Facebook Seller Scam - What Possible Methods?

Zarcady on 23/05/2025 - 01:22
Last edited 23/05/2025 - 10:10 by 1 other user

Hi guys, I saw a Facebook Marketplace advert for an item that seemed really underpriced.

A bit suspicious, I asked for a photo of the item with my name written on a piece of paper and it was sent no problem. Did not ask me for any deposit up front and gave me the address for pick up.

The problem is this person lives about 3 hours away from me and has a 1.5 star rating from about 40 different people. Obviously with Facebook Marketplace, you can only see the aggregate star ratings, not an actual description of what went wrong.

What possible methods of scams could this person be pulling? I'm going to only engage in face to face cash payment but obviously I don't want to drive a 6 hour return trip if this person is just going to muck me around.

Item is going for around $3500 on the used market, this person selling for $1000. Everything screams red flag, but I don't see any possible way I can get scammed except for a useless car trip

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Comments

  • CrispyChrispy on 23/05/2025 - 01:39
    +19

    FFS

    • Zarcady on 23/05/2025 - 02:02
      -1

      haha worth a try. Don't worry, not gonna bother with it

    • MS Paint on 23/05/2025 - 04:15
      +8

      Friendly Facebook Scammer?

      • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 10:40

        Fool Fleeces Self

  • Ellene on 23/05/2025 - 04:50
    +14

    Ask them "Is this still available?". If they reply, it's a scam. If they block you, it was genuine.

  • solidussnake on 23/05/2025 - 05:17
    +3

    They will try and get you to bank transfer and they "post it" if you do say you'll pay in person they will give you a random fake address to go to…

  • Downvoter on 23/05/2025 - 07:23
    +6

    Why is your search radius set to 3 hours away

    • pegaxs on 23/05/2025 - 08:05
      +2

      Mine is set to 60km away, but I still get recommendations for items I search for up to 250~500km away…

      • MS Paint on 23/05/2025 - 09:31

        Same. I get a lot of items in the UK in my search results as the item I search regularly is most post popular over there.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/05/2025 - 10:10

        60km?

        if the listing is not within 5km i dont want it

        • MS Paint on 23/05/2025 - 10:12
          +1

          5km just gets me past me neighbours house so I tend to have to travel for marketplace.

          • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/05/2025 - 10:16
            +3

            @MS Paint: Not you and your rag tag bunch of misfit adventurers loading up your horses with dried meat rations, water, winnie blues , vintage uk nudie mags.
            Compass around your neck, steeldive submariner shining in the sun.
            Breathing in the humidity
            Watching the lightning crack over the canefields.

            Telling the misso, if you dont return from your facebook marketplace adventure, avenge your death .

            • Chandler on 23/05/2025 - 15:18
              +2

              @Jimothy Wongingtons:

              Telling the misso, if you dont return from your facebook marketplace adventure, avenge your death .

              "Hello. My name is Mrs Paint. You killed my partner. Prepare to die."

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/05/2025 - 10:09
      +3

      sometimes, the random fbm find is not the real treasure…its the journey, man.

  • kolorijo on 23/05/2025 - 07:26
    +1

    If it is too good to be true….

  • 87percent on 23/05/2025 - 08:21

    Are they working on a mine site?

  • randomusername2017 on 23/05/2025 - 08:48
    +1

    Link?

  • Aldonis on 23/05/2025 - 09:02
    +1

    what is the item op

  • ihbh on 23/05/2025 - 09:06

    If it's a coffin, don't get in to test it. And don't drink anything they might offer you.

    Source: This film

  • ihbh on 23/05/2025 - 09:11
    -2

    My experience: we buy things off Marketplace to be sustainable; we can afford most things new.

    But we aren't going to drive more than say 15km for nothing (wasting time, fuel/not sustainable for the environment). So we usually tack it on to shopping, a bushwalk, beach swim, etc. If they don't hold, we let it go. Ideally, most things within 5kms and can walk to pick up.

  • Wiadro on 23/05/2025 - 09:15

    its a scam lol

  • jv on 23/05/2025 - 09:27

    RUN !!!

    • MS Paint on 23/05/2025 - 09:32
      -1

      Instructions not clear. Still running. When can I stop?

      • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 10:42

        As soon as Forrest overtakes you

  • KaTst3R on 23/05/2025 - 09:50

    If your Spider Sense is tingling then you know it is a big risk.

    Driving 3 hr one way is insane honestly.

