Scams on Facebook Marketplace! 

No your not ,I'm not old and I don't even have Facebook. Or any social media, never cared for it

@@carolinav980 I rarely even go to FB even though I have a few pages for my genealogy and quilting - my favorite things to do! I don’t even have a photo of me on there - and I absolutely refuse to post any photos of family, especially our young grandchildren!!

There's an idea 💡

I felt the same, however there are really good deals there so I started to use it. However, I don't share my picture or personal information at all.

Why would you even bother to click on this video if you don't even have a facebook account? Just trying to show your intellectual prowess? LOL Like that's even likely.

See that a LOT where people actually put that in the ad about how a puppy or other things they offere is still available due to a no show etc

One asked me to bring the item I was selling to them and my ad said it was a pick up my home. The town they wanted me to bring it to was over an hour away! One asked me how much? It's listed with the price!

I've had a seller who I was to meet then she sold it to someone else while I was on my way to meet her. Are people just not so reliable??

@@darleneclark896 integrity is a thing of the past, with some.

Just have them pick it up from your house.

You can be scammed even if you're tech savvy. Scammers come up with new and sneaker ways to scam people everyday. Don't assume because you are technical you can't be scammed.

Yeah exactly 100% agree with you. Why isn't Facebook putting this information out?

@@sinebar you need nothing more than common sense to not be scammed it is so easy to spot scams yet so many people fall for them.

You can get scammed yes, but then sometimes you get some great deals. Keep your instincts forefront, and your eye's open. Usually if something is too good to be true, it probably is.

At least one suggestion doesn’t always apply. I made a legitimate purchase on Facebook marketplace where the seller absolutely insisted on Venmo, would not accept PayPal (which I am more familiar with, and has excellent consumer protection). Would not accept ANYTHING but Venmo. As it turned out, I happened to have a Venmo account which I rarely use, which had leftover a modest balance, enough to cover the purchase. It was a large item, needing shipping which had to be paid for before the seller could release it for pick up. Got an excellent deal, happy ending.

Consider your experience unusual, then.

Why would someone ask these questions first rather than about the condition of the item for example, or other more obvious queries?

Often if there are enough views in pics and the items aren't complex, the condition is apparent, and questions such as "Is it still available" and "can I pick it up today" are very obvious and common queries, themselves, though I'll always at least include the name of the item as well as what the general part of town I'm in to help figure out a place to meet. I've never had anyone try to scam me on FB market but would immediately blow off and report an obvious scam such as the video outlines.

@@Rushtallica thanks, just wondered

@@crabby7668 You're welcome. And I'm not sure sometimes how my posts come across. I do need to take into consideration that others have experienced a lot of problems, and I have seen a lot of listings saying not to bother asking if the item is still available.

Wrong. The bottom line is after someone asks for your phone number and says they want the product you are selling there is no reason for any of the other garbage. If they simply don't ask for a time and place to meet up, THEN you ignore them. Having your phone number does NOTHING for them. You can find people's phone numbers literally EVERYWHERE including this big thing called A PHONE BOOK. If they say they need further proof of anything from or about you, then you simply ignore them. Game over.

@@thomasjoseph5876 you hit the nail on the head I completely agree.

I have sold a few things on the marketplace, and always had them meet me at our police station. I would never meet anywhere else!

I sold a dresser and table and chairs. I did get scammers who wanted the verification codes and such. Some wanted to use Venmo. I’m not loading up furniture to take to a police station. After arrangements were made to meet me at my house, I gave them my phone number. Told them cash only. Worked out fine. But the scammers were annoying. Just good to get rid of my stuff.

After all the notorious things that have happened through Craigslist, regardless of what medium the seller uses, if I'm supposed to go to their chosen location, I'm carrying concealed.

I'm a victim of this.

Did you take your number back? I read how you can go into Google voice and remove your number. If you don't they are still using your number to scam others

Google doesn’t care!

You’re talking about Indian Scammers.

Marketplace has the phrase “is this available” automatic to hit and send.

that is perfect example of knowing is someone is scamming. So asking them questions about what they want is a good way to detect if they are scammers.

Look, I’m French… but my English is not always « perfect » but i,m not a « wirdo » and certainly not fool any body, i wouldn’t feel good to do such of think. Don’t judge any one by accent plz. But be aware of fake sale!

@@mrBDeyeI thought they all work for the IRS as Mr John Jones

Indian scammers are not clever. They are targeting not so clever fools.

The red flag is NOT the exchange of phone numbers-which is a normal way of doing business-but requesting a two factor authentication code to be sent to them. This is what you're not supposed to do with two factor codes.

@@rhk3482 I didnt say anything about phone numbers

@@rhk3482 Yep, I've used peoples phone numbers to let them know I arrived at the meeting place and to ask for directions on occasion.

Yes, a phone conversation is something you can do to screen that person. @@rhk3482

The latest is their account is "locked"

I think Facebook is just as dishonest as any scammer. They 100% Can not be trusted. If you call someone an idiot they will block it but allow scammers to cheat thousands of people and do nothing.

