"It just meant the money hadn't been paid." She repeatedly tried to contact the customer but now fears she will not receive the money or the phone.

She said: "He said he would transfer the money to my account, which he didn't. He doesn't have my address so he's not going to be able to do that." Mrs Powell-Thomas, who has an 11-year-old daughter, said it has left her in a difficult position financially and caused her a great deal of stress."It was the first time I had sold anything on Gumtree," she said. "I'm sure there are lots of people out there who do this.

"He sent me a message through Gumtree saying he had sent the payment," she said.

"When I checked my Paypal account, it said pending, which I thought meant it was waiting for the money to be processed.

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