VIC Scammed in Melbourne Through Gumtree - Help?

[Sansteve]

Hi everyone,

As I said, I got scammed. I bought a laptop Gumtree and paid by cash. I came to the guy's house to pay and got a laptop with super glue on it (They're noticeable, but I thought they were specks of dust). I bought the laptop back after two hours and asked for a refund. The scammer refused, but then he agreed to refund $900 (I paid $1100). I agreed to it. He said I should leave the laptop at his home, and he would make a bank transfer that night (I texted him my bank account number). All of these details are within a few hours. I came back home and waited.

After a few days, I texted him I would contact local police if he does not transfer the money. He sent me a scheduled transfer (I didn't know it's a scheduled transfer until I showed my friend) by text message. I wait for a week later, but my money does not come. I keep texting him, but he stays silent. Now the scammer texted me that I broke his laptop.

These are what I have.

Recording (I recorded our conversations since I got in his house), his home address, phone number, text messages (he texted me that he would transfer $900), Photo of a falsified bank transfer, photo with his face on Facebook, Perhaps his FB's name is also his real name. There's no witness.

I post here as I don't know where should I get helped. Should I report to ACCC, Consumer Affairs Victoria, ACORN or local police station?

If it is anywhere that I actually drive there to get help, I would go. Please help me where I should go.

 

[Scruff]

You should report it to the Police regardless of any action you take to get your money back. Be sure to give them all the evidence you have.

There's people like this (plus a lot worse) all over Gumtree. I would advise not to use it - stick to eBay as it has ways to deal with matters like this. Another thing is I never pay cash. I always use PayPal when dealing with people I don't know and the few times there has been an issue, I got my money back no problem.

 

[Sansteve]

You should report it to the Police regardless of any action you take to get your money back. Be sure to give them all the evidence you have.

There's people like this (plus a lot worse) all over Gumtree. I would advise not to use it - stick to eBay as it has ways to deal with matters like this. Another thing is I never pay cash. I always use PayPal when dealing with people I don't know and the few times there has been an issue, I got my money back no problem.

Thanks for your help. I'll contact the police tomorrow to get helped. He obviously has no intention of giving me back my money. I'm not sure if they often deal with small cases, but I'll give it a shot.

 

[jjjohn]

The police might say its a civil case not a criminal case and you need to get a lawyer and take him to court which will probably cost you a lot more then the laptops worth , but l hope that don't happen and they treat it as a criminal case. yes as the previous poster said gumtree is full of people like that and stick with ebay where you have protections especially if you pay with paypal

 

[Sansteve]

The police might say its a civil case not a criminal case and you need to get a lawyer and take him to court which will probably cost you a lot more then the laptops worth , but l hope that don't happen and they treat it as a criminal case. yes as the previous poster said gumtree is full of people like that and stick with ebay where you have protections especially if you pay with paypal

One of my friend also got scammed on Gumtree. He said he brought a report to police, they said he had to report to Gumtree first. This time, I learned that story. I reported to Gumtree first and brought a report with all evidences to police. They said I had to report to https://report.acorn.gov.au. So I did report to ACORN, and ACORN called me that they already gave my case to police. I've been waiting for a week now.
I think they may call me and say "look, this a civil case and you need to get a lawyer to get your money back".
I think they don't really want to do their job. They can just go to the guy house and order him give my money back, isn't that simple? I wish this happened in my country where we don't need police to get our money back.

 

[jjjohn]

One of my friend also got scammed on Gumtree. He said he brought a report to police, they said he had to report to Gumtree first. This time, I learned that story. I reported to Gumtree first and brought a report with all evidences to police. They said I had to report to https://report.acorn.gov.au. So I did report to ACORN, and ACORN called me that they already gave my case to police. I've been waiting for a week now.
I think they may call me and say "look, this a civil case and you need to get a lawyer to get your money back".
I think they don't really want to do their job. They can just go to the guy house and order him give my money back, isn't that simple? I wish this happened in my country where we don't need police to get our money back.

 

[jjjohn]

probably every second person in Australia has been scammed once on gumtree, ebay or these online second hand sites, the police might say they don't have the resources to deal ,l guess the scammers take advanatage of this