Especially cars at the moment.

Oh, go ahead. Live dangerously.

Literally! Just had that happen to me.

@@rettpanda6203same here.

I watch them all the time

Scammer payback is a God at what he does.

You can just delete that part of the message. I never send "is this available" only when I want to purchase an item. I may leave it at the beginning but always add a more personal message about the item. From my experience as a seller, at least 70% of inquiries with only "is this available" are people hitting that button by mistake.

@@sbffsbrarbrr If I am remembering correctly the buyer would have to hit/click on 2 separate things to contact the seller. 1 to auto-generate the message then, 2. to actually send that message. So it shouldn't be a simple finger fumble, but I guess it may be possible. I've come across many sellers that just see the msg preview, which only shows the first 3 or 4 words, and by seeing the same exact auto-generated msg in the preview they just ignore it. As I previously stated also, Messenger puts the general "Is this still available" even despite deleting it from the fist message/inquiry. FB messenger for marketplace has several problems/bugs to it and IMO has never worked correctly, making it inherently flawed for buyer/seller communication. Messages sent through it end up appearing in a sub-category labeled as Marketplace in messenger that you have to go into in order to view individual messages to seller listings rather then appear as a normal message sent by any other individual person in messenger. It's tricky to explain it and properly convey what I'm intending to say.

Don't you think Facebook is entirely too involved with the doings of its "subscribers"? Simply the fact that FB started pushing this millions of genders ideology when they were once just personalities made me creeped out.

@paulharris…. Turn off Fox News. It turns brains into mush.

And a golf carts which is about $3500 for a good one, not $1000 which almost got me!

This is why is important to learn the real value of things so you know if the price matches the value on the market.

Egg zackly! Thank you

same here. We've called dozens of sellers to work out the details, never a problem.. "is this available" isn't a scam, but an auto message when you tap the ad. I know some people don't have common sense, but you are missing out on great deals. Bought a bmx bike, like new, for $20 tonight. 😂

What do u do if u do give them your phone number and the verification code? Who can I notify of this scam which I didn't have a clue about?

You literally posted this on a social media platform.

@@mrnobody4771 Yes there are people who does not know how to use social media to their advantage, like making monetary transactions. I suppose the advice would be better phrased as "Look, read, and move on".

​@@mrnobody4771You Tube is not social media. Never was, never will be.

Amen

😂Same

Ive had buyer come , check out a number of items and say they will think about it. and come back at night and steal the items they were shown.

I do as well.

@@jamiee11 That's why the first part of her video is useless. EVERYONE asks if it is available. I just bought some plastic barrels from a guy on Marketplace. The first thing I did was ask if they were still available. When he said yes, I told him I wanted to buy them. Then I met up with him to get them. The issue comes with the garbage AFTER asking for their phone number. I ask for their phone number as I don't have a "real" Facebook account. I only have one that I use for purchasing or selling stuff on Marketplace. I put NONE Of my personal info on Facebook, nor do I make posts or put pictures on that account. When I get their phone number, I just text them after that for pickup or details about the product. If someone wants more info from me or wants me to jump thru hoops to purchase a product I am selling or something I want to buy, I just ignore them and move on.jj All you need is a way to contact them to purchase or see the product and then a place to meet up, NOTHING MORE. NO BS verification crap or anything. Facebook does little to nothing to protect their buyers and sellers.

Same here. I want their phone number before I leave to go get the item, just in case I can't find their house or apartment, which has happened a few times. They don't always reply back on Facebook when I'm in their neighborhood unable to find where they are, in which case, I just go home empty handed.

That's the thing, sellers often list the item in MULTIPLE places and forget to take the ads down after its sold, so you definitely dont want to drive over to someone's house only to lear the item was sold days ago, you HAVE to ask if its still available, and as a seller they have to know you intend to BUY for sure as other people may ask about it while you dally around on it. I wouldn't take on line payments or give my cell out, they come, like the item and pay CASH, or they don't like the item and go away. Another annoyance was I listed a woodworking tool on the marketplace, a local-ish guy said he would take it, would I take $40 instead of the $50 I had it listed for, yeah ok, he asked where to pick it up from, I start to respond and before I can fully do so he texts back a "nevermind, I just found another one" and I'm like WTF??? it was like a $125 brand new never used, with the original box, I had it priced $50 he offers $40 and then finds another one I assume maybe $2 cheaper and stiffs me after wasting my TIME! @@lisaobrien4898

@@lisaobrien4898why not just look up the location on Google Maps before leaving home so you can verify you can find their location? Street view is very helpful.

Better using thrift stores, Goodwill and lots of patience.

I am interested.

