UKash Scam

Firstly, let's start this by stating that UKash is a legitimate means of paying for on-line goods with cash. I have to say this because although used as part of these scams, is a genuine service for those who don't have banks card, or don't wish to use bank cards for their on-line purchases.

There a scam that's been running for a while now and comes in various forms, the ones I've seen so far are:
- Freecycle or Give-away Item needing to be delivered
- Job Offers

Freecycle / Give-away
This one works firstly by somebody offering an item for free. This may sound strange already but hear me out. 

Freecycle is a great community of people offering or asking for unwanted items instead of sending them to the tip/bin. There has been genuine offers of really great items in the past (I personally can vouch for getting a perfectly working dishwasher in good condition!), and I've even known of somebody giving away a rare old car. This does mean the common saying of "If it's too good to be true, then it is", is often wrong. Unfortunately a few people do like to ruin the enjoyment of the community and use it to scam good honest people.

Ultimately, this is what happens:
1) A decent large item is usually offered (LED TV, Sofa etc).
2) A number of people post their responses saying they want the item.
3) The person offering the item then messages back everybody with a story about why they've suddenly had to move and take the item with them. They then ask you for your address and contact number.
4) <this next bit assumes you have responded> They then ever so helpfully use that information to find out how much it will cost to send for you, and ask you if you want to go ahead, as well as telling you how much further away from you they are now.
5) <again assuming you agreed to the above> They then send a long winded explanation about how you now need to purchase a UKash Voucher and send a picture of it with some made up reference, your full name, address and contact details to some possibly genuine looking courier e-mail address. And being the super helpful people they are, they even provide you with your nearest shops that you can purchase your UKash Voucher from!
6) You would now send the details they ask for and they then keep your money and send nothing.

The short of the above is Freecycle is a local based community, so you usually have a separate page for each area and nobody from a different area should be offering.

Job Offers
This one is usually done via a free classified such as Gumtree and it is very similar to the above, however earlier on in the steps instead of offering an item, they offer a job upon submittal of a CV. Unfortunately, this means they have your details (if you included any). Then what happens is they tell you you've got a paid interview and training session and give you a location and contact number. The place of address is usually legitimate in the sense that it exists. The phone number is usually false, another companies or a premium number. Upon the interview and training offer, they will then make up some story about needing to pay for a Enhanced CRB and how your local law requires a fresh one. The amount they usually ask for is around £50, and again they use UKash as means to get this money from you.