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There is an ongoing scam on Freegle (http://ilovefreegle.org) and other reuse groups, which has now sadly reached it's first anniversary. The groups facilitate people to give away items to their local communities, with all transactions being free. The groups are run online by volunteers.
The scam involves the offer of an item, originally a mobile phone, more recently a laptop, tablet, TV or (obscurely) electric bike. People request the item, there is a delay of about a week then the offerer says the moderators of the group have delayed the publication of the offer, they have now moved but would be happy to arrange a courier. Payment for the courier is requested in Ukash vouchers, typically £25-35, a courier website is given, with telephone numbers and later instructions for further payment of a refundable amount (usually £100) for insurance.
Predictably this is all bogus and people lose their money. Freegle has put in place measures to counteract this but the scummers (Freegle word for them) still manage to find ways round it and members - despite regular warnings not to - send off their Ukash voucher information in expectation of receiving an item.
Victims are advised to inform Action Fraud and the Volume Crime Team of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) are looking into this, but as the individual amounts are small and there are a large numbers of email addresses and mobile phone numbers used they don't appear to be getting anywhere with it. So this is just a heads up to anyone using these sites - please never pay for anything, it is all free!
The scam involves the offer of an item, originally a mobile phone, more recently a laptop, tablet, TV or (obscurely) electric bike. People request the item, there is a delay of about a week then the offerer says the moderators of the group have delayed the publication of the offer, they have now moved but would be happy to arrange a courier. Payment for the courier is requested in Ukash vouchers, typically £25-35, a courier website is given, with telephone numbers and later instructions for further payment of a refundable amount (usually £100) for insurance.
Predictably this is all bogus and people lose their money. Freegle has put in place measures to counteract this but the scummers (Freegle word for them) still manage to find ways round it and members - despite regular warnings not to - send off their Ukash voucher information in expectation of receiving an item.
Victims are advised to inform Action Fraud and the Volume Crime Team of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) are looking into this, but as the individual amounts are small and there are a large numbers of email addresses and mobile phone numbers used they don't appear to be getting anywhere with it. So this is just a heads up to anyone using these sites - please never pay for anything, it is all free!
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