Facebook Marketplace is rife with all sorts of scams. If you want to protect yourself from becoming victim of these Facebook Marketplace scams, you must know what exactly is out there.
Based on our extensive research, we have discovered that the top five most common Facebook Marketplace scams involve the following:
- Counterfeit items
- Products that never arrive
- Payment with gift card scams
- Bait-and-switch scams
- Broken products advertised as being “new” or in a “good condition”
Some of the best ways to prevent getting scammed or mitigate a Facebook Marketplace scam’s damage include checking out the seller’s profile and reviews, avoiding untraceable payment methods, like gift cards, and going through an online FB Marketplace scammers list.
We also recommend getting a solid antivirus, like Norton 360, to make sure you don’t fall victim to the malware that scammers frequently use.
If you want more information about Facebook Marketplace scams and what to do to protect yourself, check out the complete article below.
Facebook Marketplace is a great platform to buy and sell goods online. Since Facebook is a true social media giant, chances are Facebook Marketplace will have plenty of listings wherever you live.
Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages to the platform, mainly Facebook Marketplace scams.
In order to protect yourself from these scams, it’s crucial to know what kind of FB scams are out there, how scammers operate, and what to do if you become a victim. Read our comprehensive article below and learn all you need to know about FB Marketplace scams.
15 Most Common Facebook Marketplace Scams Today
Scammers on Facebook Marketplace will knowingly trick you into paying for something you’ll never receive or for acquiring a product that is in poor condition.
Moreover, a Facebook scam can also involve tricking sellers into thinking they’ve found a legitimate buyer. Instead of paying for a product, these fake buyers use crafty tricks to scam the seller out of their cash.
It’s important to recognize some of the more common FB Marketplace scams to avoid falling prey to them. We’ll go over specific types of FB Marketplace scams below.
1. Counterfeit items
How this scam works: Counterfeit items are fake copies of any real product being sold as the “real deal.” Criminals mainly copy high-cost products because these result in the biggest profits.
There are many types of counterfeit products to look out for, such as fake designer clothing, perfumes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, sports jerseys, and jewelry.
How to avoid this scam: The age-old shopping adage is your best friend here: if something is too good to be true, it usually is. If the price for a luxury product is unrealistically low, it’s often best to steer clear unless there is a very good reason for the huge discount.
For instance, we often notice that many high-quality items, such as last-gen tennis rackets from major brands, experience a sudden price drop once the latest model is released. Always inspect the product you want to buy well and ask yourself if the price is realistic.
2. Products that never arrive
How this scam works: Receiving mailed items involves a much higher “scam potential” than actually picking things up. After all, the seller can simply decide not to mail your item after you send money their way. As such, this one is definitely in the race for the most common seller scam on Facebook Marketplace.
How to avoid this scam: Use FB Marketplace’s location function to choose the city where you live or a city near you and a radius of not too many miles. That way, you actually have the chance to meet the seller, inspect the product, and simply pick it up if you like it.
We understand that you might not be able to find all of the products you need or want close to where you live. In that case, we would first encourage you to consider if you’re better off ordering a product (new, if necessary) from a reputable web store rather than from someone online whose product may or may not exist.
If you insist on getting an item mailed through Facebook Marketplace, we strongly recommend using Facebook Checkout to protect your purchase. We also recommend requesting a working track-and-trace number to track your item, especially if it has to travel a long distance.
3. Payment with gift cards
How this scam works: This FB Marketplace scam is a variation of the “ask for payment upfront and disappear scam.” This time, however, the seller requests payment by gift card from potential buyers.
This scam is exceptionally hard to deal with for victims and authorities because gift cards are essentially anonymous. They are rarely connected to an individual or account. This means it will be very challenging for anyone inspecting your case to follow and trace your funds after the scam is executed.
How to avoid this scam: Apart from following the tips outlined under “Products that never arrive,” we recommend never using a gift card or other non-traceable payment methods to pay for things on FB marketplace nor accepting them as a payment option when selling something.
When doing business with someone, you never know what disputes could arise afterward. Therefore, we always recommend using payment methods that prove who paid what to whom.
