The Current State of Online Marketplaces

DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 08:49
Last edited 01/11/2023 - 10:33 by 1 other user

Hi OzBargain.

I've been on the lookout for a second-hand PS5 on Facebook and Gumtree recently. There are quite a few listings out there, but it seems like none of them are legit. They all say the location is Melbourne CBD, but when you message them, they suddenly say something like, "oh, I'm actually in Bendigo, but I can post it to you." All these profiles are newly made in 2023 and don't have any real friends or interactions. At first, I thought this must be a new kind of scam from overseas, so I asked some of them for their bank details. Surprisingly, all of them gave me Australian bank accounts.

What's happening to this country? Just a few years back, in 2019 or 2020, scams like these were rare, but now it's the opposite – it's rare to find a legit ad, depending on what you're looking for, of course.

About a month ago, I was trying to find tickets for Matt Rife's show in Melbourne and put up an ad on Facebook. More than 50 people got in touch with me, and every single one of them was a scammer.

I’m just wondering, is anyone else noticing this? Isn't it disheartening to see so many people are happy to scam others and get on with their day? I mean, obviously people who are buying second hand, are unlikely to be in a good position financially.

General Discussion Facebook Marketplace Gumtree

Comments

  • Glenningvalley on 01/11/2023 - 09:22
    +8

    i'm currently trying to sell a car on carsales/gumtree/facebook.

    its a shit show………

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 09:26

      Oh yeah, selling stuff is also a nightmare.

    • djkelly69 on 01/11/2023 - 10:22
      +3

      I recently sold a ~20k car on FB marketplace. Two scammers (with exact same spiel) to start off, and then a couple of days later the eventual buyer. Same car was on Carsales as well for a couple of weeks before that, one (genuine) enquiry, no scammers but no sale.

      YMMV.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/11/2023 - 09:27
    +2

    I don’t even bother anymore, anything that’s a half decent deal is typically a scam

  • stuffandthat on 01/11/2023 - 09:27
    +4

    Unless I can go and pick the item up I'm not really buying anything off market place anymore. Way too risky, and it doesn't even matter what form of payment you use. Too many Deon Hong's out there

    • jv on 01/11/2023 - 09:59
      +15

      Two golden rules… Cash only, pick-up only.

      • stuffandthat on 01/11/2023 - 09:59

        Spot on.

      • Kayrhcp on 02/11/2023 - 08:28

        Yeah I’m a bit surprised anyone ever used it in any other way than this ^. No wonder the place is full of scammers now.

        • DontNeedThis on 02/11/2023 - 08:32

          Yeah it's for internationals who come from countries where the police actually does something. I've lived in "third world" countries for 30 years. Trust me, if anyone does anything like this, they'll be cuffed in less than 24 hours. When you come from those countries, you don't even thinl someone would do that.

  • brendanm on 01/11/2023 - 09:40
    +5

    Semi-related, does anyone know how to make marketplace return results for things you are actually searching for? It has the worst search out of anything by far.

    • Muzeeb on 01/11/2023 - 09:46
      +19

      Don't be like me. Someone was selling a second hand dirty toilet. I thought WTF? Clicked on the link to see what it was about. It totally fooked my algorithm. All I get now is second hand toilets for sale all around Australia.

      I'd like to know how you reset the algorithm.

      • flagger on 01/11/2023 - 11:37
        -2

        Search for cool starry bra

      • whatwasherproblem on 01/11/2023 - 11:43
        +6

        I'd like to know how you reset the algorithm.

        You can't. You're the 'toilet guy' now.

        Those ads are the omniscient algorithm reminding you that you don't have time to be scrolling Facebook when you should be planning your next toilet purchase instead.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/11/2023 - 13:03
        +3

        ali express app that is secretly snooping on all activity/voice etc: AYOOOOO HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 09:56
      +2

      Totally agree. Facebook marketplace has the worst search function ever. Don't even bother sorting the results. It's horrendous.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/11/2023 - 13:04
      +1

      fb market place searching engine deadset one of the only things worse than the ali express search engine.

  • m a c9 on 01/11/2023 - 09:50
    +1

    Yeah, it's pretty bad. Even on gumtree you see accounts made in 2023 and they spam the same responses.
    I'm selling something right now and this is one of the messages I got:

    Hi
    I saw your description and I'm fine with your Price
    I'm at Penrith now so I'll need to organise a freight company to transport it. Collection at your address. Time when freight co. comes to you organised by you and funds received by u beforehand. Aussie.Post have a freight service called starstrack. You can google.
    OK?

    The profile photo is of two young girls, look about early 20s. Account is since 2023.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 09:57
      +1

      The funniest are the ones who begin with "I'm interested in your product".

      • m a c9 on 01/11/2023 - 10:23

        With things like chatgpt around, you'd think they try a little bit harder to make their introduction a bit more believable

        • outlander on 01/11/2023 - 15:01
          +2

          They do it delibrately. Its a filter that only the dumber ones pass through, which lets them focus their scamming efforts on the most gullible.

