Mobile payment apps, like Venmo, Cash App and Zelle, are only safe for sending and receiving money with people you know and trust. When you try to purchase an item on Facebook Marketplace, you may get scammed if the seller asks you to use these payment methods. Using these payment methods to make purchases from a scammer can lead to your credit card information being stolen, never receiving the item you bought or even having your Facebook account hacked. If you give up your personal information or send money through these mobile payment apps to a scammer, there is no guarantee that you will get your money back or that your identity will remain protected.
If you are trying to buy an expensive item on Facebook Marketplace, a seller may ask you to send them an advance deposit. This scam may not be as obvious as others since you might think it’s reasonable to put a deposit down to show your interest in an expensive item. However, Facebook Marketplace does not operate under the practice of requiring a deposit for anything. Almost all purchases on Facebook Marketplace are paid in full without a deposit. If any seller demands you send them an advance deposit for an item you’re interested in, the seller could be trying to scam you, any money you send as a deposit may not be returned, or you may never receive the item.
On Facebook Marketplace, a seller might ask you to pay for an item using gift cards instead of sending them actual money. This is a sign that you are being scammed because if you send them the gift card, the scammer will receive free money and disappear. Gift card scams are dangerous because gift cards cannot be traced or refunded, so any money you put on a Visa gift card for a seller will be lost. For example, imagine you find an item worth $150 on Facebook Marketplace and inquire about it. The seller of this item asks you to put $150 on a Visa gift card and message them with the card number and PIN before they send you the item. However, once the seller has received the gift card number and PIN, they can take the money you put onto the gift card and disappear without a trace, leaving you with lost money and no item.
Some scammers hope that you will send them money through a wire transfer, which allows you to move money directly from one bank account to another. When paying for an item on Facebook Marketplace, a seller might ask you to send them your payment through a wire transfer because they claim to live in another country. This could be a tactic to gain access to your bank account information and steal your identity. Wire transfer scams are especially dangerous because your personal information could be targeted by scammers to commit fraud or identity theft, and there is no guarantee you will recover your money once it’s been sent.
Let’s pretend you’re looking to buy a new phone. You’d expect this item to cost close to $1,000, but you miraculously find it on Facebook Marketplace for a low price of $200. Since the phone is listed for such a low price, the seller may have either stolen the item themselves or is posting about an item that doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, these fake or stolen items are some of the most common scams that people fall for because everyone loves a good deal. If a seller seems to be in a hurry to sell the item quickly or continues to lower the price to get you to buy it, this is a sign that the seller is most likely trying to get rid of a stolen item. Remember that if an item is listed for an unreasonably low price, it is either not real or stolen, and you should not give the seller any of your personal information or money.
Scammers will intentionally sell items that they know are broken or don’t work correctly without informing you of these defects. In these faulty item scams, you might notice that a seller’s images on Facebook Marketplace look completely normal. However, a scammer might have uploaded pictures they found of the same item, perfectly intact, from the internet or from before the item broke. If a scammer cannot find the same item online to post a flawless picture on their listing, they may only post one or two angles of the item to hide any faults or broken pieces. Make sure to meet the seller in person to inspect the item before you purchase it to avoid falling for this type of Facebook Marketplace scam.
On most online marketplaces like Facebook, you risk becoming a victim of a bait-and-switch scam, which occurs when an item is offered for a great price but isn’t being sold. This form of false advertising lures you into engaging with the seller, who may then tell you about a similar item they have that’s slightly more expensive than the one you originally wanted. However, the trick of this scam is that the original item was never available to begin with, as it most likely doesn’t exist. Bait-and-switch scams are common on Facebook Marketplace because scammers prey on your disappointment by offering you something you might want, despite the item you originally wanted not being available. In reality, these scams waste both your time and money, and you should avoid interacting with a seller if this happens to you.