4. Bait-and-switch scams
How this scam works: This tactic involves advertising a decent or high-quality product for a relatively low price, which suddenly becomes unavailable when a buyer contacts the seller. The seller then offers the buyer a product with a higher price tag or a product of lower quality or quantity. In other words, the deal becomes less attractive.
This sales malpractice sort of hugs the line between dirty marketing and an actual scam, with many people not actually considering it a scam.
How to avoid this scam: Bait-and-switching is a common sales technique that even many legitimate businesses seem to employ, like meta-search engines for flights. If you encounter this practice, we recommend looking for an alternative webshop that’s more honest about its pricing.
This way, you’ll have a more pleasant shopping experience, and your money will go to a fair business.
5. Broken products advertised as being in good condition
How this scam works: Broken products are commonly sold on FB Marketplace. For buyers, it can be very difficult to see whether or not a product is broken just from a picture. Pictures may have been taken at an earlier date, for instance, or be false altogether.
How to avoid this scam: By far the best way to prevent this Facebook Marketplace scam is by picking up a product yourself and inspecting it before handing over the money. A close second is only buying products from reputable webshops or FB marketplace vendors with lots of positive reviews.
6. Fake Facebook Marketplace rentals
How this scam works: FB Marketplace scammers can trick you into paying more than you should for a rental by using inaccurate pictures and bait-and-switch tactics, for instance. They might even post properties owned by someone else and get you to pay for a rental home you won’t have access to.
How to avoid this scam: Always make sure to visit the property you’re looking to rent before transferring any money or signing anything. Needless to say, these FB Marketplace scams can also happen when you’re buying a home (as opposed to renting).
7. QR code payment scams
How this scam works: This one is a dangerous buyer scam. Criminals will fake interest in a product you’re selling and even negotiate a little to make the scam more believable. They will then pay a small portion of the product’s amount and once it’s time to pay the full balance, ask you to scan a QR code, to receive the full amount.
However, instead of receiving the money, you will end up paying the specified amount to the scammer. In general, QR codes carry a serious risk of fraud as they are considered unusual payment methods, to say the least.
How to avoid this scam: The best way to avoid this Facebook Marketplace scam is to understand how QR codes work: QR codes will take you or your money to a certain online destination. As such, when involving money, QR codes are used to make payments, not to receive them!
8. Car deposit/advance payment scams
How this scam works: Facebook Marketplace has become a popular platform to buy and sell vehicles. When selling a car, asking for a deposit before the sale is completely finalized is a common practice. However, on marketplaces with non-official vendors, like FB Marketplace, there’s a possibility the seller will disappear after receiving your deposit.
This “advance payment or reservation scheme” can happen with any product. The idea is usually that the seller claims he has multiple (or many) interested sellers and, as such, requires a deposit from you to be sure you’re serious about the product.
How to avoid this scam: Always make sure to meet the potential vendor face-to-face before transferring a deposit or anything at all. It’s important to verify that they are trustworthy and won’t just take off after receiving your deposit.
It’s also a great idea to ask for a receipt or a contract specifying the deposit you’ve paid.
9. ‘Accidental’ overpaying and fake receipt scams
How this scam works: You know how you get a message saying you’ve paid something using PayPal or another payment service? It’s very easy to fake this message without paying for anything. Case in point: the screenshot below.
After convincing the seller they overpaid, the scammer will request the seller to pay back “the excess amount.” The scammer walks away with whatever amount they “overpaid.”
How to avoid this scam: Before transferring anything to any potential customer claiming they paid you too much for something, always check whether you’ve received any money in the first place, as online receipts can be faked.
If you have received money, verify whether the amount you’ve received is the same as the amount on the receipt to see if everything checks out and you’re not dealing with Facebook Marketplace fraud.
10. Fake giveaways
How this scam works: Scammers hope that by offering fake giveaways, they can get users to either hand over their sensitive information to receive their “prize” or to click on suspicious links that will install data-stealing malware on their devices. In this sense, this scam is a form of phishing.
Once scammers obtain your sensitive data through the phishing link, they will find every possible way to abuse it. If they get a hold of your financial data, for instance, there’s a good chance they’ll empty your bank account.