    • Peanut money on 01/11/2023 - 16:00

      They are bots

      Iv replied with its in bad condition, full of blood etc etc
      Location nullabor

      The reply is I’ll send my cousin to pick it up - my reply - are they single?

      I then get more similar messages

      • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 16:05
        +2

        its in bad condition, full of blood etc etc

        What the hell are you selling mate?
        Also, is it still available?

        • Peanut money on 01/11/2023 - 17:20
          +1

          It was a new item

          Just a reply to a scammer who asked about its condition when description said new

  • jv on 01/11/2023 - 09:57
    +3

    and don't have any real friends or interactions.

    That aligns with have a PS5 though ???

  • Sleeqb7 on 01/11/2023 - 10:36

    What's happening to this country?

    Sounds pretty dramatic given that 90% of Scamtree/Fartbook scammers aren't in this country anyway.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 10:47
      +3

      Not true. Almost all of them gave me Australian bank account details. Which is why I thought this issue might be worth discussing here in the first place.

      • moar bargains on 01/11/2023 - 11:20

        Yeah but Australian bank account details mean nothing. You can get them (or the format of them) online easily. Doesn't mean they are legit accounts. When I was trying to sell a car, I was getting people who were clearly in Italy, Eastern Europe etc messaging me.

        • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 12:16

          But the victim will be sending the money to some random bloke in AU. What's the gain for the scammer?

        • Vanceer on 01/11/2023 - 12:33

          This is anti-Italian discrimination. We all know Italians love an inline six Barra.

      • ColtNoir on 03/11/2023 - 09:01

        You know they just buy stolen info from data hacks eg medibank, Optus.

        Then setup Australian accounts with those ID’s. There are online banks where they can't force you into a branch to confirm your identity.

        Edit:
        Additionally those scam flyers of ‘make x amount working a few hours at home’? Those ones largely target people with limited mental capacity, they get them to open bank accounts and transfer the cash to an international account essentially washing the money and putting the onus on a secondary scammed person

  • sumyungguy on 01/11/2023 - 11:00
    +2

    The dichotomy is that we want to purchase at the lowest possible price with warranty protection, free shipping and 100% transaction security, but want to sell at the highest possible price without paying fees to any value-adding service providers. Well done you if you're proficient at both.

  • mr_alligator on 01/11/2023 - 11:06
    +1

    It is indeed a shit show. Things were a lot better 10 years ago when we used Gumtree/Ebay for selling or purchasing second hand items. Back when buyers on Gumtree would just call or text and you actually received enquiries from only genuine buyers who were interested in purchasing and didn't muck around.

    This week I listed an ad on fb marketplace for second hand washing machine with all the relevant information in the description including suburb location, multiple photos, noting the condition of the item, option of pickup only, putting in title and description that price is fixed and no offers etc and confirming that if the ad is up it is available.

    Over three days I received over 35 enquiries including from payid scammers, people enquiring about the pick up location, sending ridiculous cash offers at less than half the asking price and of course dozens of "Is this still available" messages and then ghost you when I instantly reply confirming its available.

    Such a waste of time and an absolute pain in the ass to sell something on facebook marketplace.

    • m a c9 on 01/11/2023 - 11:25
      +1

      Did you manage to sell it in the end lol

      • mr_alligator on 01/11/2023 - 12:31

        yes finally had one sensible person follow through last night but it does test your patience.

    • JIMB0 on 01/11/2023 - 11:57
      +3

      Is it still available then?

      • mr_alligator on 01/11/2023 - 12:30

        Yes, are you still interested :D

        • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 12:38
          +5

          I'm interested in your product but I'm at Penrith now so I'll need to organise a freight company to transport it. Collection at your address. Time when freight co. comes to you organised by you and funds received by u beforehand. Aussie.Post have a freight service called starstrack. You can google.
          OK?

    • ColtNoir on 03/11/2023 - 09:04

      100% but once you get passed the first few days they're more likely to be real people.

  • Drakesy on 01/11/2023 - 11:23
    +2

    Now that gumtree charges for car ads marketplace is really the only place left for free listings (admittedly it greatly reduces the number of spam ads on gumtree now).
    Spammers be everywhere
    Buyers don't trust sellers, sellers don't trust buyers.
    What a time to be alive

  • inherentchoice on 01/11/2023 - 11:26

    Pick-up-only low value items are not susceptible to scams and you can sell things very quickly on FB Marketplace.

    A cheap PS5 though is of course just prime bait for scammers to dangle in front of any vulnerable teen or young adult. Likewise the lure of a cheap car could net a huge payday for the scammers.

    A relative of mine recently got scammed $7k on Marketplace for a shipping container and the scammer had even set up a full website to make it look like a legitimate business. An invoice was even issued with an ABN on it.

    Sadly it seems the authorities really don't want to know and don't care. FB and our police seem to be doing almost nothing to deal with the mass level of scammers at the moment. The Cyber Fraud website says it is unlikely victims will see their money back so I guess it just gets siphoned away overseas and police can do nothing.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 12:22

      Yeah I don't expect a company that is responsible for raging wars in Africa to give a $#&t about my little PS5.

  • netjock on 01/11/2023 - 11:29
    +4

    Scams are easy money. Small almost no investment and if you hook someone you are sweet. Think about the ROI on the transaction.

