Did you know there was a gumtree fraud that originated in the United Kingdom. Soon after the scam was planned, it spread to other parts of the world including Australia, Africa, Scotland, Etc. Would you like more information about the gumtree scheme?
Let’s take a look at the phishing schemes used by scammers to target gumtree customers in order to get funds from their accounts. You will also learn how you can avoid the gumtree delivery scam.
Gumtree Scam:
The transaction takes place between an individual buyer and seller. In this case, the buyer makes the payment through the gumtree payment hyperlink and shares it with seller. The seller has access to the link to get the funds into their bank accounts. gumtree arranges courier service within three working days for the seller to pick up their product from their location once the payment transaction has been processed.
The gumtree fraud aims to get the seller’s trust by posting a message saying that the buyer had paid. Once the seller accepts convenience, he becomes trapped.
Gumtree Shipping Scam .
Gumtree connects buyers and sellers around the world through a third-party platform. It allows users to post products online. The buyer makes an offer to buy the product after he has reviewed it.
Gumtree website is available in different domain URLs depending on which country it is hosted. Gumtree.com.au, for example, is the domain URL of the gumtree UK website. In Africa, gumtree.co.za is the URL. In Australia, Gumtree.com.au.
The scammers took advantage of URL variations and created copycat URLs such as https://payment-gumtree.com. The scammers called individual sellers by Whatsapp and informed that they had made the payment (a Gumtree Delivery Scam). They also suggested that the seller could click on the website link to receive the funds.
The link on Whatsapp asks the seller to enter their credit card details. Instead of getting money, the seller actually makes payment to the scammers using their account.
Staying safe against gumtree scams
Gumtree advises its users not to click the link in the Whatsapp messages and to never enter card or bank details on fraudulent URLs.
To report the Gumtree Shipping Scam messages, you can call 0 (808)164-6000 in Scotland. For those who have lost their money, you can call 101 to report it the Scotland police department.
UK users can get help.gumtree.com for more information on how to avoid being scammed by gumtree. Additionally, they can report it to NFCCRC at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-phishing or call them at 0(300)123-2040.
Conclusion:
Gumtree is not able to provide pickup or delivery services. Gumtree works with parcel2go to arrange the pickup. You are generally safe when you give bank account or card information to a legitimate gumtree site and app. It is worth checking to make sure you are not entering details on an unofficial gumtree website.