A man used a false name to scam online sellers and get items worth thousands of pounds. Jake Salmon targeted innocent sellers on Gumtree, initially getting in touch with them to see if their items were still for sale, often through an account with a false name, report Nottinghamshire Police.
The 21-year-old would then agree to meet the seller and would appear to make a bank transfer. After purporting to make the transfer, he would show the seller a fake confirmation screen and explain that there would be a delay in payment being received due to it being a prepaid account.
Salmon would then dupe his victims into handing over the items before going their separate ways. He would then stop all communication and the sellers would never receive their money.
