I keep almost getting scammed on gum tree grrr

The first time was when DH and I were looking for a dog and I was too excited to really think about the red flag alerts I should have been getting. This woman said that they had puppies to give "free to a good home" but they were located in some remote place and all I would have to do was pay for their shipping. DH had to explain that they were going to scam us. That broke my heart a little bit at the time.

Then yesterday, I posted an add up for a flat wanted and exchanged emails with a woman who said she had a property for me. It all seemed quite reasonable, even the price (average, not on the low side). Then she was all like "oh but I live in Ireland and I don't want to travel for nothing so my lawyer has said that he wants me to ask you to wire me a £500 deposit so that I know you're serious. Then I'll pay you back in one week of living there." I was so mad because the pictures of the flat were lovely.

Has anyone else been scammed on there? What do you do? I've just about had it with people wasting my time and getting my hopes up.

Gumtree seems to be only scams these days and it's a shame.  We've had the same stuff happen to us, even with a dog.  I mean, what kind of person are you to lure people in with puppies?!

Though, that said, we did end up getting our dog off of a gumtree ad (granted from a junkie in Govan who got his dog together with his friend's dog to make some money), and we did get the house we're living in now off of there as well.  You just have to be suspicious of pretty much everyone, unfortunately. 

It's not as bad for areas that are smaller, but for major cities and large towns you do have to be more careful.

Then yesterday, I posted an add up for a flat wanted and exchanged emails with a woman who said she had a property for me. It all seemed quite reasonable, even the price (average, not on the low side). Then she was all like "oh but I live in Ireland and I don't want to travel for nothing so my lawyer has said that he wants me to ask you to wire me a £500 deposit so that I know you're serious. Then I'll pay you back in one week of living there." I was so mad because the pictures of the flat were lovely.

I ran into this, too, except the guy claimed he lived in Italy.

That said, I did find my current flat off gumtree. I tried to stick with ads that had phone numbers listed, since I would hope it's tougher to scam people/sound serious when you actually say stupid stuff like that on the phone, rather than just typing it out. My landlord isn't local, but her brother lives a building over, so that's okay.

Good luck!

I rehomed my dog through gum tree and got a very genuine couple who drove 2 hours to come see my dog. They send me pictures and I'm always welcome to come visit. I started to have faith in gumtree since then but it's let me down again. Thing is, the lady did give me her number but I just don't trust her anymore after she said she will refund me my deposit in a week. That's so crazy! If she said at the end of the tenancy or something that would make a lot more sense.

The problem is, we're trying to move to the dover area and we live in Leeds so it's quite difficult for viewings and things. I can't imagine paying £150 to get there for a viewing of a house that doesn't exist. So frusterating!

I got my current flat off gumtree, couldn't be happier with the flat or my landlord. 

But like the others say, I only trust gumtree ads for things that have phone numbers and I can go see in person before buying.  Hard though, like you say if you're trying to move.  You may be better off going through a letting agent for the intial move and then you can look on gumtree afterwards to see in person. 

The problem is, we're trying to move to the dover area and we live in Leeds so it's quite difficult for viewings and things. I can't imagine paying £150 to get there for a viewing of a house that doesn't exist. So frusterating!

When we moved to Dublin, we were in Sheffield and used RightMove and a few other property sites to find the house we rented. At the time GumTree wasnt available as much as it is now...

Oh yeah, right move, I completely forgot!

Do you guys think reporting these ads actually makes a difference though?

Oh yeah, right move, I completely forgot!

Do you guys think reporting these ads actually makes a difference though?

Id like to think it would, even if it means one more notch against someone... I would report it.

So I keep getting emails from this woman now but in different names  (same surname, different forename). I told her I'm not interested but she's taken to harassing me now. *sigh* stupid gum tree.