Suspicious Ebay / Gumtree Sales

.......Seller blocked me after I said I wouldn't pay cash, only paypal.

Anyone missing a belt drive “bycicle”?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/720615572742463/

i’m not sure if it is suspicious, maybe, but I have just been to hemel hempstead to see a Trek7000 on gumtree. Bargain at £50 but was too small. It comes with a Hone HT2 chainset and good tyres.

Raised an eyebrow.

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355252943694?hash=item52b6b9bb4e:g:KL4AAOSwhMFlayEu&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4LQIjxZYPsQhb7xi0bCMQpKIroYT4z98jf6i8SQZmqZy1tcFJ84zGOt1DfR4eqtouGsKIgQsvaYQaxehrTnXjTgksHDXM28WENROKozTiQii63gJqS5AFNYZOeLcO9M%2FDf3qpAajG9r4oJy3OCLYuQPE31JmVDyIX5UVBbkZ%2BqUIUUsPvnbveEYG9uCoJFHj3Jr3jB9gnxi%2Bmr2sW0Zd1sQnLuElNS2%2FT2tHFsbuqKRkRkqFBomKIEKkDXAXxIHNItaMxsgyhLUa%2BPrk9IMaJc3VfLYmNIE4y9RGoBfg6ApH%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8SBhdOnYw

Less suspicious, just morally dubious about how a seller which appears to be a proper shop can think it can get away with asking so much for a frame that's clearly fucked:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196181169323?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20231228150341%26meid%3D208b448017154781837a91e22e7e1701%26pid%3D101931%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D196181169323%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DBlendRVIAndWatchlistDWeb%26brand%3DCannondale&_trksid=p4375194.c101931.m162418&_trkparms=parentrq%3A7882a84e18d0aabaade1ef5efffc20f2%7Cpageci%3A835f110b-c405-11ee-bf91-d26b4342ebe5%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

not exactly to do with suspicious ads, and I suppose this could be very region-specific but has anyone noticed a huge increase in scam attempts in the last year or so? I live in Spain but also spend a lot of time in Portugal and I use OLX in Portugal and wallapop + milanuncios in Spain. All of these I'd say suffered a tenfold increase in scam attempts at least.

About this time last year I started getting messages immediately after publishing items (within seconds really) with a high value (+500€) trying to scam using common money transfer methods - usually only 1 or 2 per item. By now, it happens with everything, regardless of value, and several times - a PC I just posted for 400€ on wallapop.es got 11 scam messages within 5 minutes. There's a few templates but it's always the same 4 or 5 messages, word for word, from fake profiles that are months old and have reviews and everything. I've also made the mistake of checking the "make phone number visible" box in olx.pt and got the same thing but with phone calls which is pretty grim - real people, speaking with local accents and clearly in a rush to "close the deal". Some of these calls you can tell very clearly from the background noise are happening from call centres so it seems like this has become a professional business here.

It's also increasingly hard to sell stuff anyway in this economic climate so posting an ad these days feels like diving in a sea of bots and scammers. Is this happening in the UK too?

That sounds rough. Not too bad in the UK from personal experience, just the odd message. Usually on the more unregulated platforms like gumtree/fb marketplace.
Have you tried using something with a bit more protection like ebay? Or is that not really a thing in Iberia

Brand new account selling an amazing Landshark with dreadful AI description.

Fairly sure I’ve seen this frame on here before?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395232512954?

terrible description - says "no suspension", does not say "belt drive", etc...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395227664575
sent seller a message about what size it is & they replied saying "don't know" :monocle_emoji:

Anyone lost a stainless Volare? Very dubious marketplace listing up in Yarmouth

https://www.facebook.com/share/7LF1GnW5A6W4DRTn/?mibextid=79PoIi

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335297014452

bit of a chip

Anyone missing a Kona Paddy Wagon? Zero feedback and £200 cash on collection rings the alarm bells

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186435376855

*as does the seat clamp hovering up the seatpost

This looks to be around £1000 less than the going rate with ultegra, so with this having dura ace it looks suss to me.

