I saw a petrol tank advertised on Gumtree and e-mailed the seller. I had a reply from a woman calling herself Pamela Hogan, saying she was very busy but could send the tank through her works by Parcelforce. I could inspect the tank on delivery and pay Parcelforce if I wanted it.
That sounded ok but I never knew Parcelforce did cash on collection, so alarmbells were ringing straight away.
I then get an e-mail from Parcelforce telling me to go to a shop that has the "PayPoint" sign outside and pay the amount in UKash vouchers. I've never heard of UKash and we don't have a shop with that sign outside. I also collect a lot of parcels from Parcelforce and often have to pay customs duty at the depot, so I knew this was a scam.

I've Googles her name and Ukash and a few posts about this scam that people have fallen for. She's advertised other items including a tent and a guitar on Gumtree as well.

BE WARNED

Here's a link to Money Saving Experet.com thread about this.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?s=a15ba08a7320f783b06838c5e5224660&p=56213533

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

Thanks for the warning, H. I don't actually know what 'Gumtree' is - I thought that 'Up a gum tree' was a euphemism for being in difficulties...

Her mails and the items she's selling are horribly plausible. This is not some Nigerian trying his luck, but a middle-aged Englishwoman. Someone somewhere must know who she is.

What was the fuel tank for ? I can do you a NOS Hi-Rider tank in Tangerine (fibreglass unfortunately !)

Trust Me ....I'm a rivet counter !

hi dave ,looks like you were luckier than some,there are quite a few angry people on there.
while looking i saw this wm20 for sale,cant imagine why you would sell one on there anyway,here it is if its not another scam
http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/1941-bsa-wm20/105598051
be careful
cheers rick

email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com

if nothing else, please NEVER use ukash to pay for an item.

i get about three fraud complaints a day about scams !

email (option): chris.astinbarker@btinternet.com

The bike is being sold by War Department, not a scam at all. Whilst there will always be people around trying to scam us out of our hard earned cash there are also some genuine bargains to be had.

Stuart

email (option): stu.gibbins@btinternet.com

Hi Rik, it was a Norton Inter tank for a plunger frame, it was a bit tatty in the picture but looked in sound condition and a bargain at £420. But there you have it, if it's too good to be true, it usually is...!

Scams are usually for items that are a real bargain and this tends to blind the people falling for it.

Maybe a tangerine Hi-Rider tank will look better

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

I've just found with website with 5 pages of peoples comments, who have been scammed buy this person. The name keeps changing but the e-mail address is usually there name with 75 in the middle (pamela75hogan@gmail.com)

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/07747192044

I can't believe people are falling for it.
From what people are saying, Gumtree aren't interested and neither are the Police. It sounds like the person may be in America..? so nothing UK police can do anyway.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

I am in Canada and had published a wanted ad in a Canadian English motorcycle supplier site which I have used many times. You would not believe the number of scammers who contacted me with a bike for sale, mostly from Great Britain. One even indicated that he had just returned from church!!!! Beware out there.

email (option): Wpfillmore@gmail.com

You mean this one Kostas?

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/norton-international-tank/110887406

picture does look good though.....

Regards,
Sven

email (option): snvosselman@hotmail.com

Yes, that's the one Sven... It was me not Kostas

Obviously a picture they've got off the internet.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

You can find the IP address from the received email, then find the approximate location from the IP address this is how to do it

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/workingwithipaddresses/qt/ipaddressemail.htm
Then you can just google the IP address to get it's approximate location

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

Thanks Dave, I read about it on that site and it says this;

"Google's Gmail service omits the sender IP address information from all headers. Instead, only the IP address of Gmail's mail server is shown in Received: from. This means it is impossible to find a sender's true IP address in a received Gmail."

That's why they're using gmail.com

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

If you do use a mail server that does let you access the IP address you can at least check that the vendor who claims to be in rural Wiltshhire is actually there and not in Nigeria or somewhere completely different. I'm sure that there must be some other way of checking with the mail servers that you can access their IP address, after all the police can do it if someone posts something offensive on twitter or facebook

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

I'm sure you're right Dave, but the Police are more interested in prosecuting people who write offensive or slanderous comments on Twitter and Facebook than they are catching scammers who rob people of thousands of pounds

That's where societies priorities are all wrong..!

