trick online shoppers on classified websites, like Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, into thinking they are dealing with a legitimate buyer or seller – but it's a scammer.
The buyer wanted to pay via PayPal and asked for Sally's email address – "which I hesitantly gave," she says.Sally spotted the scam a mile away, then blocked and reported "Mary"."'Mary' had transferred $1,000 into my PayPal account, so I had to transfer $800 back to 'Mary'," the email instructed. Retired amateur theatre actor Andrea Lindsay wanted to sell a large costume collection she had accumulated over the years.She posted the collection on Gumtree with an asking price of $2,000 for the lot, or the option to purchase individual items.She thought it was odd that the buyer didn't want to see the costumes, but continued with the sale."Then things started sounding a bit strange," Andrea says.