THIS IS AN IMPORTANT WARNING FROM GUMTREE
There are some dodgy sellers (and buyers) out there trying to rip you off, and despite our efforts to keep them from the site and protect you, occasionally a bogus ad slips through
Things to be aware of:
- 99.9% of fraud is carried out by people who won't meet you. Beware! Think about it, would you advise your friend to send money to someone they don't know? Why are you going to do it!
- Gumtree does not arrange any payments. If you are contacted by someone who claims to be from Gumtree and asks you to transfer money for an item for sale the email WILL be fraudulent. Do NOT follow any of the instructions contained in the email.
- Never transfer money without having first received the goods.
- Be wary of sending money to Western Union to people you dont know.
- Never pay in part for goods that are supposed to be in transit.
- Care is needed when dealing with an overseas seller, especially when you only have an email address as their contact.
- If using escrow services make sure the escrow agent is legitimate.
- Even if you are a seller, there are scammers awaiting you. Read more.
- Please also take special care when buying expensive items like mobile phones, laptops, plasma tvs, airline tickets and even tickets for shows/gigs.
- When buying airline tickets we suggest you take the seller's name and ticket number, check the ticket exists and take responsibility yourself for changing the names.
- Meet the seller face to face and ask to see their ID. Gumtree is a local forum, we advise only buying and selling with people you can meet. Fraudsters dont meet people, thats how they get caught! Protect your hard earned money.
Remember it's BUYER BEWARE and if it seems too good to be true, it usually is!
If you think you have been a victim of a crime, please let us know.