Scammed on Gumtree as a Buyer

LCovid on 17/08/2020 - 20:05

Hi all,

Yes, this is another thread regarding 'scammed on gumtree'.

I officially got scammed on Gumtree for a pair of AirPods. I know it is a common scenario to get scammed on Gumtree, but the seller was too promising which avoided me of thinking him as a con artist. I send him $150 to his bank account. I have a copy of his driving license and bank details (+ not working phone number). He has posted something to another address and gave me the tracking number as well (tracking originated from a post office close to the address on his driving license(VIC) and got delivered to some other place in QLD). I can post all the chat transcripts, his driving license and details if necessary.

I'm a student living with financial difficulties at this time and getting scammed is the worst thing that could happen to me. Could you please help me to figure out what I can do regarding this? I'm new to Australia and impressed with the great people here and never believed that a man who can speak very friendly and nicely would scam me. I don't want any comments as "Take it as a life lesson. Nothing you can do."

(sorry for my bad English)
Thank you :)

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Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2020 - 20:07
    +20

    Good lesson to learn. Doubt its their drivers licence

      • Soluble on 17/08/2020 - 20:10
        +25

        Read the other threads and you already know every response you will get.

  • Hybroid on 17/08/2020 - 20:08
    +64

    Nothing. You can report it to the non-emergency police but doubt they'll do anything.

    Consider a lesson learnt. Student with financial difficulties shouldn't be spending $150 on headphones…

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 20:09

      okay, thanks

  • brendanm on 17/08/2020 - 20:15
    +46

    So you are in financial difficulty, but thought it was a good idea to buy airpods of gumtree? Cheap lesson.

    • The Value on 17/08/2020 - 20:53
      +2

      You got off easy OP. $150 for a lesson you'll never forget. Think about all those people that have been scammed for thousands upon thousands of dollars.

      Edit. You should call your bank and ask for help.

      • Quantumcat on 17/08/2020 - 21:47
        +8

        There's nothing you can do. Transferring to a bank account is gifting someone money. Only do that for money you don't intend to see again - either for gifting to friends and family or paying for services that have already been rendered. There's no recovery.

      • Lj09 on 18/08/2020 - 11:44
        +2

        I'm sorry you got scammed - in the future maybe consider using paypal - that way you are protected. Or shopping at stores like JB HiFi which offer student discounts and good after sales service should anything go wrong.

  • elgrande on 17/08/2020 - 20:18
    +1

    The licence would most likely belong to somone else.

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 20:55

      yep, surprisingly tracking originated from the address in the license

  • kahn on 17/08/2020 - 20:21
    +13

    Until we develop a vaccine to fight Covid, the least we can do is scam it on Gumtree.

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 20:56

      what do you mean?

      • kahn on 17/08/2020 - 21:01
        +15

        It was a joke. You've taken the username Covid, so I made a joke about people fighting back against Covid via Gumtree scams. I hope this joke compensates your financial loss.

        • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:02
          +2

          Thanks, I love you :)

  • Duckman on 17/08/2020 - 20:48
    +6

    OP, I can't help with your situation, but I'm sorry it happened to you and I really hope you find a way to get your money back.

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 20:57
      +1

      Thanks for the kind words

  • TheAccountant on 17/08/2020 - 20:54
    +14

    Contact your bank and advise them of what has happened. They will tell you to make a police report and provide details. They should be able to get the receiving bank to hold the funds.

    I had a similar issue where I purchased a S10+ in person only to realise later that it was SIM locked (ie reported stolen). I called ING and they advised me they would be able to get my money back pending investigation after I had made a report to the police but it might take a while.

    I did not end up having to use the bank to get my money back though. The seller eventually got back to me after hours of calls and texts and messaging their friends on FB. Turns out she was scammed by some druggie (she showed me his profile on FB) and just thought the phone wasn't working. I told her off for selling it to me and then helped her report it to the cops. Don't think she got her money back though as she paid cash.

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:01

      Now, this is called a proper reply. Thanks a lot. Does this process involve any money so that it will be useless for me to fight for $150?

      • Quantumcat on 17/08/2020 - 21:49
        +3

        Very unlikely, banks won't usually reverse bank transfers unless the transaction wasn't made by you (eg you got your password to online banking hacked). If you sent them money on purpose the bank's not going to help you. TheAccountant's story is unusual but note that the bank didn't end up actually holding/returning the funds anyway.

        • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:53

          Thanks for the info cat

        • vikvance on 18/08/2020 - 00:46

          Very unlikely, banks won't usually reverse bank transfers unless the transaction wasn't made by you (eg you got your password to online banking hacked).

          They will also reverse a bank transfer if you made a mistake, for example, entered the wrong account number:

          https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/consumer-finance/what-t…

          • Quantumcat on 18/08/2020 - 07:15

            @vikvance: Well that's good. Getting scammed names you typed the account number you meant to though

        • TiLLiCoMe on 18/08/2020 - 13:36

          What if the transfer was made by another bank or Centrelink? They will definitely be getting their money back

          • Quantumcat on 18/08/2020 - 13:58

            @TiLLiCoMe: How is another bank or Centrelink going to get your account name, password, and access to whatever 2-factor method you use?

            • TiLLiCoMe on 19/08/2020 - 12:40

              @Quantumcat: You telling me that banks and Centrelink have never deposit wrongly into people's account?

              • Quantumcat on 19/08/2020 - 16:32

                @TiLLiCoMe: We're talking about you transferring money to others and whether you can get it back.
                If money is transferred to your account by accident by Centrelink they will raise a debt with you and you will choose how you pay that back (eg taken gradually out of your future payments, or pay them back in lump sum, etc). They won't reverse the transaction.

