FB marketplace scammers

[Munkul]

I listed a £20 tv stand for sale at lunchtime today, and I've had 3 advance-fee scammers use the exact same wording on me.
It goes like this:

Ok I'll take but I'd like to come today but I'm currently busy with work, I'll send a UPS courier to your home to give you your cash and pick up the item.

Ok to send, I'm waiting for your
Name :
First name :
Address :
City :
Item price:
E-mail address :

Then they start making noises about having to pay some form of "insurance" fee but don't worry, you'll get your money back:

Know that I have already paid the delivery costs so the service simply asks you to pay the insurance costs which cost £46 in order to secure the Table during dispatch but you do not have to worry because I would add the sum of £50 more in the envelope so that you do not lose money during this transaction so the postman will come and give you the sum of £70 at your home at their agreed upon

I haven't seen such blatent 419 scam attempts since I was leaving school and it was all the Nigerian Princes.

I also haven't had any of this on FB before. Is there an epidemic?

 

[winchman]

Its full of them and Top of the range products at stupid prices so people are conned in to leaving deposits so they can hold the item.

 

[6ply]

I gave them "my" address at the local police station.

Never heard back.

 

[Munkul]

 

[JOEPRO]

Yes FB marketplace is about 25% scam adds throughout. That is, even the listings are obvious scams.

Eg I seem several nice Mercs etc being listed in my town as very low prices. Already suspicious I took a look at the photos and they were from USA or similar! Aka the car does not exist at all.

I have reported many listings as fraud when I see them. Up until a couple of weeks ago FB marketplace did not even have a function to do so.

I just use it to look for tools locally. Got one or two items off it. Mostly people don't bother taking the add down or replying so it's hard work.

 

[brightspark]

Yes FB marketplace is about 25% scam adds throughout. That is, even the listings are obvious scams.

Eg I seem several nice Mercs etc being listed in my town as very low prices. Already suspicious I took a look at the photos and they were from USA or similar! Aka the car does not exist at all.

I have reported many listings as fraud when I see them. Up until a couple of weeks ago FB marketplace did not even have a function to do so.

I just use it to look for tools locally. Got one or two items off it. Mostly people don't bother taking the add down or replying so it's hard work.

same here had a couple of good bargains within 3 miles of home at a cheap price

 

[Munkul]

Ah right enough i have seen a lot of cars and stuff for sale with low prices that are obviously scams, I'd forgotten that they can get you from a selling end as well as buying.

 

[addjunkie]

Ah right enough i have seen a lot of cars and stuff for sale with low prices that are obviously scams, I'd forgotten that they can get you from a selling end as well as buying.

Face to face, cash or bank transfer weeds out the issues. With bikes, cars, plant etc ….Quite surprising how few reply when you say Ill come and look tomorrow!

 

[Brad93]

Had it loads this year. All the same insurance type
scams

 

[skotl]

...I also haven't had any of this on FB before. Is there an epidemic?

Yes

 

[skotl]

25% scammers, 50% timewasters, 20% aggressive plonks. It's a nightmare trying to find the 5% that are ok to do business with.

Still prefer it to ebay though...



Case in point:

 

[JEZGUZ]

I've reported quite a few scam listings to farcebook , they won't do a thing, stating that the listing did not contravene faceaches policies

 

[Beanwood]

I’ve reported a few where the prices are just too good and despite different locations and stories they use the same photos. Hear nothing back and the ads are still showing..

 

[JOEPRO]

Also not being racist but just realistic that most of these scammers haven't figured out to at least use names that sound like they are from here.

For example

 

[RichardM]

Asked about going to see a compressor in Matlock, no reply.
I had some French company coming to collect on a tank bag I was selling, I just said no thanks a couple of times.
Then a nice lady got in touch and collected it on a way to a wedding in Derby. Just like everything there's good and bad.

 

[ukracer]

Yes FB marketplace is about 25% scam adds throughout. That is, even the listings are obvious scams.

Eg I seem several nice Mercs etc being listed in my town as very low prices. Already suspicious I took a look at the photos and they were from USA or similar! Aka the car does not exist at all.

I have reported many listings as fraud when I see them. Up until a couple of weeks ago FB marketplace did not even have a function to do so.

I just use it to look for tools locally. Got one or two items off it. Mostly people don't bother taking the add down or replying so it's hard work.

Yes that's why Facebook market place is terrible to buy from.
Why can't Facebook use a 48 hour suspend feature where by the onus is on the seller to trigger a "still available" button that activates adds that are deactivated with 48 hours .

 

[Munkul]

I have a strict policy of only buying from fb marketplace by collection in person.
Or, rarely, use PayPal to pay with fees.

 

[Fastdruid]

Yes FB marketplace is about 25% scam adds throughout. That is, even the listings are obvious scams.

Eg I seem several nice Mercs etc being listed in my town as very low prices. Already suspicious I took a look at the photos and they were from USA or similar! Aka the car does not exist at all.

I have reported many listings as fraud when I see them. Up until a couple of weeks ago FB marketplace did not even have a function to do so.

I just use it to look for tools locally. Got one or two items off it. Mostly people don't bother taking the add down or replying so it's hard work.

Reporting scams and spam in FB is a joke and of course its free to use which is why there are so many of them..

Blatantly obvious scammers with a fake profile, report them and all you get is:

We didn't remove the profile
To keep our review process as fair as possible, we use the same set of Community Standards to review all reports.
We've taken a look and found that the profile doesn't go against our Community Standards.
We understand that this might be upsetting, so we recommend exploring the options available to control what you see.
If you want us to review something specific within a profile, make sure that you report the content (for example, photo), not the entire profile.
You can also request a review within 180 days if you disagree with the decision to not take this down.

Reporting porn. Nothing, not taken down.

Reporting obviously scams. Nothing, not taken down.

Even reporting posts to phishing links on compromised profiles. Nothing.

Your Report
To keep our review process as fair as possible, we use the same set of Community Standards to review all reports.
We've taken a look and found that this content doesn't go against our Community Standards.
We understand that this might be upsetting, so we recommend exploring the options available to control what you see.

Obviously as long as you don't use a naughty word in the wrong place anything goes.