Need help with a Gumtree theft/scam

hi all.

i sold a laptop on gumtree to a buyer in knowsley, he told me his parents would be paying for it and they live in spain.. his so called farther paid me some money through paypal and the lad sent his girlfriend to collect it from my house.. after the collection the so called farther in spain has filed a paypal dispute on me stating that i have not sent him the items and he wants his money back.. paypal now have withheld the money and i have no laptop and no money. This is a scam by these 3 people.. i have the lad in the uk phone number with lots of text messages about the sale and how he will get his farther to pay for it and also when it was collected. paypal are looking into this at the moment but do you think the police could help me as i have the scammers phone number. or what is the best way to go.

thanks for reading.

hi all.

i sold a laptop on gumtree to a buyer in knowsley, he told me his parents would be paying for it and they live in spain.. his so called farther paid me some money through paypal and the lad sent his girlfriend to collect it from my house.. after the collection the so called farther in spain has filed a paypal dispute on me stating that i have not sent him the items and he wants his money back.. paypal now have withheld the money and i have no laptop and no money. This is a scam by these 3 people.. i have the lad in the uk phone number with lots of text messages about the sale and how he will get his farther to pay for it and also when it was collected. paypal are looking into this at the moment but do you think the police could help me as i have the scammers phone number. or what is the best way to go.

thanks for reading.

PayPal are usually very fair with this sort of thing, let them conclude their investigation before going further.

I'd go ahead and report it to the police, it's an attempt to defraud you, the fact that Paypal might resolve this in your favour doesn't alter that it's a criminal act.

Yes if you've got a crime report number it will help with the paypal case.

The police won't be able to do much, but just having it reported will help you get your money back from Paypal.

thanks for you comments, iam still in the dispute and i have sent all the information i have onto paypal about whats happened, but now they are asking me for a postal receipt for the items he has (so called) bought from me.. i cant supply this as the item was collected by the other scammer.if paypal are reading my list of texts messages they will know that the item was collected and not posted out. this is whats worrying me, why are paypal asking for a postal receipt which they should know i cant provide..

The police might actually be able to recover the laptop as stolen, potentially.

Sadly its a common thing, and I'm amazed people still get duped.

If someone wants your item but can't pay cash, don't do business with them.

If they offer to send someone to collect, tell the buyer to paypal the collector the money who can then give you cash on collection.

Police won't do anything not unless it was sold for thousands even then they may not. Paypal most likely will side with the buyer unless you can prove it was delivered to the buyer.

Never accept paypal if the item is to be collected, always cash on collection.

The police are understaffed whilst also being very busy, I very much doubt that they would see this as a solvable case, you will be lucky to get to speak to a PSO on the phone, let alone a CID officer. I’m assuming that paypal will only be interested in investigating the money paid through them, you are responsible for allowing the goods to be collected without full payment being made.

Full payment was made, then the payer is disputing the payment claiming that they didn't receive the item...

Full payment was made, then the payer is disputing the payment claiming that they didn't receive the item...

I just saw ‘some money’ not ‘the money’, I wouldn’t want to be misquoted again, would I?

I just saw ‘some money’ not ‘the money’, I wouldn’t want to be misquoted again, would I?

That's the way I read it as well, "some" money was paid, not the full amount. Moral to the story as stated by alchresearch, collection needs to be paid in full in pound notes, the seller has the brass, then the buyer gets his goods.

Angel1.