Beware of Gumtree Scammers
Yesterday, I had a frustrating experience with someone trying to collect my PS5. They attempted to pay via bank transfer, showing me that the payment was made, but I noticed it was marked as a Scheduled payment. The buyer insisted that it should arrive within 10 minutes and wanted to leave with the PlayStation.
We ended up waiting around 30 minutes for the payment to go through, but it never did. I knew it should have been instant since my wife and I tested a transfer from her account (with the same bank) and it went through immediately. We also verified the scheduled payment settings.
After a long wait, the buyer said he would drive to a cashpoint to withdraw cash and promised to send the payment back as soon as it arrived in my account. However, it never did, and he never returned or reached out.
I suspect he was trying to buy time to make me think the payment would come through quickly, with the intention of taking the PS5 and canceling the payment on his way home. He seemed rushed to leave as well. Be cautious out there!
I’m really sorry to hear about your experience with that scammer. It sounds incredibly frustrating and stressful. It’s common for scammers to use tactics like showing a “scheduled” payment to create a sense of urgency and trick people into handing over their belongings. Always trusting your instincts and ensuring you receive payment before parting with items is so important.
For your safety in the future, consider using secure payment methods or even cash for high-value items. I hope you can recover from this experience and maybe report the scammer to Gumtree to help prevent it from happening to others. Stay safe!