Dodgy Gumtree Add Scammed

Going back 2 weeks ago now i made purchase for a saltiga reel

the guys name was

Sean Murphy

he said he was located in Telfer WA

we spoke over text messages he sent me pictures of the reel and described its condition, saying how it had not much use etc

we spoke about fishing for a bit and i was quite happy to make purchase for the reel

he said he payment via bank deposit was fine

he was with the commonwealth bank and so was i

he passed onto me his account details bsb number account name and number

he assured me he would post it the next day and send me the express post tracking number.

i made the deposit and next day came i messaged him in the arvo to see if he had got the tracking number

i wanted to know roughly when i would be recieving the reel as it was for a present.

his reply was sorry mate i left the reel with my misses when i get home after work i will text it you.

i said ok no dramas

the night came and i didnt recieve no text so i texted him the next day being saturday by now and never recieved a reply, tried the next day

still no reply.

i waited a few days to see if the parcel would arrive give or take a few days from WA to SA

every day i tried calling his number and it just dialled then went to message bank.

i had a feeling that i was being played around, i was pretty pissed off so i gave it till friday to allow for a week

still nothing no replies nothing at all.

i rang the bank and notified them of this and they said they would look into it and send out letters to the guy notifing them they need to send back the money or send the item.

has any one had any of these scams before?

does any one know this so called Sean Murphy from Telfer Wa?

i cant believe some one could do this putting their identity and bank details and running off with the cash, its not as if it was a fake person on pay pal

To register with any bank account identification needs to put put forward

so i cant see how this guy is trying to get away with this

he cant be fake he must be real

if any one knows this guy please let me no know

Pretty pissD off as any one would be


Hutch's picture

Posts: 2221

Date Joined: 21/04/13

 Bad luck mate, it's people

Thu, 2014-09-18 21:32

 Bad luck mate, it's people like that who ruin it for everyone else. Hope it gets sorted and you get your money back. Lock the B*strd up

ricey's picture

Posts: 733

Date Joined: 24/12/09

hope is to come??

Thu, 2014-09-18 21:51

 I had this same kind of story with an Ipad.

 

No answer email, text etc.

 

Then I contacted bank and they said similar to you.

Next day or so the guy calls me back - wanting to give me my money back, just wanted my bank details.

 

I was super dubious, but bank said low risk. Gave them.... and then two days later full refund in account.

 

Keep pursuing bank/ police, maybe they will claim I sent it, but will give money back anyway etc.

 

As long as you get cash you will feel better, hope it works out for you somehow.

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chris raff's picture

Posts: 3257

Date Joined: 09/02/10

If his intent was to scam he

Thu, 2014-09-18 22:45

If his intent was to scam he could be anywhere in Oz .. I’m thinking he’s just testing your endurance and seeing if he gets lucky . Presume you’ve tried calling from different phones , apart from bank I’d be off to the local cop shop to see if you can get them motivated with whatever info / evidence you have ( Have them leave a message on his phone ) . Stalk him via whatever means possible his address has to be somewhere . Do you have any images of the reel and what was his phone number ? ( to see if it turns up elsewhere for sale , for some mongrels this is their fulltime job ) .

 
If I was going to take a punt as you did . I would print off the gumtree ad and after verbal contact would also have seller confirm his address with landline # plus description of goods , price and post details via email . Check whitepages and make excuse to ring their landline if all checks out .Then deposit money with reel as the reference and cross my fingers . Then if they played silly buggars at least your partly armed with some evidence to recoup monies . ( I suffer paranoia )  
 
As you stated he’s not fictional .. the only problem would be is if he played hardball and lied about why you deposited funds into his account . Hopefully he’ll come good after a little prodding.
Goodluck , I presume it was a fairly expensive item .
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Posts: 176

Date Joined: 18/08/13

Telfer

Thu, 2014-09-18 23:00

 I'm not sticking up for the bloke but telfer is a mining town out in the middle of bum f**k in wa. Maybe he is fifo and hasn't got reception at work? How long has it been since you last heard from him? But then again, why would you need fishing gear in the middle of the desert? Sounds dodgy-ish. 

Posts: 644

Date Joined: 13/11/11

 Yep I work at Telfer and it

Thu, 2014-09-18 23:07

 Yep I work at Telfer and it is FIFO only, no residential at all. As for phone reception, there's full Telstra coverage so it's not that. Sorry mate, sounds pretty shitty to me.