How to avoid this scam: The best way to avoid fake giveaway scams is by realizing that genuine giveaways are meant to foster client loyalty for a certain brand or channel.
Because of the above, most of these giveaways happen in the context of email newsletters or YouTube channels that you are subscribed to out of personal interest, rather than as a random pop-up on a platform like Facebook marketplace.
There have been instances of scammers offering free cryptocurrency on FB Marketplace. Of course, these giveaways are fake. They’re just tricks to get users to click on suspicious links that likely contain a ton of malware or to steal crypto or money from them.
11. Fake exam (IELTS, TOEFL, etc.) certificates
How this scam works: Over the last few years there has been a surge in Facebook accounts offering fake certificates for tests such as IELTS or TOEFL and the USMLE. Many of these certificates are incredibly expensive, in the $1,500-$2,500 range.
Remember that the person offering you such a certificate is likely scamming you. Apart from it being wrong and under many jurisdictions illegal to buy these fake certificates and use them, doing so will do you no good.
How to avoid this scam: Preventing this scam on Facebook Marketplace is rather simple: don’t do it! Don’t try to buy fake certificates. You’ll only get yourself in trouble as this scam may result in identity theft or worse.
If you come across one of these scams on Facebook Marketplace, we also recommend reaching out to the examination body whose certificates are being advertised. This way, they can inform (prospective) students about these scams.
For instance, IELTS regularly posts information about scams on its Facebook page. This is only possible thanks to alert Facebook (Marketplace) users reporting such scams.
12. Fake accounts
How this scam works: Many Facebook scams are executed using fake accounts to protect the criminal’s anonymity. Recognizing fake accounts is the key to preventing many scams.
Since anyone can make an account on Facebook and Facebook Marketplace, it’s common to see plenty of fake accounts.
How to avoid this scam: The best way to avoid falling victim to FB Marketplace scams by fake accounts is to check whether the account has any (positive) reviews. We also recommend checking out the seller’s bio to see if they come across as reliable and trustworthy and checking out their number of Facebook friends.
While the methods above aren’t foolproof, someone without any seller reviews, without Facebook friends, and with an empty or sketchy bio, is probably more likely to disappear after receiving your money than a well-established user with plenty of positive reviews.
13. Buyers that lie about the arrival of their packages
How this scam works: Some buyers on Facebook Marketplace might falsely claim that the product they bought from you never arrived. They do this to either get a refund from you or to get you to send them another product for free.
How to avoid this scam: The best way to avoid these scams on FB Marketplace is by shipping your products using a reliable shipment service that provides you with a tracking code. This way you’ll be able to verify that the package has arrived at your customer’s place and to prove it has, should a dispute arise.
14. Counterfeit tickets scams
How this scam works: Plenty of scammers try to make a quick buck by selling fake tickets to concerts, festivals, and other events. With creative tools like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, it’s super easy for anyone to create a fake but very realistic-looking ticket.
This scam is a variation of the counterfeit items scam and is often even more harmful: a counterfeit item might still do its job, but a fake ticket will probably leave you standing in the cold. Moreover, you might even get into trouble if you’re unable to prove you didn’t create the fake ticket.
How to avoid this scam: Only buy tickets from authorized and official vendors. If you do find a good deal on Facebook Marketplace or another platform because someone bought a ticket to an event they can’t attend, for instance, make sure it’s a reputable seller by checking out their reviews, bio, and number of Facebook friends.
We always prefer to buy tickets for events or tourist attractions on websites with a strong review focus, such as TripAdvisor. They will often lead you to an external booking site, but since you can check out the reviews of the profile organizing the tour or event, you know you aren’t dealing with a scam.
15. Fake or improper returns from unsatisfied customers
How this scam works: This scam involves someone who bought a product from you, claiming they’re unhappy with the purchase or that the product doesn’t correspond with what you advertised. As such, they request to return the product and get a refund or a new product. The only problem: they don’t actually return the product, or they return a different product.
