Facebook Marketplace is a scammer’s paradise because it is easy to circumvent merchant and buyer verification by using fake accounts. There are plenty of scammers posing as genuine sellers to rip-off buyers and vice-versa. It is moth-to-flame stuff.
We are not specifically picking on Facebook Marketplace – any third-party marketplace like Kogan and GumTree can suffer from the same issues. According to ThinkMoneyUK,
One in six surveyed have been scammed on Facebook Marketplace. The most common bait was a Facebook Friend recommendation. Scams will inevitably be much more common on this platform than in sites like eBay and Amazon that guarantee the integrity of the sale.
Why? Facebook Marketplace suffers from the social media malady – a false sense of security because you follow links allegedly recommended by friends or endorsed by others. Unlike eBay or Amazon, Facebook Marketplace shoppers have a lot more direct interaction and conversation with sellers.
Let’s look at the first steps in identifying a Facebook Marketplace scam
Scam sellers
- Offer suspiciously low prices for items that sell for much more. Hint: if the discount is much more than 20-30%, something is wrong.
- Launder stolen goods that you could forfeit if caught.
- Steers you away from Facebook Messenger to other chat services to preserve anonymity
- Will never allow personal inspection (even if Facebook’s location service says the…