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

Hi Guys,
I have just received what I think is one of these scam emails.

From 'Oxley' with a gmail address, originally asking £300 for a front brake plate and when I said way too much, dropped to £100 inc carriage.

Asked Henk if he knows the name (Oxley) but I don't hold out much hope.

Darren

email (option): dwrudd@lineone.net

hi horror, police would love to catch these scammers, but unfortunately most people still believe in a "free lunch"
with the majority of social sites registered abroad its impossible to trace the user, as dave mentioned, gmil hides the senders ip address so there is no starting point. and with mobile phone texts now using platform servers, a text could appear to originate in the uk but be from nigeria via the internet.

moral is, buy from people off here, or pay by paypal, at least then there is some protection.

email (option): chris.astinbarker@btinternet.com

'Pamela', whether she is male or female, seems to have quite a well thought out 'style' and is not as obvious as many scammers are. Though odd methods of payment and delivery seem to be a common factor with many scammers.
It seems the images for many of the items for sale have been found on the internet and are recycled to make the advert.
I have two strategies initially if I have suspicions (or even if I don't)..First I mail the seller and tell them I have a relative who lives close to them..'Could he come and take a look at the item?'....An excuse or no reply will stop me dead..
Alternatively, ask for detailed dimensions or other detailed questions about the item..something you would need to be able to look at the object to determine...or more detailed photographs...failure to produce any of these would lead to me walking away...
Are there any other strategies that may be helpful?...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I had a similar scam tried on my when I put out an advert wanting a Norton International. Someone in Spain e-mailed saying they had one. I was actually going to Spain that week and asked where they were, with no reply. I also asked for some pictures. Eventually some pictures arrived. He'd sent picture of one I missed on ebay a few week before and I knew the bike was in the Midlands not Spain..! I would always pay cash on collection for anything valuable.

There's always an element of trust when you buy something by post. I've been ripped off by Shitterfabrik for pannier bags that are not fit for purpose, at a total price of £128 and they're not interested in the slightest. They've stalled and stalled so long now I can't even claim my money back from Paypal. They've got away with it and there's nothing I can do. So what's the difference..?

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

hi,i have also had a n e-mail from oxley,in regards to a throttle i posted to another member,(i think its in the parts department)i will forward the mail to henk ,he can scrutinise it and post it if he feels it is safe to do so.
these arseholes need filling in (pardon the pun)its hard enough earned the honest way.
cheers rick

email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com

Just been contacted by Oxley, offering the parts I needed,but nobody knows what parts I need in detail,so asked for uk land line no, pointing out that there are so many scamers out there I will not part with any money till I have spoken to them Any way I like to lead them on a bit andrew.h.

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

Ditto Here, I posted looking for a throttle and they contacted to say they had the parts I need. Somebody is trolling this forum- BEWARE. (No it's not Ian Wright but I'm still awaiting his reply )
Vincent

email (option): vinver@ns.sympatico-dot-ca

Anyone knows David.W.Smith?
He has sent me a few mails regarding a shabby old 8" reflector I'm looking for on Rob's WD16H forum
He writes;

Kindly advise if you still need items as requested as I have in stock for sale. And other parts you might need and i will get back to you.
What's your phone#

Thanks in advance
David.W.Smith

To me, it looks like I can write something in this post...
I'm sorry if I'm wrong.

Regards,
Sven

email (option): snvosselman@hotmail.com

Scammer...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Definitely dodgy. No-one in the UK would use the US # symbol anyway which rules out the main source of 8" headlamp parts.

I'd give him the phone number for your local police....

Ah Sven,

For some reason my trade page attracts many of these idiots.
I can show you about 15 e-mails from "different" persons asking me if I still need the requested parts.

Usually cheap and in mint condition and any number of parts I might need.
Either load the money through Western Union or Money gram.
Others just ask you to call them, which I never do.
The latest one gave an address of a Liverpool kwik-fit garage but a different telephone number. Apparently the idiot thinks that referring to a garage may be helpfull. Others refer to non-existing adresses.

Most funny is that they are using almost exact same mail header every time.

I have no idea how to stop these fools. I did add a clear warning on the trade page and I hope everybody uses his senses.

As said by others before, its usually to good to be true.

Cheers,

Rob

email (option): wd16H@telfort.nl