Attempted scammer responding to my Gumtree Advert!

Hi everyone, I'm afraid this is still going on I recieved an txt from a sender name came up as goods asking me to email them about my item for sale as there battery was low. I thought it strnge they didnt mention what was for sale but i emailed back could tell it was generic and exactly the same as you all have said... the sender this time was different again [email protected]

(I wish to let you know that I'm satisfied with the conditions and i
> will like to inform you that am buying the item for my Family in
> Thornton Heath,so i will be the one responsible for the pick up and
> delivery stuff.kindly get back to me with your full name and address
> so that i can forward it to the pick up agent to calculate the pick up
> fees for me.
I have forwarded the address to the shipping
company so they can calculate the pick up and delivery cost for me to
make the payment. I'm sure they will contact you soon. I would like
you to know that the payment will be made via PayPal because is fast
and secured to send and received money online, All you have to send me
is your paypal email address so I can make the payment immediately.

Hope to hear back from you asap.)

scummy scammers!!

Sellers should be very suspicious of people who contact them by SMS/text wanting contact by e-mail claiming to be a buyer.

Most likely they are scammers using a free online SMS/text service that doesn't allow replies.

Excuses like having a low battery are ridiculous. If they're using a bulk SMS/text service they're definitely a scammer.

I posted an ad on Gumtree and within 10 minutes had had two text messages expressing interest in my advert, but asking me to email them rather than reply by text. I thought this was suspicious, especially as the text messages were somewhat badly spelt, so Googled 'Gumtree Text Scams' and found this site! The messages I'd received were very similar to the others listed here.
The first text message came from "Gerjo" who said I should email him because he was at work and couldn't have his phone on (I suppose he hadn't thought of putting it on silent and picking up his messages in his break!). The second text message actually had 'Gumtree' as the sender (rather than a phone number) which immediately set alarm bells ringing.
Both wanted to know about the price and condition of the item, even though this was clearly set out in the advert (or 'add' as they mis-spelt it).
I deleted the messages as they just seemed 'fishy' - I was vaguely worried in case I had unintentionally been discourteous to a genuine buyer - but reading the details on here has reassured me that I did the right thing. I hope by posting this message I can both alert and reassure others in the same boat!
I've now taken my phone number off the site, by the way!

It's virtually certain to be a scammer but you can always check by replying and not mentioning the item for sale in your message. Just confirm what he wants to know. If, as is likely, he's sent out hundreds of replies he won't have a clue what your item is and he'll be in a mess trying to keep up the pretence. A genuine buyer won't have this problem.