Posts: 54

Date Joined: 20/08/14

add still up?

Thu, 2014-09-18 23:21

 i would check if the add is still up, and if so send him a message saying your interested from another account/phone.  If he tries to sell it to you you know you've been scammed.

flexn's picture

Posts: 232

Date Joined: 19/03/12

 You could use this site

Fri, 2014-09-19 07:11

 You could use this site http://www.bsbnumbers.com/index.php since you have his bsb. Type it in and it will tell you his bank branch might give you a better idea where he is from. Maybe search him on facebook as well.

Paul H's picture

Posts: 2104

Date Joined: 18/01/07

Guess it's obvious but keep

Fri, 2014-09-19 07:28

Guess it's obvious but keep any text messages or other correspondence you have as this will be proof why you paid the money into his account. He would then have to prove he sent the item - particularly if he put in a text he would send the tracking number i.e. if he say's he posted normal post he didn't keep his end of the bargain..

If no luck report to SAPOL (they're probably not going to do anything but report it anyway) follow up with the bank - that will be your best bet.

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z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

When buying anything these

Fri, 2014-09-19 07:43

When buying anything these days over gumtree I either pick it up and pay in person or if remote/interstate I will only buy if they will send it COD. I offer them $20 to cover their costs and insurance/tracking for the item. When legit they are usually happy to include those costs in the COD transaction.

None of this helps in your situation of course.

Posts: 331

Date Joined: 17/12/13

 Theres nothing worse than

Fri, 2014-09-19 08:07

 Theres nothing worse than being had. But if someone told me they lived in Telfer I would straight away be suss because as mentioned earlier it is a mining camp. No one lives there as such! It might be a costly lesson for you that lots of us have learnt before. Good on you for letting people know these things though.

Posts: 176

Date Joined: 18/08/13

Telfer

Fri, 2014-09-19 12:44

 Being in SA, telfer could be a well established thriving city to him.  Probably only us sandgropers know it's not. 

Posts: 1522

Date Joined: 09/03/13

is there a way of finding who

Fri, 2014-09-19 08:23

is there a way of finding who has the listed number ?
ie reverse white pages etc?

EL SYD's picture

Posts: 599

Date Joined: 16/08/10

 Talk to your bank, get your

Fri, 2014-09-19 13:02

 Talk to your bank, get your money back, they do this for a fee, I have had this happen with an international purchase,

 

EL SYD's picture

Posts: 599

Date Joined: 16/08/10

  

Fri, 2014-09-19 15:19

 

 

Posts: 169

Date Joined: 14/07/08

Saw the ad

Fri, 2014-09-19 13:13

 I tried calling and texting but got no reply. Figured he sold the reel. Was very cheap fom memory.

Posts: 300

Date Joined: 04/08/10

Cheers for your input and

Fri, 2014-09-19 15:51

Cheers for your input and help fellas

Yeh living in SA i was not aware of location he said he was in

he sent me photos and described the condition of the reel and what it was used for he even said he would throw in a couple daiwa hats

i bought it for a Fathers Day present, and yeh then had to fork out some more money for a present so i wasnt to happy.

i went into my Police station and they lady that served me was the biggest clown i had ever met

she told me : that it was my fault, that you should never pay for a item unless they send it first

i told her :are you for real, is this a joke, if i bought something from you, your telling me that you would send me the item first before and then when i supposely recieve it i send you the money?

what a joke

she replies: yes i would have done it that way

In the end i left it at that asked can you do anything

and she said no the police only look after Criminal cases

your case is civil so you need to go to the courts if you want to pursue it.

 

My best chance looks like its through the banks to see what they can do, they said they sent a letter to the person but no reply as of yet.

 

 

 

 

crasny1's picture

Posts: 6985

Date Joined: 16/10/08

(No subject)

Fri, 2014-09-19 15:58

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crasny1's picture

Posts: 6985

Date Joined: 16/10/08

I think this guys sucks

Fri, 2014-09-19 15:43

But I would be pasting anyones banking details on a public forum. You may well be in nasty breach of the stupid IMO Privacy Laws. I would suggest you edit that bit out.

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"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk

little johnny's picture

Posts: 5320

Date Joined: 04/12/11

carma lets hope

Sun, 2014-09-21 21:26

something nice happens to this guy