Facebook Marketplace Is Crawling With Scams, but There Are 6 Ways to Avoid Them

Wherever money changes hands online, scammers are not far behind, and Facebook Marketplace is no different. If you're planning on buying or selling items there, be sure to take note of these scams and how they appear.

Selling Defective, Fake, or Non-Existent Items

Some scammers use the oldest trick in the book: they sell items that are either broken, fake, or non-existent. The idea behind these scams is to get as much money out of you as possible for bad goods.

These listings usually lack quality pictures or videos of the product. The scammer may even steal media from legitimate sellers and re-use it to make it look like theirs is the real deal. You may also notice someone getting strangely defensive when you ask for additional photos or videos of the product.

Asking for Payment With Gift Cards

Here's something you should always remember when dealing with scammers on a digital marketplace. They will do anything to move the transaction away from official, secure payment methods and toward a way that allows them to hide their paper trail. That way, when you find out it was a scam, there's nothing you can do to trace it back to them.

Gift cards are a popular method among scammers to extract money from people. They'll usually ask you to buy a gift card, scratch off the back for the code, and send it to them via direct message. They can then redeem the card to buy goods or sell them cheaply on a gray market.

Asking for Payment Using an Insecure Service

Similarly, scammers will ask you to use a different payment service, such as Venmo, Zello, or PayPal's Friends and Family payments.

It's important to note that these services are not scams. They are legitimate services used by millions daily to move money around. The problem is that Venmo, Zello, and PayPal's Friends and Family services are designed to exchange money between two people who trust one another.

As such, they're not designed for business and shopping use and do not have the same anti-scam measures and precautions as other services. This makes them popular for scammers who want to take the money and run or file a chargeback after a transaction.

Overpayment Scams

In this scam, the person buying something from you will send you too much money by "accident." They will then ask you to refund the excess.

It sounds innocent enough, and you'd feel incentivized to give them back the extra money to make things right, but it's a scam. The scammer has likely paid you using a bad check or a hacked bank account. When they ask for a refund, they'll usually ask you to pay it back to a different account than the one they paid you with.

After you pay back the excess, the money they used to pay you will return to the bank, either because the check bounced or the hacked bank account was reclaimed. Either way, you lose all the money the scammer sent you, and they walk away with however much you sent them due to their "overpayment."

Asking for a Deposit

Sometimes, when buying an item, someone will ask for a deposit. They may claim that the deposit is to ensure that you go through with the transaction, or they may ask for money in exchange for holding onto an item until you arrive to pick it up.

Unfortunately, these are likely to be scams. After you hand over the deposit for an item, the seller can block you and take the money for themselves.

Bait-and-Switch Scams

A bait-and-switch scam occurs when someone lists an item that looks like a good deal. However, when someone tries to purchase the item, the seller will try to swap the item for something else or ask for more money. This usually plays off your desire to close out a deal, encouraging you to either buy something you didn't want or pay more for it.

For example, if you see a good deal for a PlayStation 5 and put an offer in, the seller may claim that the PS5 has already sold or that they didn't have permission to sell it. They'll then try to offer you an Xbox Series X instead. Or, they'll say the price for the PS5 was wrong and give you a new price in hopes that you'll stomach the price increase.

Personal Details Phishing

Sometimes, a scammer isn't interested in your money. Instead, they want to harvest people's information. These scammers will list an item that seems like a good deal and then begin taking people's personal information as they make offers. It's a more advanced form of phishing, and scammers can take advantage of people using their details.

These types of scams may outright ask people for their details or try to disguise the process with a fake phishing process. Some people have reported scammers sending over a link with a form to fill out as part of a fake verification process before the deal can continue. However, scammers are not interested in making a sale; as soon as they get their personal data, they block and run.

How to Avoid Facebook Marketplace Scams

If you enjoy buying or selling items on the Facebook Marketplace, here's how to avoid scammers.

1. When looking to buy an item, be wary of any listings that do not properly showcase it in images or videos. If the visuals are bad, and the seller acts poorly when you ask for better media, there's a good chance they're trying to hide something.
2. Always use payment methods that have anti-scam protection, such as PayPal, Facebook Pay, or other safe online payment services. Do not continue if someone wants to pay using gift cards or a service designed for friends and family.
3. If someone is paying with a check or a transfer, remember that these can backfire if the bank recovers the funds due to insufficient money or a hacked account.
4. Don't pay for a deposit; they may take the money and run.
5. If someone tries to change the deal, don't settle with it if you don't like it.
6. Be wary of what details people ask for; if someone asks for private information for seemingly no reason, it may be a phishing campaign.

With these tips, you should be a lot better equipped to spot and defend against scams on Facebook Marketplace.