The “fraudulent returner” might show you a fake mail receipt to make you believe they’ve returned the product. Alternatively, they might send you a broken version of the same product and hope you don’t notice or send you a different product altogether with a tracking code to urge you to pay them back as soon as possible.
How to avoid this scam: The best way to avoid this scam is to never refund a client before the faulty product or item they’re unsatisfied with arrives at your place. Also, make sure to thoroughly inspect the item before transferring any money, as it might be damaged or replaced with an inferior or broken product.
8 Useful Tips on Preventing Facebook Marketplace Scams
Now that we’ve discussed some Facebook Marketplace scams in detail, it’s time to talk about tips on how to avoid Facebook Marketplace scams from happening to you. Follow the tips below if you want to protect yourself from cybercriminals on Facebook Marketplace.
1. Check the seller’s profile and reviews
If you’ve found a seller or buyer on Facebook, check out their profile to make sure they’re not using a fake account to scam people like yourself. A very recently created account with zero or very few friends and empty bios is a red flag.
If you’ve found a seller, check out their reviews. Reviews become public once a seller has five or more of them. For expensive purchases, we recommend staying away from new sellers without visible reviews.
2. Don’t believe ‘too good to be true’ offers
Consider if the deal you’ve found on a luxury item seems “too good to be true” — it often is. You could unknowingly be buying counterfeit items or paying a deposit for a fraudulent posting. Too-good-to-be-true offers come in all shapes and sizes, but they often revolve around expensive items such as jewelry and clothing of very exclusive brands.
Selling fake high-end watches, for instance, is one of the more common Facebook Marketplace scams. So much so that it motivates some people to search for fake listings and report them, such as a few dedicated forum members from this specialist watch forum.
3. Use trustworthy payment options
Never pay anyone on Facebook Marketplace using gift cards. If they scam you or don’t provide the promised goods, it’s virtually impossible to track them down using a gift card. It’s much better to have evidence of payment in the form of a wire transfer or a PayPal receipt.
If offered, always use Facebook Pay for your purchases, especially because some products are eligible for Purchase Protection that way. We’ll talk more about this below.
4. Don’t scan QR codes when receiving money
Never scan a QR code a potential buyer sends you under the pretense that you’ll receive the money in your bank account this way. Scanning QR codes is for paying money, not receiving it!
5. Think before you deposit
Before paying a deposit on a product, always make sure you trust the seller. We recommend only paying a deposit for products from reputable sellers.
If someone asks you for a deposit, think about whether this makes sense for that given product in the first place and, if so, if the amount is fair, considering the total value.
Deposit scams happen a lot with cars and property, so be extra careful if you’re browsing these categories. A man selling his house in Toronto had a buyer show up with pictures of his property. She was scammed into paying a $1,000 deposit to strangers. Cases like this can easily be prevented by inspecting a product or property in person before paying a deposit.
6. Use Facebook Messenger to communicate
Facebook recommends always using Facebook Messenger to communicate with buyers and sellers. This way, you’ll have a record of your communication in case of a dispute.
Of course, you can also communicate through email, WhatsApp, or a similar communication platform. The important thing is you don’t just agree to a bunch of details by phone and have no evidence to back up what was discussed.
7. Go through a Facebook scammer list and see if your seller is on there
There are several Facebook scammer lists online that mention accounts known to scam people on FB Marketplace or Facebook in general or that provide accounts and proof of actual scams on Facebook and Facebook Marketplace.
There are even many scammer lists on Facebook itself. We prefer those that are updated frequently and have the most recent scams. By going through these lists, you might be able to catch out potential scammers before you become a victim!
8. Use a good antivirus to prevent phishing scams
Some Facebook Marketplace scams rely on phishing techniques to install malware onto your device. For instance, some fake giveaway scammers operate by convincing users they’ve won a great prize and need to open a link to fill out their details and claim their reward.
However, these links might contain dangerous malware aimed at stealing your sensitive and financial data, such as a keylogger that records your keyboard strokes.
A good antivirus solution, like Norton 360, will alert you in real time when you’re about to access dangerous sites and will block dangerous malware. Norton specifically has had a perfect AV-TEST score for the last 10 years. That’s why it’s our favorite protection tool against Facebook Marketplace malware and malware in general.
