Is This a Possible Scam - Facebook Marketplace

basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 07:35
Last edited 25/08/2025 - 09:44 by 1 other user

Hi guys, selling something via Facebook Marketplace as well as a private Aussie based buy and sell (FB) group.

Made my post clear that I prefer local sale and that I would not accept PayPal or PayID etc and only cash upon sale or direct bank deposit and would only ship at buyer's expense. Had someone contact me via the private group saying he's based in Melbourne (family there, but OS at the moment and his profile says he's based/from said country) and that he's interested in buying (with no attempt to haggle or anything).

I messaged back saying I can post but will only do so with registered/tracking and insurance to make sure all bases are covered which could bring the cost up quite a bit more and reiterated no PP or PayID and that it's direct deposit only. He replied back saying no problem and "Commonwealth is good?".

Obviously plenty of red flags there so I won't be going through with the sale but for those with more experience in what ways could I possibly be scammed especially since he's happy to do bank deposit?

Thanks!

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  • McMaferMur on 25/08/2025 - 07:39

    could I possibly be scammed especially since he's happy to do bank deposit?

    Could.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 07:41
      -5

      Hence me making the post…be good to understand in what ways it could happen.

      • ihbh on 25/08/2025 - 07:48
        +2

        Top right search box.

    • Dr Phil on 26/08/2025 - 14:41
      -2

      And this

      he's based in Melbourne but OS at the moment and his profile says he's based/from said country)

  • geekcohen on 25/08/2025 - 07:47
    +4

    The key is probably not using Bank Details/Bank Account where you have lots of money and its your every day account.

    Also, don't send anything until you actually have the funds. It could be held for 24 hours, so wait until the funds are actually in the account and don't rely on a screenshot as proof.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 07:53
      -1

      I was thinking that, if I DO end up making the sale I would have to let the money sit there a few days before even posting.

      So far the only other thing I can think of how the person could scam me isn't there some scam about how money is being held by the bank for whatever reason and I have to pay some funds to prove it's me for it to get released or some rubbish like IIRC.

      • larndis on 26/08/2025 - 07:55
        +1

        If you have an account you don't use much just withdraw all funds as soon as you get the deposit

  • BOGOF on 25/08/2025 - 07:52
    +6

    Scenario 1 - Buyer deposits money into BBF's account, BBF checks money has cleared, post item, buyer receives.

    Scenario 2 - Buyer emails image of a bank deposit. BBF checks money has not appeared in account, and image is fake. lots of aggressive emails/messages etc.

    Too many red flags for me.

  • apsilon on 25/08/2025 - 08:20
    +4

    payid/osko is fairly safe. The issues with it is it's not always instant for some banks which can be a problem when doing face to face exchanges and the obvious scam with it is they show/send a screenshot of the money being sent but it's a fake transfer. If you wait until the money is received then it's just as safe as direct deposit.

    The thing that stands out to me here is the "commonwealth is good" response. It makes zero difference what bank they do a deposit through so the fact they've said this raises a red flag on it's own.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 08:42

      For sure, that was exactly the point where I really felt something was off (besides the fact that there was zero attempts to haggle for a better price, first message was literally "I am interested").

      • apsilon on 25/08/2025 - 09:04
        +4

        FWIW I've sold a lot to people that just accepted the price I'd set with no haggling so that's not necessarily a sign of a scam, need to consider the overall behaviour and the bank thing worries me more than anything else. They could be legit, could be a scam. Comes down to your risk tolerance.

    • AngoraFish on 25/08/2025 - 11:44

      CommBank is one of the few banks that typically places a 24-hour hold on a first-time payment to a new recipient, even if it's Osko.

      It's the bank to go to if you want to introduce an artificial delay into the process for the scam reasons that everyone else has mentioned in this thread.

      • thrillhouse on 26/08/2025 - 07:28

        “No problems! Will post once funds have cleared in 24 hours.”

        Or more simply, and usually my only option, “I’ll post off on Saturday as I can’t get to the post office throughout the week.”

    • Sinnerator on 25/08/2025 - 16:38

      Bankwest pay ID OSKO is 4hours for first time to a new number, instant thereafter

  • freefall101 on 25/08/2025 - 08:37
    +4

    If whatever you’re selling is so good someone is willing to pay so much extra for it in shipping, there will be someone local willing to skip that cost and get it cheaper.

    Unless it’s one of a kind unique with a very limited number of people interested, I’d pay attention to the pile of red flags here and move on. Worst case scenario, if you can’t sell it come back to it later, they’re overseas so they can wait.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 08:46

      Yea definitely, enough red flags there for me not to want to go ahead with the sale, just genuinely curious as to how they could scam me if they're happy to do bank deposit…

      But probably as BOGOF said it'll be a case of fake receipt and pressuring me to post it before funds clear.

      • BOGOF on 25/08/2025 - 08:52
        +2

        The scammers tend to not want the item. It's money they are after, usually a fake receipt saying they have paid too much (shipping etc), can you refund the difference etc.

  • geekcohen on 25/08/2025 - 09:01
    +2

    Your post co-incides with Scam Awareness Week.

  • pegaxs on 25/08/2025 - 09:28
    +5

    "Yeah, sorry, cash on pick up only. Sorry mate. Can one of your family come past, pay cash and possibly post it for you?"

    Give them a few days and then leave chat and delete.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 09:37
      +1

      Yea just going to reply decided to sell local sorry.

