SCAMMED ON GUMTREE FOR AN IPAD 2...MY 155 POUNDS GONE! HELP

I bought an iPad 2 from Gumtree (like Craigslist) and after I sent him the money through bank transfer he turned his phone off and hasn't contacted me. Can anyone here help me?

I KNOW I HAVE LOST MY 155 POUNDS BUT I WANT TO POST THIS MESSAGE HERE SO YOU GUYS DONT FALL INTO THE TRAP LIKE I DID... I have made alot of deals via ebay and amazon so i never gave a thought i wud be scammed like this..ive taken it as a lesson to be learned so i want to warn everyone of you to please be careful while dealing with strangers on GUMTREE the UK's site.

Here is my story,

So, I'm in the UK and leaving for Canada in next 2 weeks. I don't have a lot of money but I saved every penny at my work because I wanted to send my dad an iPad 2 as a Xmas gift before I went so that he could talk to me with through Facetime. I looked at Gumtree and found an iPad 2 for 155 pounds, after I sent him the money from the natwest branch his phone has been off and hasn't contacted me. He gave me his number and asked me to call him so I called him. He sounded legit on the phone, said he needed the money to buy computer so he was selling it and I could either pick it up or he could post it. I thought if this lad is offering to let me pick it up he couldn't be a fraud so I took a leap of faith and decided to send him the money through bank transfer. Now, he texted me last minute telling me that if I could send it to his sister's account that would be better as his account wasn't working. Me being extremely stupid agreed to it and sent the money. I tried calling him straight after but he had turned his phone off. It's been more than 10 hours and he hasn't gotten back to me and his phone is still off. He has also since put the same ad up from another location. These are the details I have of him if anyone could please, please help me out here.
These are the details I have of him if anyone could please, please help me out here.
Original ad: http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/ipad- ... 1003804850 he offered to sell it to me for cheaper than listed price.
Other ad he put up after I sent him the money: http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/ipad- ... 1004076581
He just recently posted another auction on gumtree for ipad 2 sale and changed his location to ''Brighton''
He deleted one of them links shown above but the other one is still active on gumtree. The link is still active. He keeps changing his location from Leeds to Southampton to London to Brighton. He just recently posted another advert on gumtree for ipad 2 sale and changed his location to Brighton. He told me his name is Daniel Grant when I spoke to him over the phone a few times and his mobile number is 07733532930 is just turned on now but he isn't picking up or replying to my texts. He is currently using BlackBerry® smartphone on O2 network. The bank account I sent the money to:
Mrs Nicola J Morley, his "step-sister"
Sort code 77-22-17
Account number is 46891668
LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC. 76, FRONT STREET
i hope the police will contact his bank and check his account name because it is still activated and I am pretty sure someone is using that account, when I looked upon his address on gumtree it showed that he lives in city of London but it doesn’t show his house number. I have been trying to get hold of him and I have left a lot of voice mails and texts but he keeps ignoring them. I have also told him I will report to police but it seems like he don’t care. It is not the money that I am after but I just don’t people to fall into his trap. He talked to me so nicely over the phone and told that he was going to send me the ipad when I have made the payment, just few hours before I send the payment I rang him up again and this time some girl answered the call, I am assuming that must be his step sister. I should have known that he was a fraud because first he asked me to send the payment to his name and then later he asked me to send the payment to his step sisters account Mrs Nicola who has an account with Lloyds TSB bank is also a cheat because the money was sent to her account. After I send the payment to him he sent me a text on my phone to confirm that he has received the money. Soon after when I replied back he said he cannot answer the call because he is busy and then he switched his phone off. I tried calling his phone all night but it went straight to voice mail. I have a full list of messages that I have send to him saved on my phone that I can show the police. I also have my pay slip showing the money that I have send him. I wondered how someone could scam people like this by giving out their original bank details. His phone is still turned on but everytime when I call him he doesn’t answer my calls. I have also rang up west midlands perry barr police and informed them about this incident but all they kept saying was that I should wait for a few days because he may have a genuine reason why he did not send me the ipad or why his phone must be switched off. I would like to tell you that he is a fraud, you come to know that by looking at his adverts on gumtree, he keeps changing his locations on every new ad he puts up. I am pretty sure he must have scammed other people off that site too.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL GUYS DONT FALL INTO THIS TRAP WHEN SPENDING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON BUYIN STUFF thanks god bless u all...

Sorry to hear you have been scammed.