@@MarceloBenoit-trenesI listed a brand new pair of boots for sale on Market Place and the first person to respond was a scammer. All communication was done via messenger or texting so things that I am mentioning in the recounting of the experience were not at the time so obvious because of the time delayed back and forth way that texting and messaging works. Not only do things not jump out as suspicious because of the time that can pass between messages, but we're also in different mindsets throughout the communications. So even if we start out wary about a potential transaction, as time passes and things happen in our daily lives to distract us and our emotions are varied, we may not pick up on certain things that we would have if we'd been in the distraction free, cautious, high alert mindset we'd started out with. Also, we were desperately in need of the money so I was more hopeful that it wasn't a scam. The buyer was in Oklahoma and I'm in Montana but he wanted me to ship them and offered me $100 more than my asking price. He said they were a gift for his sister's birthday. I wasn't going to drop them in the mail until I had gotten the money and successfully withdrawn it from venmo. He gave me the address to ship them to and asked for my email address. I provided my Venmo id name but again, he asked for my email. My fiancé had to take our vehicle out of town so I sent the boots with him to put in the mail in case this went through. I received a very official looking email supposedly from venmo showing that they were holding a payment for the amount the buyer said he'd pay & would release it to my account upon my providing them with the tracking number of the package. So the ball was in my court and he'd done everything he'd said he'd do. I joked with my fiancé maybe we should send an empty box first so we can provide a valid tracking number and then if the money came through we would send the boots and give him the correct tracking number. I scoured through venmo's policies and found out they do have a process where they'll hold a payment back until receiving a tracking number and I told my fiancé to go ahead and mail the boots. Meanwhile, the buyer continued communicating with me as would be expected from someone purchasing a birthday gift directly from a person in another state without the buyer/seller protections offered from a reputable site such as Amazon or eBay. Nothing had changed or shown in my venmo account and something just wasn't feeling right. I had searched for a venmo customer service phone number but hadn't found anything in the app. My fiancé was headed to the post office. I searched the internet instead, found a number to call venmo customer service. I told my fiancé to wait, don't send it yet and called venmo. Luckily, I didn't have to sit on hold forever and got a representative on the phone. She had an accent and didn't quite fully understand my rushed explanation of my predicament but was able to confirm for me that there was no pending payment in my account awaiting a tracking number and so I told my fiancé to not send the boots but if he happened across a big pile of dog crap anywhere to maybe stick that in a box, send it & give me the tracking number. The representative from venmo advised me to change my passwords as a precaution against account breaches. I'm a college graduate with a degree and work history in Information Technology and even though I have been out of the game for a few years, which is an eternity with our rapid technical advancements, I could not think of any possible way for this encounter to have led to a breach of my Google, Facebook or Venmo accounts. I think I changed my Venmo password but wasn't going through it again for Facebook, which just can't seem to get synchronization down when I change my password, or Google which I had recently changed for other reasons and since it controls half of the digital life of anyone who isn't an iCrap user, I didn't feel like going through it again and trying to come up with another usable, rememberable password. I stopped communicating with the scammer and didn't hear back from him either even though he was supposedly waiting on the tracking number also. I ended up pawning the boots for 1/4 of their value and way less than I needed for bills.

i am

@@skibee421 it's written in the replies section under this comment. I tried to keep it short but informative on what happened.

This is b.s.

Yup, that is the biggest scam on FBMP. She should have covered that one.

If you can't see it and touch, don't buy it.

Yes her name Mary she tried to scame me today she want to contact her with my phone I answered no than she left

Wow! I have been selling some things lately on marketplace and just this week-end I got a message from a person here is my number and give me your phone number. I had a bad feeling about this and so I never gave it out.

I respond with similar, people are so lazy and or have no interest on buying or rolling through.

Google what someone can do with your phone number.

@@Mysterious-darkness Google what someone can do with your reply here, and the IP address that you're sending this comment from. You just have to rely on your best instinct, this has worked for me throughout my life. Cheers

Exactly!! 💯. I respond like that! That’s crazy to assume that phrase is a scammer!

how ELSE do you determine If an item is still available? Or offer to pick it up that day?

Well if it’s listed it’s still, for sale 🤦‍♂️

@@baggerbenn lots of people leave the listings up after selling the items.

I just checked, and when I use FB Marketplace on my laptop, the "is this still available" response is among 3 or 4 precanned responses when you message someone about an item you want to buy, but you can chooses not to select it and type in your own message. I usually let them know I am interested, and ask when is a good time to come and look? I get a good rate of response with those lines.

Yep, pretty standard common question. Even can pick up today.

@@GremmPaltakin Sentence structure and grammar is very poor.

😂

​@@556m4well done

They don’t need your phone number. Please don’t give it out.

Scammers can spoof random numbers, if they make the call from a pc. This was confirmed when I required with a service provider.

There is no need to exchange phone numbers if you are already on messenger. For what reasons?

to make sure they are a legit person and not someone from some 3rd world country thats going to scam you. also to feel the person out to see if they are honest or are a dangerous person. Especailly if their profile isnot very old or they dont have much on their profile. @@sbffsbrarbrr