•    Rentals, electronics, home appliances, pets, luxury items, and vehicles, listed under market value 

•    Jobs with lucrative pay but minimal education/training and job duties required of them 

•    Loans with low interest rates regardless of employment/credit status 
 

Job Applications - Do Your Research 


The world is at your fingertips; do your homework. If someone is offering you a flexible job with attractive pay, find out more about the company / organisation before you commit; confirm the company name, branch location, phone number, etc.  
  

Communication with Sellers 


If someone wants to move the conversation off the Gumtree platform, to private email, SMS, or WhatsApp, prior to a verbal exchange about the potential transaction, this is highly suspicious.  

Generally, users only want to move to this form of communication after they have vetted the potential buyer / tenant / employee. Prompting movement off the GT messaging system can be done in variety of ways: 
 
•   "My mom / cousin / neighbour / boss is interested in the item, contact her here (email address)"

•    "The Gumtree app doesn’t work / takes too long to load / freezes / wont load properly"

•    "I’m rarely online SMS / WhatsApp me here" 

•    "For security reasons / due to past experiences on Gumtree, I only communicate via email / SMS / WhatsApp" 
  

Things to Look Out for in Seller Replies: 


Oddly capitalized words or letters, adding special characters between letters within a word -
 

• what is ur EMAIL address, send me your WHATSAPP 

• Inbļòx më me here 

Note: If a link is provided to view an item, be sure to fully review the URL before clicking on it. 


Important Safety Tips: 


•    Gumtree encourages face-to-face, local, trading - When you find an item you'd like to buy, ask to meet in-person to see the item and exchange money in a safe public place.

•    Gumtree chat helps keep your personal information safe, and is never shared with the seller or anyone else.

•    Flag suspicious messages through the Report Conversation option or reach out to our helpdesk.

•    Never provide your personal or banking information (EG: Credit Card or ID number) to others over the internet.

•    Do not pay using any form of anonymous payment services, including: Bidpay, eWallet, Western Union, PayPal or Money Gram.