Hi All
I wanted to let Members know about an ongoing scam involving Naim Audio products on both Gumtree and Ebay...plus other HiFi sales websites. This is a particularly hard topic for me...as I myself was scammed out of over £400 last week.
There is an individual or perhaps a group who are copying legitimate Ebay listings of Naim items, and then creating fake listings on Gumtree, HiFi For Sale and HiFi In Touch...and possibly other sites.
Here is my story :-
I saw what appeared to be a legitimate ad on Gumtree for a Naim Nac 82..but at a "good" price. I responded to it and all seemed to be genuine with the seller. I did a bank transfer of the money (as I have done a number of times before without problem) and was promised a quick posting of the preamp.
After a few days of texting and asking for a tracking number, for which there was always an excuse for it not materializing...I did a bit of snooping. I quickly discovered that the same ad had been copied from Ebay, pictures, text, everything! It hurts because I never normally fall for such things..and I am always reporting obviously fake ads. This time I took my eye off the ball and was gullible!
Needless to say, the Nac82 never arrived! I have reported this to Gumtree and also Action Fraud...where you can log such incidents and provide as much evidence as you can so that it can be forwarded to the Police. I mentioned this icident on another audio forum...and quickly realized that others had not only seen these ads, but had been scammed by them. This is why I have made this post...as I know that many Members are on the look out for good used Naim equipment.
Since then, I and others, have found more ads by this person (or persons) and have had them taken down by the above sale/auction sites.
For the information of Members - please be aware of the following details :-
A man calling himself Simon Allen...or sometimes using the names Carl or Paul
An email address - simon.allen291@gmail.com.
A mobile number - 07983230518
Any suspicious or "too good to be true" ads from the Manchester area
Also, the name audioman229 was used on HiFi In Touch - but they have now removed ads and cancelled his membership
If you see any of these details in an ad...or combination of them...it is a scam! Please, please report these ads to the relevant site...and please take the time to fill in a report to Action Fraud at - www.actionfraud.police.uk or phone them on - 0330 303 0800.
The more reports sent in the better as it will help to stop or at lease reduce these scam incidents. I have learned my lesson...the hard way 
Also, take a moment to double check ads on sales sites by doing a search for that item on Ebay...and checking "completed listings" in case it is not a current ad. I did this last night for an ad for a Naim Nap 500 on Gumtree (Ireland) selling for 4000 euros...it was raised by another member on the other audio forum....it was instantly recognizable as a completed ad by "geoffatacoustica" which recently sold for over £5000. I reported it directly to Gumtree and it will be taken down.
Please Folks....be aware, don't get scammed like me, spread the word and let's put these fraudsters out of business...or at least make life as difficult for them as we can! They are stealing our hard earned money, after all!
Thanks for reading...but keep a look out! If you want to pass on any relevant information via this post..or directly to myself, then I will, if you wish, add it to my ongoing Action Fraud Report for the Police to add it as evidence.
Posted on: 04 September 2016 by Innocent Bystander
Yep GraemeH. We have learned the lesson. NEVER hand over the goods physically EVEN THOUGH the cash is in your PayPal account. As you say a £200 lesson for my young son.
I think the idea is you do hand over (or else you are the thief!), but you need proof.
Does anyone have an idea what counts as acceptable 'proof' for PayPal protection policy?
when selling remotely I've always used recorded delivery or Royal Mail Special Delivery for higher value items up to the limit of their cover, to provide insurance against non-delivery, and proof of sending and delivery to Paypal (and would use a suitable courier providing adequate cover if higher than RMSD). But if push comes to shove, I always wonder whether PayPal will try to wriggle out of its responsibilities by claiming, for example, that receipt of a package by a courier isn't proof of what's in the box, being vulnerable to a recipient claiming they received a box but there was a brick in it not what was ordered. On that I have always assumed that there is then proof of address, so police could be involved (of course at both ends, as I would be being accused of fraud at the same time. But that again comes back to the interest of police, which might only beif there are multiple complaints about the same buyer (or seller).
meanwhile another caution: be aware that eBay's buyer/selling protection do NOT include what most people consider to be investigation, not seeking real evidence, and not delving deeply, such that if, for example, an item is described as damaged or not as described, then if the two parties disagree their solution is to ignore whatever both say and require the buyer to return theitem (at buyer's cost) and seller to refund the purchase cost including postage, so the buyer will have paid for the original poatage. That they deem to be fair. So as a seller you lose the postage cost, and Paypal fees on both the item and postage ( and if what you get back is not what you sent you then have to start a no doubt steeply uphill and futile separate attempt to claim).I know this from experience where someone tried claiming a hifi item was scratched. EBay wasn't interested that the buyer didn't even provide photos to substantiate while I did, and I would have lost over £100 (and feared the buyer would have added scratches if they did return) in fact they then went quiet and didn't return it, so I guess they had beed hoping to get a partial refund for them to keep it.)
Meanwhile let's be clear, someone who tries to obtain goods or money by scamming is a scammer, but if they succeed they become thieves and/or fraudsters, depending how they did it.
Posted on: 04 September 2016 by Guy007
I had a box of checks that was stolen before delivery once, and then they thieves made up their own checks with my routing and account number and went shopping. My bank immediately refunded the money to me, but was completely disinterested in any info that might help them track down the perps. What was even more disquieting was the police could not have been less interested when I contacted them - and not so much for my purpose because I had been remunerated, but to get them and prevent others from being hurt.
I think the banks and police have to look at the best use of their time and budget, and unfortunately the expense of investigating and prosecuting petty perps is probably not cost-effective. Cheaper in the end for the banks to reimburse you for your loss. Realistically, there's little chance of recovering monies from thieves that have no assets to begin with. The whole scenario simply exemplifies the vicious cycle of high credit card rates, those that spend beyond their means and are over their heads in debt, and why the banks never loose in the end.
It's in the interest of the banks to shut off the compromised card and then see if it can be cross referenced and traced to the same source as others of similar fraud - then inform that company they have an 'rotten' employee or a compromised card reader. But there is a trade off on the time and energy to pursue, versus the amount of money involved. And nowadays with digital transactions it's easy and quick and enhanced security and account validation is key.
Joe, the high credit card fees are more to cover the cost of those not paying and help pay for the cost of all the benefits of some cards - travel insurance, car insurance, warranty etc.. If you do leave money on your credit card, it's generally better to get a Line of Credit or short term loan, as those rates will be less than the credit card. It's a vicious cycle to just get another credit card and do the 6 month low transfer rate, as now you've polled your credit record (reduced) and increased the amount of credit available to you.
Badger, that is indeed a cautionary tail with PayPal too.
Posted on: 04 September 2016 by Guy007
Per IB's post, there are facilities with couriers like UPS/FedEx, where you take the item to their store ( in North America anyways ) and they then pack and ship the item. This is a service and has a cost, but depending on the cost of the item, sometime they won't insure it without doing packing it. Signed for is also key and no 'leave on the porch' messages either.
I sold some pens and coins on Ebay (when they were still doing the nice PayPal cheaper postage integration) and wondered if I should insure an item for double the value, as 1x is only covering the buyer and not me. Luckily I never had to put it to the test, but certainly I was weary of lower rated Ebayer's - so if you can see based on their history they are into those types of items, it is a relief - but we all have to start at the bottom at one time.
It was a 'nice' feature recently on Canuck Audio Mart, where you could bring in your Ebay 'score' to help ease the concerns of buyers/sellers.
