew". Good talk. I can tell you that bank cheques don't work like that - they literally cannot bounce.

        • harro112 on 11/09/2018 - 14:02

          @HighAndDry: i'm not trying to argue with you, simply relating an experience I had. do you think I just made that story up? i'm certainly no expert on banks or cheques, and maybe "bounced" isn't even the right term there, but it was not accepted at any rate.

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 14:09

          @harro112: I appreciate the anecdote, but I'm just not sure how useful it is. Was it actually a bank cheque or just a personal cheque your friend thought was a bank cheque? Was it actually cancelled or did your friend just not have a written contract for the sale of the car? Because I know that 1. "nothing he could do" is objectively wrong if your story is accurate, and 2. "the cheque bounced" is also wrong because bank cheques don't do that.

          So again, great story. I'm not accusing you of deliberately lying - I just don't know how accurate the story is, and since it isn't your story, very likely neither do you.

        • harro112 on 11/09/2018 - 14:31
          +1

          @HighAndDry: It didn't happen to me directly, no, but I was pretty closely involved and I'm 100% that yes, it was a bank cheque, and we were unable to cash it because the other party had signed a stat dec claiming (obviously fraudulently) that it had been lost. the bank manager (of a branch of one of the big 4) confirmed that due to the stat dec being signed the cheque could not be cashed. now it's possible that going after the other party for fraud was an option, an i'll admit i don't know to what extent this was discussed, but i'm absolutely 100% sure of everything above.

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 14:46

          @harro112:

          but i'm absolutely 100% sure of everything above

          Was there a signed contract, even handwritten, with the buyer for the sale of the car?

        • harro112 on 11/09/2018 - 14:53

          @HighAndDry: that I am not 100% on, but I think there was something handwritten, but no more than that. what are the implications if there wasn't anything?

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 14:55

          @harro112: No contract? Then it's he said she said, and the one with the (fraudulent) stat dec wins. If you have a written contract, well you'd think the buyer wouldn't commit perjury if there was something in writing, and second - if it's signed, you'd argue the stat dec was false, because look, signed contract for the car with the exact amount of the bank cheque.

          Just to confirm, can you clarify how you knew it was a bank cheque and not a personal cheque?

        • harro112 on 11/09/2018 - 15:13

          @HighAndDry: well apart from seeing it, the whole thing at the time was such a big deal purely because it was a bank cheque, as - like you say - they're supposed to be as safe as cash. we had a family friend who was a high profile lawyer get involved - the fact that it was a bank cheque or not was certainly not something in doubt.

          the value of the car at the time was something like 15-20k and there were other people involved in the sale (not just the guy), so I think there would have been a contract. However, if the other party had paid cash, it would not have mattered.

        • HighAndDry on 11/09/2018 - 15:16

          @harro112: I have to say, it sounds like someone or something F'd up, and I still very much doubt it was the bank cheque.

          This is why I hate anecdotes. You're very clear on the things that support your case, not clear on things which might point to another issue, and all-in-all sounds like "But after my kid got vaccinated, he developed autism!"

          It's inherently unverifiable and could be anything between the bank cheque system actually failing, or your friend actually trying to defraud the buyer (not saying this is the case - just that from my POV I've no effing clue), or any number of things in between.

          All I can say is, you can't really use cash for transactions over a few thousand dollars, bank transfers certainly are not nearly as secure, and all rich people - you know, those ones who're so dastardly smart and ripping off all of us poor sufferin' folk - they use bank cheques daily and rely on it as they would cash.

  • [Deactivated] on 21/09/2018 - 11:16

    Make them do a cardless deposit. Don't take a bank transfer. Take cash deposited into your account.

    You can also check it is not a cheque as it will appear instantly in your account as "Available Funds"

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