Before Christmas last year, I embarked on the seemingly simple task of offloading my old dining table on Facebook Marketplace.
Much like its arch-nemesis, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace has quickly become the primary way people sell pre-loved goods online.
As anyone with experience selling an item on the platform will tell you, you’ll be utterly bombarded with dozens of ‘Is this still available?’ messages thanks to Facebook’s automatic message generator.
Among these queries will lie a smattering of genuine requests from real people who are interested in your pair roller skates, set of dinner plates or, in my case, an extendable IKEA dining table.
But I learned the hard way that many of the people querying about your sale will be scammers, lurking behind fake Facebook profiles, desperate to swindle you out of your money.
READ MORE: Harry’s risqué comment leaves TV host grimacing
READ MORE: Harry reveals King’s unusual demand of Kate
I was replying to messages on a “first come, first served” basis, and the very first person I interacted with, sadly, turned out to be a scammer.
She did not try to haggle with me on the price, instead simply asking what the condition of the table was.
The scammer then told me: “My brother will come over to pick it up himself because I’m not available to do that.”
I’m a little green when it comes to selling things online, so this didn’t immediately raise any red…