What Does Facebook Do to Prevent Scams?
Facebook offers three main ways to help protect its buyers and sellers:
- Review system: Once a seller has five reviews or more, reviews will be visible to buyers. Unfortunately for sellers, buyer ratings are private. However, Facebook still uses these reviews to improve the platform’s safety.
- Purchase Protection: This is a handy system that withholds payments to the seller for several days or until the buyer has marked an item as received. If the item is faulty or the seller doesn’t deliver, the buyer can get a refund.
- Resources page: Facebook has a useful and extensive resources page on buying and selling responsibly on Facebook Marketplace.
What to Do If You Get Scammed on Facebook Marketplace
Even if you’re really careful, you could always get unlucky and become a FB Marketplace scam victim. If this happens, we recommend following the steps down below, in this order:
- Contact your bank and block your account. Some FB scams, such as the ones involving QR codes and phishing, can compromise your bank account. If you feel this is the case, always make sure to contact your bank, alert them about the situation, and cooperate with them on what to do next.
- Press charges at your local police department or online. In most jurisdictions, many Facebook scams are a punishable offense and as such, the state or country you’re in can persecute these criminals and bring them to justice.
- Make sure you don’t have malware. If you suspect your PC has been infected with malware as a result of the scam, scan your device with a good antivirus, such as Norton. In fact, we recommend having a good virus scanner on at all times.
- Report the buyer or seller who scammed you and the item listing if it’s still available. In the section below, we’ll explain how to do this. You can also report the scam to a page that aims to warn people about all sorts of online scams, such as the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker.
How to Report a Scammer on Facebook Marketplace
Keep in mind you should only report users and listings that violate FB Marketplace’s Commerce Policies. After all, users submitting fraudulent reports might face consequences as outlined in Facebook’s Purchase Protection Policies.
In order to report a seller, follow these steps:
- Go to Facebook Marketplace and click on a listing of the seller you wish to report.
- Select on the seller’s name.
- Click on the three little dots.
- Select “Report Seller.”
- Follow the instructions.
To report a buyer, follow the steps below:
- Click on “Your Account.”
- Select “Your Listings.”
- Click on a listing purchased by the buyer you want to report.
- Choose the message between you and the buyer. Select “See More” if you can’t find it.
- Click on the three little dots.
- Choose “Report Buyer.”
- Follow the instructions.
In order to report a listing or hide it (just for you), follow these steps:
- Click on the listing you want to report or hide.
- Select the three little dots.
- Choose “Hide Item” or “Report Post” and follow the on-screen instructions.
However, even if a scammer’s account gets suspended, they can always try to get unbanned on Facebook. This is why you should always remain vigilant about all these Facebook Marketplace scams.
Final Thoughts: Staying Safe From Facebook Marketplace Scams
There are lots of scams on Facebook Marketplace that you could fall prey to. Some of the most common and dangerous Facebook Marketplace scams include the following:
- Counterfeit items
- Products that never arrive
- Ask for payment upfront and disappear scam
- Bait-and-switch scams
- Broken products advertised as being in “good condition”
Fortunately, there are also lots of ways to protect yourself, such as checking out seller profiles and reviews, using Facebook Pay and Purchase Protect, avoiding gift card payments and other untraceable payment methods, and, ultimately, common sense.
We also recommend getting a solid antivirus solution, like Norton, which has gotten a perfect AV-TEST security score for the last decade. This will keep you safe from the data-stealing malware that many Facebook Marketplace scammers employ.
For more information on how to enhance your privacy on Facebook and scams on other social media platforms, check out the following articles:
- Facebook Privacy Settings: The Ultimate Guide
- Top Instagram Scams and How to Avoid Them
- What Does Facebook Know About Me?
Do you have a question about Facebook Marketplace scams? Check out the frequently asked questions below.
It’s definitely possible to be the victim of a scam on Facebook Marketplace. In fact, there are many different ways cybercriminals could scam you, such as using a fake profile to get you to pay for a product they will never deliver, selling you counterfeit items, making you fall for a fake giveaway, and many others.
