Scammed on Gumtree -- what to do

Hi everyone, so recently I got scammed on Gumtree by this person named "Elizabeth Beyer" (apparently one of my friends also got scammed by the same person).

Long story short, I was selling a macbook air and this scammer contacted me and told me 'she' had sent payment through. Sure enough, I received an email from "[email protected]" (actual email was actually '[email protected]') shortly after. Given how busy I was during the week I never bothered to check my actual Paypal account and assumed that I received the payment.

I only got to realise that it was a scam one day after I posted it so I quickly called Aust Post to intercept it before it reaches the stated destination — which was a parcel locker in Oatley NSW. I even had to pay $27 for this service and Aust Post said they should be to stop it.

The next day, tracking shows that the item has got to Oatley Delivery Centre. I called Aust Post's Customer Service team again and they tried repeatedly to call the Oatley Delivery Centre but nobody picked up. So they sent a 'high priority' message instead, but by the time the Oatley Delivery Centre guys saw the message, it was already too late — the item had been delivered into the parcel locker. I called Australia Post again and told them that since it was a scam, surely they could get the guys to open the parcel locker and retrieve the parcel before the scammer collected it. They said they will try their best but once again, I only got bad news that they couldn't retrieve it.

Now what else can I do and what should I do? I could report it to the police but would that do anything?

I seriously don't understand why people would resort to such dishonest ways of earning money. Sigh.

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Comments

  • +16

    wtf australia post

    • +5

      No longer a fan of Auspost. The terrible communication systems in place between centres pretty much allowed the scammer to successfully get away with the scam.

      • +7

        Yes, 100% Australia Posts fault. Those bloody bastards!

  • +9

    you better put on your flame suit.

    • I'd rather forgive, but never forget. Lesson learnt.

    • +1

      :(

    • Another Elizabeth Beyer case. This scammer is everywhere!

      • She get's around like the village whore ; )

  • sigh

    • major sigh :(

  • Nothing you can really do. You can report it to the police but it's very unlikely they will investigate. Let it be a lesson. Don't post anything until you receive an actual payment or meet in person.

    • Thanks for the kind words. I reported it to ACORN anyways. Hope others can benefit from that… somehow

  • +5

    didn't know it is that easy to con ppl…

    • +1

      Yeah in an ideal world, we're all smart enough to know. But when you're having an especially busy week at work, you get careless :( Not going to be careless with such expensive items again…

    • It's always good practice to check my PayPal emails, even when i buy 10 cent products on GearBest.

  • +1

    Cry and learn

    • +5

      Crying and learning.

      • -1

        Bikies…

  • +2

    Airtasker . Get someone local to the parcel box to sit and wait for the scammer to collect it.

    • +1

      Hah. That's creative. If only I had this answer yesterday….The scammer was probably checking the tracking information and waiting by the parcel box…

  • +6

    Sorry to hear this happened to you. Seeing you know they use this parcel locker send a small parcel with new 30 dollar phone in it boxed etc.

    But have it already turned on with a tracking app etc active and locked hopefully you'll get a ping and an address etc once you know where and id them as a person well anything can happen to their possessions hey?

    • +2

      Wow haha cool idea. This should be a movie.

  • +1

    Run the name through Facebook and look for any location around that po box area some scammers aren't all that smart when it comes to hiding their identity also report to police and ask if they can force aust post to reveal who paid for the parcel locker as in name and address

    • +1

      can set up a parcel locker in anyone's name (doesn't even have to be real, e.g. "mickey mouse" would be accepted)

      the delivery would be accepted as long as the parcel the recipient's name match with the registered name

      they do ask for physical address when registering but they don't really verify it… it could well be a fake address of the address of the local macca's/ rsl/ etc

  • +1

    Sell another laptop, rock up to auspost locker in other state, set up camping tent.

    • +2

      This should also be a movie.

  • +2

    Serious question couldn't OP report this to the police along with all the details and the police just check surveillance cameras later?

    Wait am I mixing up PO with something else. That box you keep at the post office with a key like a locker type system. These places have security cameras no doubt?

  • +5

    You can't setup a parcel locker without an Australian mobile number, so if they used a SIM registered in their name they could be caught.

    And secondly, the fact they've done this more than once let alone with the same name (I think I've dealt with an "Elizabeth Beyer" on Gumtree before as well!) makes them easy to catch in the act if Australia Post plays along. It reminds me of Western Union's complacency with Nigerian scams.

  • +2

    Plot twist: it was an inside job.

    • +3

      Yeah, free macbook air for the Auspost men haha

    • Plot twist 2.

      The customer was real and paid for the goods.

      But a scammer duplicated the ad and told the customer to pay via Western Union (to a destination he/she are currently "abroad on holiday") after the goods have been received.