  • Far Cough on 25/08/2025 - 09:46
    +3

    its a scam

  • jv on 25/08/2025 - 09:49
    +3

    Facebook Marketplace

    Cash only, local pickup only…

    • tenpercent on 25/08/2025 - 10:40
      +1

      In a park at night?

      • payton on 25/08/2025 - 10:42
        +4

        Be tomorrow's headline with this one simple trick

      • jv on 25/08/2025 - 11:15
        +2

        Our local police station has an area to do these transactions.

        • neoleo on 25/08/2025 - 11:22
          +1

          I sold 1 Samsung phone to a stranger in McDonald's … Also another phone in a shopping centre while sitting together (CCTV for sure). All good, no problem.

        • randomusername2017 on 25/08/2025 - 22:54

          Frequent guest of the facility?

  • apple2016 on 25/08/2025 - 10:41
    +1

    He replied back saying no problem and "Commonwealth is good?".

    Usually it should be fine. Just wait for funds to clear before you send the goods.

  • star-ggg on 25/08/2025 - 10:46
    +1

    Only possibility is a cheque scam where they deposit a dud cheque into your account number and hope you don't notice. But that's very obvious from the details of the transaction.

  • wetsandwich on 25/08/2025 - 12:01
    +9

    Any story involving being overseas is at least 125% a guaranteed scam.

    If someone wants it, local relative can bring cash.

    It is unlikely the deal is so good or the item so rare that a real buyer would want to pay extra in some complicated arrangement.

    Gosh, I miss the days of 20 years ago where you could just send anyone a bank transfer and it was never a scam.. I must have bought 300 things over the years. Nowadays 299 of those would be a scam.

    • basketballfreak6 on 25/08/2025 - 13:00

      Oh for sure, what got me curious initially though was that on his profile there was actually a decent number of marketplace transactions and that he seemed to have no problem with direct deposit, but yea otherwise red flags everywhere.

      • Chazzozz on 26/08/2025 - 08:50
        +1

        Hacked account. I've been on the receiving end of that on Gumtree before, where what looked like a legitimate enquiry was actually a malicious actor who'd assumed control of an otherwise honest-looking buyer's profile. What stopped me was the original person had detected it and send a message apologising, and advising I not proceed with any kind of sale.

        • basketballfreak6 on 26/08/2025 - 11:34

          Oh wow that sucks good thing you caught it!

  • ColtNoir on 26/08/2025 - 08:18
    -6

    You sound like a scam not offering PayPal

    • apsilon on 26/08/2025 - 08:26
      +3

      No one takes paypal for this sort of thing. It's a sure fire way to get scammed.

      • ColtNoir on 27/08/2025 - 13:19

        How? He said he’d ‘prefer’ a local sale, not that it was the only option.

        • apsilon on 27/08/2025 - 14:05

          There are a lot of stolen paypal accounts around so you hand over the goods then days or weeks later lose the payment as it was a stolen/hacked account.

    • 2esc on 26/08/2025 - 16:08

      Your joking of course.

      • ColtNoir on 27/08/2025 - 13:21
        -1

        Why would I be joking? I wouldn’t buy anything from FB marketplace or an FB group who didn’t offer it, unless I was willing to lose the money I sent.

        • wetsandwich on 29/08/2025 - 15:40
          +1

          Anyone paying with paypal is usually a scammer. If they want to use it, I just block.

          Stolen account pays you > you send it > credit card owner does a chargeback > paypal takes the money back off you and they don't care if you can prove you sent the item. All they care about is themselves not being out of pocket, and you're the person with the money now so you're the one giving it back to them.

          I've had it happen once. Paypal ripped the money back leaving my account in the negative with threats of debt collectors if I didn't repay them for an item I had already posted. I had to call Australia Post and get them to stop the delivery which luckily they did just in time. Russians had hijacked someone's ebay account.

          • ColtNoir on 02/09/2025 - 09:34
            -1

            @wetsandwich: Absolute rubbish generalisation mate. People use it as a safety net. I’ve sold 10 things this month alone receiving cash via PayPal and it’s all fine.
            You’re saying that people should just trust you to send a product if they PayID you? Now that’s cooked.

            • apsilon on 02/09/2025 - 09:48
              -1

              @ColtNoir: Of course there are genuine people that want to use it but that doesn't change the fact it's one of the most common and easy scam methods as well.

            • wetsandwich on 02/09/2025 - 09:58

              @ColtNoir: Well, personally I am trustworthy. I don't really care if others don't believe that. Not that I sell much any more anyway as the average marketplace buyer is a tire kicking lowballing idiot and I'd rather just eat the ebay fees knowing that the buyer will actually pay without hassle (mostly).
              Ok, you got lucky. But Paypal does not protect sellers even when they have irrefutable proof of delivery. As explained, I've been on the receiving end of such scams several times. Even when I have asked paypal 'you are definitely confirming this transaction is legitimate and I'm ok to send the item?', they say yes of course, then a day later when the real account owner reverses it, that conversation never happened. The only thing they care about during a dispute is who else they can take the money from, to ensure they don't lose out - any other protection is a complete illusion.

              So your milage may vary based on what you're selling - if it's $50-100 then someone probably isn't trying to scam you, fine. But if it's anything electronic like a phone, earpods, laptop, you are taking a massive risk, because you are not protected at all, you just think you are.

              • ColtNoir on 04/09/2025 - 14:55

                @wetsandwich: You know by your logic, you're just as likely to get a dispute using eBay?

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