    People are nuts but they don't care long as they can make an easy living.

    It is like bad tradies who quote too low thinking they can cut corners or they thought was over quote but ended up being under and begin taking it out on the job which actually makes it take longer to finish and gets everyone angry.

    Using logical thinking, staying cool under pressure and applying enough effort to get it done in the fastest time is a difficult skill to master. Bit like investing in boring stuff, reinvesting your dividends and not trading on tips.

  • bboz on 01/11/2023 - 13:46
    +5

    I got scammed on Marketplace not long ago. I won't go into the details but I will say this, based on what was a hard lesson learnt…

    They can safely give you an Australian account and you still don't have a leg to stand on in terms of getting your fund reversed because the law states that the scammer account holder must first agree to return the funds out of their account. So, although there will be an attempt to reverse the transaction, under no circumstances will it occur if the scammer simply says 'no'.

    And one other thing, there are plenty of shameless Australian arseholes scamming people, don't expect that this only happens from overseas.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 13:51
      +1

      there are plenty of shameless Australian arseholes scamming people, don't expect that this only happens from overseas.

      Yeah that's really sad. There weren't used to be many of these. Goes to show you how dependent morality and ethics are on economy. As soon as you introduce a little bit of inflation, people turn into &$#holes.

    • inherentchoice on 02/11/2023 - 05:24
      +1

      Did you report it to police or on the cyber fraud website?

      https://www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report

      there are plenty of shameless Australian arseholes scamming people, don't expect that this only happens from overseas.

      But if the offender is in Australia surely the police will have a much higher chance of identifying them. Or if you can identify them then you can take civil action.

      • bboz on 02/11/2023 - 13:08

        Police won't do anything and don't have the resources for it, unfortunately. I have a mate in the force and his suggestion was to report him to Facebook and they "should block his IP address". If know anything about IT or the internet, you'll know that is a laughable solution, IF they were to even implement it.

        I am actually considering talking civil action. The guy is a known scammer (to many people, it seems) and I have managed to source his real address from conversations with people who have been scammed by him also. This other guy took 'physical' matters (apparently) into his own hands but I am not going to risk legal action against myself for $50.
        In any case, I would love to take the guy to small claims court (or whatever it is) but I'm not sure if that is even possible - I have zero idea how to begin that type of civil action.

  • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2023 - 14:53

    I'm also looking for a used PS5 but don't know who to trust on marketplace. There's one advertised near me which is apparently still sealed and has two games for $500. I guess sounds too good to be true.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 14:57

      A couple of things to check before even wasting time messaging them. Profile creation date and photos and friends' interaction with them.
      And always pick up only. No posting BS.

      • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2023 - 15:48

        Profile was created in 2015, has about 500 friends, mostly private profile. Looks to be in her young 20's and mostly selfie pics and comments from friends. The post does offer pick up and delivery.

        But even if she looks genuine I'd still want to test it out before buying which would mean unsealing it.

        • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 15:54
          +1

          Just say that you'll be buying it if it works. If she doesn't like that, then there's sth wrong.

    • gbinitt on 01/11/2023 - 16:10

      Use ebay for buyer protection. A lot more used PS5s will hit the market when the "slim" is released..

      • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2023 - 16:17

        I've been checking there also. I don't think they have said when the slim will be out and I'm needing to buy before Christmas for my son.

        • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 16:20

          By the looks of it, next year for AU. It's really hard to pay $700 for a second hand PS5 on ebay after seeing them selling for $630 brand new just a few weeks ago.

          • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2023 - 16:22

            @DontNeedThis: I know, I should have pulled the trigger. Seen a few around $600 the past few days on ebay, might try waiting for black Friday but hope that's not too late for Christmas.

            • DontNeedThis on 01/11/2023 - 16:33
              +1

              @onetwothreefour: If it helps, I can get you 5% off JB giftcards through company (when you decide to buy, you can just shoot me a dm).

  • Myone888 on 02/11/2023 - 07:44

    Also beware many fake electronics especially apple products on online providers. Buy at your own risk.

    • DontNeedThis on 02/11/2023 - 08:27

      Yep, I've been burned by fake apple products before.

  • ColtNoir on 03/11/2023 - 08:59
    +1

    What's happening to this country? You know Facebook is international and most (not all) scammers are also overseas.

    • DontNeedThis on 03/11/2023 - 09:24

      It's Australian scammers on an international platform. As I said, when it comes to payment, they're all giving Australian bank account details.

      • ColtNoir on 03/11/2023 - 09:49

        You know scammers can buy stolen info from data hacks eg medibank, Optus in order to open Aussie accounts with those ID’s. There are online banks where they can't force you into a branch to confirm your identity.

        Additionally, those scam flyers of ‘make x amount working a few hours at home’? Those ones largely target people with limited mental capacity, they get them to open bank accounts and transfer the cash to an international account essentially washing the money and putting the onus on a secondary scammed person

  • KILLBOY on 17/11/2023 - 09:14

    You need to put in your for sale ad "No scammers or time wasters" Im sure this works because most people have it lol

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