  • CodeXD on 23/05/2025 - 10:10
    +1

    1.5 star rating from about 40 different people

    how is this not already the biggest red flag lol

    • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 11:29

      FTFOP
      1.5 star rating from about 40 different other gullible people

      • CodeXD on 23/05/2025 - 11:30

        Well the seller might not have had 1.5 star when the previous buyers bought from them

        • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 11:32

          True. (sort of) The sliding scale has delivered more than a subtle hint over time.But I'd hazard a guess that every listing prior, sounded too good to be true.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/05/2025 - 10:11
    +4

    do it - no good forum drama for a while

  • SnowDragon on 23/05/2025 - 10:23
    +2

    except for a useless car trip

    Just make it a weekend trip away and if the seller turns out to be a scammer you've had a little holiday!
    If they don't turn out to be a scammer you've got yourself a bargain.

    To be the devils advocate - sometimes people sell things dirt cheap just to get rid of them quickly. If they've sent a pic with your name next to it then it's at least real. Tell them you'll only pay in cash and see how they react.

    What is the item?

  • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 10:42

    This is the organ donor scam.

  • 7ekn00 on 23/05/2025 - 11:42

    Ignore all the nay-sayers, it's a great price, go for it !! What could possibly go wrong?!? - YOLO

  • trapper on 23/05/2025 - 11:54
    +1

    Everything screams red flag, but I don't see any possible way I can get scammed except for a useless car trip

    Think of it this way.

    There is no possible way you will get this $3500 item for $1000. Zero chance.

    So anything that happens from here on will either waste your time, or somehow cost you - but you will not get the item.

  • Bignudge on 23/05/2025 - 12:00
    +6

    A similar thing happened to me before and here's my take on it. Back then Facebook/Gumtree scammers were very upfront right to your face about sending over a deposit and blocked you as soon as you hinted that it's a scam or ask too many questions. Nowadays, they seem to play along right to the very end to not raise suspicions and get reported. Their goal is for the fake ad/stolen Facebook account to active for as long as possible.

    I once wasted a few hours driving all the way to Bondi from Bankstown to pick up a cheap gaming laptop. The seller neogotiated back and forth, locked in a time the day following as he had work, waited right up to a few hours before the meet time to ask for a deposit, then was totally cool with me not wanting to pay a deposit and agreed there are lots of scams going around, sent me the address, all coolios. When I got there, I found about another 10 people lining up outside this apartment waiting. When I messaged him, he'd say that he's coming down soon. I asked the 10 other people standing there and yes they're all after the same gaming laptop. Some had paid $50 deposit, others $100, one even $200. All in all, up until the meet time the scam ad and stolen FB account was still active and scamming.

    Same thing with me selling a car. Scam buyers used to be in your face about wanting those fake car reports. Not anymore…I had a dude neogotiate my car back and forth, ask for more photos of certain scratches, asked about payment method, locked an inspection for the following day at a time where I had to work around him. Then an hour before the scheduled time he finally brought up the fake car report and sent me a link. When I refused, again he was totally cool and said he'll see me in an hour. Of course he never showed up.

  • Porker on 23/05/2025 - 12:36

    Sometimes I just go along with the scam listing and pretend to be interested. My experience has been that they'll have some remote address and my guess is they continue with rouse hoping for a '.. oh it's too far, will you post?..' type response.

    I had one scam seller list and relist the same item a few weeks apart and upon asking where pick up was, they gave two different addresses. I asked what happened to the first address and then they blocked me.

  • dominator293 on 23/05/2025 - 13:56
    +2

    You could ask for their phone number and give them a call to discuss, pick up the genuineness from their voice. Another thing i've done is looked at the background of the picture (if it was taken outside), and then looked up the address on google maps, street view to see if anything looks remotely the same on maps as the picture shows.

    I was suspicious of a pizza oven I was interested in, cheap, but the seller sent me more pictures when I requested it. Pics showed a grey rendered house in the background with a pool, so I jumped onto maps, looked up the address they gave me and it was a derelict red brick house. The seller then asked me for a deposit so told them where to go and blocked them. I wouldn't drive 3 hours unless I was dead certain it was a legit purchase.

  • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 14:07

    Does FBMP have a 'flag this listing' option? (One that the dodgy seller can't see?) Or is a a 'report this listing' scenario?

  • battler on 23/05/2025 - 15:27

    Looking forward to next week's post… "I drove 3hrs to buy a $3500 item for $1000 and now it doesn't work. What are my options?"

    • Protractor on 23/05/2025 - 15:34

      Maybe, 'which comes first, breathing in or breathing out?'

  • Ziggy28 on 23/05/2025 - 17:48

    1.5 Star? Stay away!

  • Muppet Detector on 24/05/2025 - 00:34

    What happened when you submitted the obligatory low ball offer?

  • altomic on 24/05/2025 - 09:21

    I had a "item to good to be true" on facebook market place - designer couch.

    i checked the address (provided by the seller) in sold listing in realestate.com

    the house had been listed 3 years prior

    I compared the back ground of the photos of the couch against the photos used in the real estate listing

    the couch photos showed wide floor boards and tall ornate skirting boards.

    the real estate photos only should narrow floor boards and cheapo skirting boards.

    also none of the window frames matched.

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