I am based in Perth and placed an ad on Gumtree for Event Cinema gift cards. Potential buyer is from Sydney and is willing to pay by bank transfer.
Initially, I thought this would be fine if I wait till the funds to clear then send him the item but now I am worried/paranoid something could go wrong.
Thoughts? Advice?
Thanks
Thanks for your reply.
I can but what if he says that he never received the item after I post it? Can he not raise a Paypal dispute and likely win?
a buyer can't file a dispute to a gift payment. If you instruct the buyer to send money as a gift, there is no option for him to file dispute.
There are some mixed responses to giving out bank details over the internet:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1439278 — some say the only thing they can do with your info is to put money into your account, although it is possible to still get scammed and people have been scammed before
The Aussie Scamwatch website also advices not giving strangers / ppl you do not trust any banking details
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/identity…
CommBank reckons it's safe to give out details on Gumtree, since they have fraud protection in place
https://community.commbank.com.au/t5/Everyday-Banking/Is-it-…
So who do you believe??
Thanks Scrimshaw,
I have also had a read of:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2138369
Reverse bank transfers seem possible if from a stolen bank account or stolen bank cheque so I think there is some risk. Paypal also has risks based on Scarletshoes response.
Having said that, my gut tells me he is ok becuase:
1. He asked whether they were valid in Sydney.
2. He haggled on the price.
3. He told me he would transfer by St George Bank (could be lying of course).
I will decide what to do in the morning. Thanks again for your responses.
Paypal will charge you, then if the buyer then claims you didn't send it and you can't prove you sent it (for e.g. you didn't send via registered post), they will reverse the payment. You will then be the one out of pocket. Personally, I would take a bank transfer into my account any day over paypal. Bank transfer into your account is safe for you, but can prove risky if you are the buyer. As a buyer, I would never pay with bank transfer :)
Thanks for your reply.
I was thinking bank transfer would be better as well. I did tell him that it would be understandable if he didn't trust a complete stranger but he agreed and said "I hope we can trust each other".
Gut tells me he is ok despite some risk. I will decide what to do in the morning. Cheers
I used to sell on eBay for many, many years. I accepted Direct Deposits for most of my sales. I have an account they pay into, which I then immediately transfer into a linked account. My linked account is where I kept some money (and when this account gets over $x, I then transfer the funds to another account). The account they send money to most often has a max of $10 in it. If you're worried, give them an account where you usually have close to $0, and where the overdrawn facility is disabled.
The main scam people pull when asking for bank account details has more to do with depositing dodgy cheques into your account. Usually, the amount deposited will be more than what you asked for, so they will ask you to refund them the difference. Even if you wait for funds to be cleared, and use those cleared funds to refund the difference, once the bank realises it's a dodgy/stolen cheque, they will try to recoup the full amount from you.
The warnings about not giving out bank details is an easier message to send out to everyone than to try to explain how a scam works. Just be very wary if they pay more than you ask for, otherwise, everything should be fine.
If you're worried about giving out bank details, just open an account specifically for such purposes. There are plenty of fee free accounts around, and if you transfer anything out of the account when it arrives and don't keep any funds in there there is no risk whatsoever.
If the new account is with your existing bank, any transfer to your regular account should be almost instant.
the payment could come from a hijicked bank account. you give the goods. a week or two later a reversal comes in. ditto for paypal. both carry risks. gumtree is for cash on pick up
You cannot "reverse" a bank transfer. They can request that the money is returned, but cannot forcibly extract it from your account.
Thanks everyone. In the end, decided not go ahead with the deal.
Paypal is instant, tell them to use Paypal instead?