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How Sellers and Buyers Can Avoid Facebook Marketplace Scams
Don't let criminals interfere with your online shopping and sales
AARP (Getty Images, 6)
When U.S. Air Force veteran Amanda Pelletier, 49, set out to decorate the new home in Spring Branch, Texas, that she and her husband, Michael, 52, had purchased after their retirement from the military, she needed some side tables and other pieces of furniture. Like many people these days, she searched online and connected with a seller through Facebook Marketplace, the popular shopping site that’s part of social media platform Facebook.
Pelletier felt safe with her seller, who dealt in refurbished furniture and had previously sold a piece to Pelletier’s adult daughter. “I thought I was dealing with a real businessperson,” she explains.
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Pelletier ordered $4,200 worth of items, sending the money through a payment app that she says the seller insisted on using, and waited for her furniture to arrive. But it never did. Instead, the seller “started giving me excuses why she couldn’t deliver, like she got sawdust in her eye from doing the refurbishing,” Pelletier says. “It just snowballed, and got worse and worse.” Eventually, she realized “I was being scammed.”
Pelletier isn’t the only shopper who’s encountered a scammer on Facebook Marketplace, a massive e-commerce site where users can shop for everything from toys and pet supplies to used cars and houses. Its popularity attracts criminals who use a variety of scams to steal shoppers’ money, including peddling wares they never actually send.
VIDEO: Here Are Ways You Can Avoid Social Media Shopping Scams
Sellers, too, are often inundated by messages from scammers, some of whom may be trying to get their personal information, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has warned. It noted that criminals have been asking sellers for their phone numbers so that they can text them a verification code — part of a process they can use to commit identity theft.
Facebook Marketplace’s size and familiar brand name may lull some shoppers into complacency, says Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network. “But people need to understand that just because it’s on a big platform like Facebook, that doesn’t mean that anyone is vetting the sellers,” she cautions. “You have to go into it with eyes wide open.”
Common Facebook Marketplace scams and how they work
The BBB’s Scam Tracker database contains a long list of reports from Facebook Marketplace shoppers who claim to have been victims of scams through the platform. They include a buyer who paid $270 for a camera that never arrived and another who paid $1,500 for a golf cart, only to have the seller ask for an additional $1,000.
Others reported that they had lost money on undelivered items, including a washer and dryer, an upright piano, an iPhone, an Acura MDX sport utility vehicle and even a puppy.
BBB spokesperson Josh Planos says that Facebook Marketplace scammers often take advantage of holiday demand for whatever new toys and electronics are hot. “They will indicate that they have it, and display a photo that’s been lifted from another online site,” he says.
Scammers will also try to get buyers to use payment methods that make them difficult to trace. One caller to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, for example, found what she thought was a good deal for concert tickets. At the seller’s request, she sent the $125 payment through a peer-to-peer payment app. After the payment went though, the seller simply blocked her, and never sent the tickets. In other instances, consumers told the Helpline, scammers asked them to pay for vehicles with multiple eBay gift cards instead of a check or credit card.
Sellers targeted by Facebook Marketplace scams
Scammers sometimes pose as buyers and target legitimate sellers on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and other online marketplace platforms. In some cases, they may insist on using a payment app to pay for the goods and then send the seller a fake payment notification, hoping the seller won’t realize the deception until after he or she sends the goods.
According to the FTC, scammers will sometimes run the old-fashioned overpayment scam, and send two fake notifications. Then they’ll insist there was an accidental overpayment and ask the seller to refund one of the payments.
Another scam employed by criminals on various online marketplaces is to send the sellers a fake email that looks like a message from payment app Zelle, informing them that they need to pay a fee to upgrade their account to complete the purchase. In reality, the scammer is requesting payment for “an upgrade that doesn’t exist,” Zelle warns on its site.
How to protect yourself against Facebook Marketplace scams
Facebook takes what it describes as “proactive measures” to protect shoppers, including deploying enforcement and review teams and using detection tools to spot fraudulent activity, according to the Meta website. When Facebook finds scam activity, its responses can include disabling the seller’s commerce accounts, removing listings and canceling existing orders. It also has automated systems to spot listings for counterfeit products.
Facebook also has a purchase protection program that allows shoppers to file a claim for a refund for some items, but only if they’ve utilized Facebook’s own checkout and shipping system. That means that shoppers who pick up items from buyers themselves or use other payment methods, such as PayPal or Venmo, aren’t covered, according to Facebook’s website.
Facebook also has a seller protection program that guards sellers against claims and charge-backs resulting from circumstances beyond the seller’s control, such as problems with shipping. But it’s limited to items covered by the purchase protection policy, its website notes.
But there’s plenty that you can do to avoid scammers as well.
Buyers
- Research before you buy. A Meta spokesperson recommends reviewing a seller’s business profile, along with product reviews and ratings.
- Beware of bargains that seem too good to be true. As Facebook’s website notes, “scammers may try to use underpriced items to lure buyers into a scam.”
- Avoid communicating with buyers privately outside of Facebook and Messenger. Having a record of your conversations will be helpful in case there is a problem with the purchase or payment later, the Meta spokesperson recommends.
- Be wary of sellers who want you to use a difficult-to-trace payment method. “No legitimate seller of any motor vehicle is going to ask for gift cards for payment,” Nofziger says.
- Watch out for fake email notifications. Be wary of emails telling you that there was something wrong with your payment through checkout on Facebook, and avoid clicking suspicious links. Instead, view your payment history on Facebook, which you can find in your settings.
Facebook also has tips on how to recognize scams on Facebook Marketplace.
Sellers
- Avoid communicating with buyers privately outside of Facebook and Messenger. The same advice that legitimate buyers should heed is also crucial for sellers. Having a record of your conversations is important, should a problem arise.
- Investigate buyers. Cybersecurity firm Reason Labs recommends taking a look at a prospective buyer’s Facebook profile. If the person has posted only limited information and doesn’t have a profile picture, that’s reason for caution.
- Watch out for pressure tactics. Some buyers might press you to do an immediate transaction or to rush the process. That haste is a red flag that they might be up to something shady.
- Think twice before accepting a personal check as payment. It can take weeks for a bank to figure out that a check is a fake, and by then the scammer is long gone. Ask to use a different payment method.
Buyers and sellers
- Be cautious when you go to meet someone to do a transaction. If you’re going to a meeting with $2,000 in your pocket or selling an item that’s similarly valuable, “you might just be setting yourself up to get robbed,” Nofziger says. For safety, she recommends arranging to meet in a public place, or even at a local police station — many of which have a specific parking spot that’s set aside for online selling. Facebook offers tips for meeting someone from Facebook Marketplace and advice on how to create a meetup plan.
- Report scams. If you see something that makes you suspicious, Facebook recommends you stop communicating with the seller or buyer and report the scam. Its site offers step-by-step instructions on how to file a report.
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