      • +1

        Plot Twist 3.

        The OP (Hamlet) is the scammer. And he/she is using this thread to find out how the victim may react.
        So they're doing their homework, to avoid the OzBikies

        • Haha nice one mate. You should write the next Inception-esque online fraud thriller.

  • +2

    Go to nsw. Wait outside parcel locker for prick to show up (byo muscle/bikies). Teach him/her a lesson.
    Or see if the cops can find out whose parcel locker it is.

  • +2

    Damn Auspost…what the hell is a phone for when nobody picks it up. They might as well stick to using birds and telegraphy like the old days.

    • +1

      Don't worry, the CEO is being paid millions while the service levels plummet. Malcom Turnbull claims he's outraged by this despite the fact that he runs the Government that owns Australia Post.

    • I even asked the AusPost customer service team if they could pass me the delivery centre's number or even better, the manager's number. But nope, it's all internal and there doesn't seem to be a better way to communicate between centres.

      Also, who knows how many times the AusPost customer service team called the centre. Maybe they gave up after 2 minutes of ringing… Now, the most frustrating was probably the fact that everytime I called the AusPost customer service team, it was a different operator. When asked to transfer to my previous operator who actually knew my case, I was told that it was not possible. So I end up speaking to a number of operators, which did nothing to help progress my case further than what the previous operator did…

  • +1

    Threaten her with an application in the small claims court

    • Dear <insert real name here> you are now called upon to…. … ….

  • +3

    I wouldn't really call this a scam, since you had every opportunity to prevent this from happening. Who doesn't check to make sure the money has been transferred before sending something to a buyer.

    • It is a scam but was easily preventable

  • +1

    How much did she "pay" for the MBA?

  • +2

    Yeah Aus Post are an absolute disgrace at the moment, it's as though the concept of customer service has been completely erased from their teeny weeny brains.

  • -5

    lolol sucked in
    you didnt check your paypal and thats the issue.
    stop finding others to blame, you are to blame not the scammer or auspost.

  • In Dog we trust……
    All others pay cash ;-)

  • +1

    Im not having a go at OP so sorry in advance, but who the hell sells things via paypal, outside of ebay? Like the only reason paypal exists is because of ebay, otherwise its the biggest nuiscance and outside of that nobody actually wants to use that crap. Lesson learnt. Cash on pickup or EFT when selling.

    • Indeed, lesson learnt :/

    • +1

      Strictly cash only for me
      EFT can be clawed back too

      • Learn something new errday !! Ty

  • It is not "scammed" it is theft- report it to the Police and insist they pursue it!

  • I believe that even if you did receive the funds in your account, the scammer could still dispute it with paypal who may side with you or the scammer depending on circumstances. If that fails, then the scammer initiates a charge back out of paypals account, which they will most likely win and paypal then takes those funds from you account. Similar case on OzB - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/278643

    Net result you loose. My advice, if you can afford it, then certainly take the risk.
    Otherwise Gumtree = cash or cleared funds directly into your account.

    Don't forget that rarely some scammers, once they have your name and address could threaten you and your family. Just something to consider.

    • Yeah, thanks for the reminder.My brother told me about this too. The internet is not as safe as I thought, even with 'secured' payment systems like PayPal…

  • +4

    Get in a box and mail yourself to the PO box then when she comes to collect you jump out and demand your laptop back.

    • And the next thing you know, Elizabeth Beyer is selling 'Hamlet' as a slave on Gumtree and Airtasker.

      • +1

        Would she accept $30?

  • I'm sure that post had insurance on it?

    Since they lost your parcel, you can claim insurance in payout.

    EDIT:
    I know they didn't lose it, it was going to initial post location, however your urgent priority intercept was not therefore they failed you and lost your parcel.

  • +1

    did you get your $27 back for the "service"?

  • +3

    All Parcel Lockers have surveillance cameras, from memory there's a hidden camera placed above the touch screen which can be used to get a clear photo of someone's face.
    if you report it to the police they will contact Australia Post and demand the footage and investigate.

    • +1

      I have just reported it to NSW police online. Hopefully they are able to do that yeah. Thanks for the suggestion.

    • That camera is right in plain sight - most lockers even highlight the fact with a "constant video surveillance" sticker above it.

  • "Elizabeth Bayer"! I can't find my crying laughter emoji fast enough!

  • Hey, did you hear anything back from the Police? same thing just happened to me.

    • Hey mate, sorry to hear the same thing happened to you. Police didn't do anything but tell me to report to ACORN…. I think they frankly couldn't care less when it's a $1k item. What did you lose?

      • Yeah I figured the police wouldn't really care unless it was at least $1000. I lost a MacBook Air that I sold for $700.

  • Someone should sell to this scammer and have a current affair stake out the locker…

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