This is a tricky one, but there are some things to look out for. Many FB marketplace scammers use fake accounts. If an account is new, has very few friends, or contains an empty bio, you should be on high alert. Also, check out the reviews a seller has.
Generally, we recommend you stick to sellers with visible reviews (reviews become visible when they are five or more of them). Furthermore, stay away from listings that seem too good to be true.
Safe payment methods to use on FB Marketplace are payment methods that register and keep a record of payments made, such as payments by credit card, PayPal, and Facebook Pay.
Facebook Pay is a great payment method and we recommend choosing it when possible because doing so will give you purchase protection on a lot of goods.
If you are a FB Marketplace scam victim, it’s important to follow these steps:
- Contact your bank and block your account, if the employee evaluating your situation deems this necessary.
- Press charges with the police if the scam constitutes a crime.
- Make sure you don’t have malware on your device as a result of the scam by scanning your device with a good antivirus.
- Report the buyer or seller that scammed you on Facebook and/or on a scam alert page such as the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker.
As a seller, I've run into a new scam from a nefarious buyer. He or she created/cloned my listing on FB Marketplace and added me as a buyer. In other words, my post is "Item for Sale"... He creates " John - Item for Sale" and copied all of my details/photos and then sent me a FB Messenger note offering me a low ball price. His FB profile had no information or photo. I reported the post and blocked him. Next day another clone of my post appears as "Jose - Item for Sale" with another message with low ball price. I'm not sure what this person gains by cloning my sales post, but this is just a heads up. I've not seen this issue addressed in help articles.
Buyers want to send you a “random” 6-digit number and I text it back "is this a scam?" It just started happening. Would appreciate the help.
This is a scam using a 6-digit verification code. We recommend reporting the buyer. Simply follow the steps below:
1. Click on “Your Account” from Facebook.
2. Select “Your Listings.”
3. Click on the listing being purchased by the buyer you want to report.
4. Click on the message with the buyer you want to report.
5. Click on the profile picture of the buyer.
6. Click “Report Buyer.”
7. Follow the instructions.
What about the sellers who are targets for scams. You did not mention anything about this scenario. I am a seller and I get bombarded with scammers everyday. I am contacted by fake people wanting me to text them right away. The dialog is always the same. Plus there are the scams that seem legit. A person wants to buy an item, pay with Venmo or something similar. Then some family member will pick up the item. Sound nice to. But when I say cash only ...they vanish.
Very true! Sellers are also faced with scams on the regular. One popular scam that's mentioned in the article is the "QR code scam". Similarly, a "buyer" might ask you to send them a 1 cent payment, just to ensure they have the correct payment details. These are unfortunately just nifty tricks to get their hands on your money. Good that you're wary of those fake buyers.
I have noticed a lot (seeing more and more popping up every day) of FREE giveaways with pay for shipping on FB Marketplace and was wondering how sellers make money. I thought this has to be a scam. That being said, these sellers are getting tons of sales and have great reviews. If this is click bait for data, I would be curious to know how they are getting such wonderful reviews. I thought maybe making money off shipping? These sellers are using Facebook checkout with shipping labels purchased through FB, so can’t be making money off shipping. Perhaps the sellers are collecting and selling data? Would love to know more about this scam if there is more information out there.
We reviewed several of these types of posts and noticed one major thing. They never state they will send the product to everyone who pays the shipping fee. They collect the shipping fee as an entry fee and state that one or two of their buyers will receive the product. We also set up a Marketplace post and can see that the shipping paid will be paid to the seller. It appears that this is how they are making their money. We recommend staying away from these types of Facebook Marketplace posts.
A lot of scammers who proposed to change your scores during different serious exams like IELTS ,TOEFL, USMLE, and other. Many accounts on Facebook propose different options to help pass exam without doing that for 1500-2500 dollars. Can’t find any feedback or critical information about that scammers. Really, customers need help to not be a victim. Please give more information about that scammers.
Very true! Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We'll dive into it and update our article accordingly. In the meantime, we want to advise anyone not to engage with any accounts that claim they can help you get your hands on fake certificates for any of these exams. High scores and results cannot (and should not) be bought!