      • vikvance on 18/08/2020 - 00:52
        +1

        Does this process involve any money so that it will be useless for me to fight for $150?

        No, you just have to get in touch with your bank and request them to reverse the bank transfer.

        Just have a think before, about what you're going to tell them.

        They will be more likely to reverse it, if it was an unauthorised transaction, or you made a mistake in entering the BSB or account number.

        They are not very likely to reverse it, if you sent it to the right person, but there is some other issue, such as loss of package etc.

  • bobbified on 17/08/2020 - 21:03

    Could you please help me…

    How the hell can you expect any of us to help you with a username like that? 😂😂 hahaha. I'm stuck at home because of you!

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:04

      Why? Don't you like to help someone with covid?

      • bobbified on 17/08/2020 - 21:06
        +9

        You don't have covid, you ARE covid!

        • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:07
          -3

          Then you are a field… a paddy field…

        • Kangal on 17/08/2020 - 23:12

          But are they "Covid-19" or are they "Covid-20"…??

  • pegaxs on 17/08/2020 - 21:26
    +13

    I'm a student living with financial difficulties at this time…
    I send him $150 to his bank account…
    for a pair of AirPods

    I wish I was a struggling student who needed $150 AirPods when a $15 set of headphones from JB’s would have worked just as well…

    • Covid on 17/08/2020 - 21:27

      yeah, stupid me!

  • ShortyX on 17/08/2020 - 22:21
    +2

    Member Since 16/08/2020

    Troll post.

      • dcep on 17/08/2020 - 22:50
        +9

        Don't think Ozb allows duplicate account.

        • ShortyX on 18/08/2020 - 00:03
          +1

          OP's duplicate account is now banned.

  • Drakesy on 17/08/2020 - 22:40
    +3

    Cash or nothing on gumtree, no matter how trustworthy.

  • jackthefrost on 17/08/2020 - 22:54

    There are good and bad. I recently bought a speaker from someone in Melbourne, and sent to his bank account. He shipped it the next day express to me in Sydney.

  • dtxau on 17/08/2020 - 23:12
    +1

    Where are you located OP? I've got 1x$1.98 new earphones from Officeworks for you. It has 3 silicon sizes so suit your ears. They sound shit but its something to lessen the $150 pain to $148.02.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2020 - 23:44

    OP getting smashed with negs LOL.
    Better delete this account and use the other one.

  • Cave Fire on 17/08/2020 - 23:46
    +5

    I would suggest going to your local police station. Print everything you have. They may not investigate your loss, but it might help the person in the driver's license… Mention something like "Isn't this license possibly stolen" to the police? Hopefully, they will take it down to at least help that person. You may even want to try to look the person up in the phone book and tell them their license is being used. Talking to the police is useful as this stuff can happen while you are in Australia and you want to know how to report etc. You can also call PoliceLink 131 444 to speak to an officer who will advise further.

  • Downvoter on 18/08/2020 - 01:48
    +7

    Financial difficulties yet buying AirPods. Righto there goes my sympathy.

  • DBBROS on 18/08/2020 - 07:01
    +1

    Unfortunately there is nothing much you can do to claim the money back. Got scammed the same way but on Facebook marketplace. I wasn't the only one though. One of the guys who got scammed managed to get most of the details about the scammer and reported it to the police. Nothing much happened

  • lovepub on 18/08/2020 - 08:06
    -1

    now you have learnt the lesson. Rinse and repeat on others to get your money back. Join those scumbags in the sinful act.

  • try2bhelpful on 18/08/2020 - 08:22
    +1

    Can’t do anything practical for you but you have my sympathies. We all do dumb things and sometimes you get away with them and sometimes you don’t. Unfortunately there are a lot of scummy people out there. Bank transfers are a very insecure way to do business.

    It probably won’t get you far but report it to Gumtree, the police and the recipients bank for good measure. Give them the account details and tell them the account is being used for fraud. Send an email to the seller telling them you are doing all of these things. You never know they might return your money to avoid the attention.

  • Lanushi on 18/08/2020 - 08:54
    +2

    You got off lucky. I got scammed $400 on gumtree a couple of years back. Never used the site since. All I can suggest is call your local police station and report it, however I was told they could not get involved as this was a civil matter.

    I also reported this to ScamWatch and Crimestoppers. Never saw the money again. Take it with a grain of salt.

    • 82norm on 18/08/2020 - 10:17
      +1

      It’s interesting that it’s a civil matter, yet there is obviously a criminal element to it. Unfortunately, there is too much of this going on and police don’t have the resourcing. The Govt. needs to step up further here and have a full body of resources on e-commerce scams….

      • Lanushi on 19/08/2020 - 09:17

        I completely agree. Being told that they "couldn't get involved" felt like such a cop out (excuse the pun). They should be more vigilant with these sorts of matters, especially if there's a large group of people who use these but/sell sites.

  • Baysew on 18/08/2020 - 10:08
    +2

    I don't want any comments as "Take it as a life lesson. Nothing you can do."

    Take it as a life lesson. Nothing you can do.

    You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

    • try2bhelpful on 18/08/2020 - 11:45

      Cue the choir.

    • MS Paint on 18/08/2020 - 13:59

      Definitely sounds like the foundation for a great song. Keep working on it.

  • this is us on 18/08/2020 - 14:07
    +1

    financial difficulty not compatible with $150 phones…

    I'm afraid the scam is not the only life lesson here, but that's just me being judgemental… :)

  • crashloaded on 18/08/2020 - 17:56

    You can report it to scam watch.

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