Firstly, the account details you give :
Mrs Nicola J Morley, his "step-sister"
Sort code 77-22-17
Account number is 46891668

Many people fall for the fake job scam. That is, they are led to believe that they are an international sales agent, handling payments in from customers, and sending money out to the "employer" through Western Union. Eventually the bank takes action (due to the number of adverse reports concerning their account), the account is frozen, and the account owner ends up having a chat with the bank/police. The account owner can be prosecuted, but they are in fact a victim. The bank wants all the money back, but the account owner has sent it all through Western Union, and is therefore broke. The account owner can now have great difficulty in obtaining credit, getting a mortgage or credit card, or opening another bank account. They have themselves become a victim of a scam.

Your ipad owner had been using such a victim, but as the account had now been frozen, he had to contact you and give you a new bank account to use, owned by the next fake-job victim. It most certainly does not belong to his sister-in-law. Bank accounts are opened usually with rock-solid ID, eg, passport, utility bills, etc. It is very difficult to open a bank account with false details. Therefore scammers don't open bank accounts as they could then be traced, instead they trick a victim into using a genuine account.

It is by no means guaranteed that the account owner is called Nicola J Morley.
When sending money to a bank account, the account name is often ignored. The bank just uses the sort code and account number. The reason the account name is ignored is because the name could be N. Morley, Nicola Morley, Miss Nicola Morley, Miss N. Morley, Ms. N. Morley, etc. Computers have difficulty in matching that, but they quite happily can deal with a sort code and account number. I have seen a bank account used with different names, in fake Amazon and Paypal emails.

Even if the bank account was this Nicola Morley, which is still possible, this would just mean that Nicola has been recruited herself by a fake job scam. Her world falls to pieces soon.

The phone number you were given will be a pay-as-you-go phone and sim bought with cash and no address given. Nobody will get its location.

It is most likey that the person placing the ads, and the person on the phone, are diferent people. Anybody sending you emails will most likely be a different person again. The only thing genuine and traceable is the owner of the bank account, and they are a victim.

What email address was used during these discussions, if any ?

Hi,

Just to add I was scammed yesterday 10th Feb 2013, I noticed an advert for an ipad 2 on Gumtree, the item was located in Highbury London. I replied to the advert and recieved a reply giving me a contact number to call 07733532930. I called and talked to a guy called Luke, he explained that I could not collect the ipad as he's mother was ill and it was hers, so he said he would send next day if I wired the money into his account for £195. Alarm bells rang and I explained to him that this is a situation I can not trust, so he said if I pay £50 into his account which is identical to the one above, but another name, I could pay the remainder when I recieve it. So stupidly I transfered £50 which I know I can not get back, I have informed the police and just wanted to warn any other potential victims.

Account Name: Luke Freeman
Bank: Loyds TSB
Sortcode: 77-22-17
Account: 46891668

Hi Chris,

I was just looking my old post when i read about your ipad 2 scam.. Yes he is the same person who scammed me. Let me tell you that I did everything I could to track him down, I reported to west midlands police, I reported to gumtree, I also reported to his bank and my bank. I was on the phone to the police for almost 30 minutes trying to explain to them everything from scratch but they havent done anything so far though, Gumtree support is a waste of time as well they told me just report to police. I still have the receipt showing the proof of the bank transfer that I did to him. I can send it to you if you like. I am not in UK at the moment so I cannot do much about this. This guy who scammed me a while ago he always pretend to be someone else and he has got his girlfriend and a friend who tricks people so they can cheat them, i remember when i called him his girlfriend answered the call, she is a bitch as well. This guy is still at large and i wish he gets caught one day. West midlands police has a copy of my receipt which I have send to them for records. Anyways if you need my help to track this guy down feel free to msg me. The reason why i posted about my scam is because i want to spread a message so that people dont fall into trap like i did. I wish you had read my message before you made your mind up to send him 50 quids

http://tinypic.com/r/35ibns2/6 Proof of payment send to this prick, who is still at large trying to scam innocent people on gumtree

I am sorry you were scammed out of money. These scammers are well practiced, and know they are almost impossible to be traced. They are typically on a totally different continent from you. Hey hide behind email addresses they will walk away from in a heart beat.

They use other victims to pick up money for them, who then send the money to the scammer in an untraceable way. The police do not have the time or resources to chase down scammers from Africa or Asia. The police have to allocate their resources to the most serious of crimes. I am not wanting to discourage you, just to give you the facts and truth about the matter.