'selling for my mate' and 'scratches from a trip to mallorca' (oh of course, must be legit!)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335378563477?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=odmpQJo9T6-&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=f_5kjmP8S1-&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Tricross for £100, fishy as fuck.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1448705676077321

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285890634811?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=cAdBH2fARrq&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Possibly the most blatantly stolen bike I've seen in a while

Not often you see a single speed with 7 gears.

Guy on FB selling a tern for £1500, feels too good to be true, though I really want it to be. High milage so I guess it could just be a decent deal. What's the best way of finding if it's legit? Got a photo of the frame number, supposedly, doesn't throw anything up on Bike Register.

Edit: giving it a miss, sounds robbed.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405053595419?itmmeta=01J2CDJTFP2E5ST0VZFE7MYKAQ&hash=item5e4f135f1b:g:KLQAAOSwRzhmdrY~&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0M09QEInZE3QzKz%2FKO%2BaLfTsI4ntEzNFjpIjXjKCotACPFdiniXfK7MgS%2FswUrc9bdqHfVXafJ9P6Ucec%2FFLnj%2BHhW674BG5CeF5CZdlZMqrX0YnPztYfAQNXr2nZR7G3XWR0GBny7V2vA4vX6KdCR3U5j%2BQXQ38ztAC02lrQyZRlgB%2FpbMimKesFXszcShLXVuEbjkQ0wmnWFjgFpkIKClKqBOoz1KVGJhH0kTSHFdf17v%2FXGGxloqIPpAesqicoFWsGeoN0ABcTs8PJWpMkLY%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBM9KfLjZNk

there's a lot to take in here

Look mountain bike. That's it
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175748380762

Anyone lost a straggler?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315549194433?

Very moody looking stainless Genesis down here in Cardiff - very specific and very large so can’t be many of these out there

https://www.facebook.com/share/vV6eShqTwK6HAczJ/?mibextid=79PoIi

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286008880639?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110025%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPOSITELISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20220405142716%26meid%3D01feb5f1946148b6b7e95850c97a03cf%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D11%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D196557506887%26itm%3D286008880639%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4247815%26algv%3DAlgoIndex5SimRanker%26brand%3DDolan&_trksid=p4247815.c101506.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A28600888063901feb5f1946148b6b7e95850c97a03cf%7Cenc%3AAQAJAAAA8PUN0fWkGeKRy%252FfsmLQSJIQTIFmNlMbXsGlnfDcvgUt9KBdo%252B%252FhEkXmEc4%252FyFkkiC%252BvdOSi780NWu9gg4ygy6eM2rhOIcaGIVU0remXoOhN2njDODlCj2c2cd1OnWESbIhi52R1rMIrrUxyTCEwKCSQ1vhIOev71bgwK9ciY%252BH%252BXzJWwMU97%252By3hfA6TbRzkJMHMAcm%252FGzbyDB3Eo5oi8QzNurktIs%252BVNtd5n2XS63iAlrxDqIz0%252FyRHAGXZnnVoC0yRSdnfU6ZJ7s8Fs1nzqPh5ZnKPygReFhH%252Fj1OvspOBvy8IUoK0dyxiYM33FXqdFw%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A4247815&itmmeta=01J56R28TWA4S9RR4P23PMG27N

Nice NDS pic and incorrect details - seems fishy

Dolan precursa for 99gbp. In my opinion fishy as hell. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286008880639?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=dbbuyb1ytde&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=TZQ6dNI4SuC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Edit: sorry, I should’ve checked the previous link. It’s the same.

Edit: talking to the seller now, it’s definitely an interesting one - says it belongs to someone who’s a private contractor out in Iraq (scary mercenary type?) and it’s never been used. Getting more photos/details to see if I can work out what’s going on here.

Looks like someone bought that moody stainless Genesis and realised it’s too big for them. So it’s back up for sale for likely what they paid for it… no sign of anything on Stolenbikes etc but still frustrating to see

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