[violetgirl]

Hey everybody! I would like some advice please as I'm relatively new to gumtree...I posted an ad on the Belfast gumtree to sell a piece of furniture, as I'm from Northern Ireland and I stated local pick up only. I got the folowing emails;

("Kerry Rose")
Hi there,
Through my search for the Beautiful honey pine corner dresser,I found your advert at the cost of £40.I am okay with the price and want to purchase it.State the current condition and provid photos if avaliable.I am looking forward to your urgent response.Thanks
Best regards.
Kerry Rose..

(Me)
Hi

Sorry I haven't been in contact until now, I have been away for the past couple of days. I've attached a picture of the pine dresser. I hope you like it. If you are interested, could you please let me know so we can make arrangements about picking it up.
Thanks

("Kerry Rose")
Hello Clare,Thanks for the response and update on my purchase.I am okay with thephoto-details and condition you have stated.I am willing and ready to proceed with the purchase.I am located in Nunhead-London.The payment will be made via a Bank Draft,there is a client of mine in Liverpool,who i can instruct right-away to make-out the payment to you,i will contact him immediately and get back to you.Meanwhile could you please provide me with the followingpaymentinformation,as follows:Name the cheque should be made payable to:Address of the recipient:Phone #:Concerning the pick-up,i will contact a carrier to come over to yourlocation for the pick-up and delivery,as soon as you recieve thepayment.ThankAwaiting your response.Kind regardsRose..

Slight alarm bells were ringing when I read this as I presumed "she" was located in Northern Ireland and why go to so much trouble for a piece of furniture?? Anyway I gave my address for the cheque to be sent and then waited...5 days later I sent another email because I hadn't received the cheque and got this;

"Kerry Rose"
Hello Clare,
Sorry for the late response.I was seriously ill.I have contacted my client to raise and mail the check-payment to you right-away,and i will get back to you as soon as the payment is made en-route to your location.I will also contact my carrier to come-over to your location for the pick-up and delivery, as soon as you receive the payment and give your consent.
Kind regards
Rose.

Then yesterday I got what I think is a bankers draft made out for £2850!!! This sounds very like what some other people have been saying about but the thing is I didn't get given any "special instructions" just this arriving with no explanation.It looks highly fraudulent as it is filled in with biro-aren't they usually printed? Also it was posted from Ghana

I have emailed this person for an explanation but I doubt if I'll get one.

[Bluey]

Erm, as you suspect, the likelihood of someone in Ghana genuinely wanting your furniture and paying for it is seriously low, so why not just burn or frame that cheque before you then receive further instructions to try and persuade you to legitimately pay back the accidental overpayment for that bogus one.

Google the keywords '419' and 'scam' to get all the info you need

Bluey

[scwf]

Bother. Wish I had read this first! My daughter, a schoolgirl, has just sent two tickets for the Glasgow ballet off to this same Kerry Rose in Portishead. And guess what, she has been sent a cheque today for £2,300 from GHANA. The tickets were not worth that much... (!) and I sent them special delivery as it was so close to the event (£4.10). So we're both regretting the need to sell them on (she had to work that night) and feeling very sick and embarassed and stupid ... £60 is a lot of money (and a lot of hours making beds in a hospital) to a 17 year old. Shame on you 'Kerry Rose!'

[darren]

bastards

at least you only lost £60 and not £2360. you could waste their time to the tune of £60 and have a bit of fun. report back here when you're done.

check out www.419eater.com for inspiration.

[remzobaba]

hi guys, so glad everyone or almost everyone is aware of these BASTARDS. one question i would like to put forward to all users: WOULD U SEND A CHEQUE/BANK DRAFT WORTH TEN TIMES THE SALE PRICE FOR AN ITEM TO A BUYER U DONT KNOW? NO I GUESS. SO WHY ACCEPT OR AGREE TO DEAL WITH GUYS WHO WANT TO SEND U A CHEQUE THAT S WORTH TEN OR TWENTY TIMES THE COST OF AN ITEM. So pls be wise and wary. these guys are everywhere

[Peco]

I would email them back and tell them that you have just had the item valued by an antique dealer and that you have now learned it is worth £5,000. That will piss them off.

You are right about bankers drafts, they are normally printed out, not hand-written. It is for this very reason I don't like them. Some crooks can easily change the amount on a bankers draft after you give it to them. Printer ink can easily be totally erased, and the cheque placed into an ordinary home printer and a new amount printed on it. Experts say that hand-written cheques written in biro are the hardest to erase and that they are therefore more secure againt tampering. Bankers drafts only offer security in terms of them not bouncing the way a cheque can, but if you gave one to someone they could easily tamper with it and clean out your bank account. The only way they might bounce is if the amount was greater than the funds in the account.