Scams on Facebook Marketplace!

Do you use the Facebook Marketplace to buy or sell items? Don't get scammed! Watch this informative video to learn about a common scam that fraudsters are employing, using a 6-digit verification code from Google Voice. Links to source websites available below. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the State Library of Ohio.

[johnbeal]

“Is this still available?” is a pre written message that Facebook offers to interested buyers. You’re going to see this a lot for that reason alone.

[davidchapamusicofficial]

More of these videos need to be published. I get so tired of seeing friends and family get scammed. If you’re “tech-savvy” this may seem like a benign video but 10s of thousands are being scammed on a regular basis.

[darthfb]

"Is this available" and can "I pick it up today" Is what I say if I want the item, and could pick it up that day. Never had a bad interaction. I've also been communicated to this way multiple times and never had a bad interaction.

[jill-gogd]

One of the worst things about this marketplace is the buyer agrees to meet you then doesn't show up.

[sinebar]

NEVER give out any kind of number. Phone number, DL number, SSN, Medicare number etc.

[upnorth]

Met me at the local police station under their cameras in the parking lot at this time . Bring me cash only . It works too .

[nomusicrc]

Great video no annoying intro no music playing while you're talking just straight to the point thumbs up😊

[dubliners]

I always check out who the buyer is. Several times they have no last name and even if their page is not newly created all of their communication with friends and family is in another language. This tells me they’re not even in the United States. It’s a great way to try to filter out some of the scammers. Your hint about not giving out phone number is also a good one.

[RTViperman]

Its a shame because I used to use all these methods to sell stuff but the environment has gotten completely out of hand with all the scammers out there. Youre right about them coming up with new ways to rip you off. Its crazy

[JL-znme]

The bottom line is, there is NO reason to give out your phone number! I’ve had SO many scammers message me, it’s frustrating. Please remember to sell at a safe location as well! I was selling a pricey coat. I had a detailed conversation with a woman through Facebook. When I told her I would meet her at our local police station, she completely disappeared! Never be afraid to be too safe! If you lose a sale, it wasn’t worth it anyway!!! BE SAFE!!!

[mrsmith]

The first tip off that someone is a scammer is that the message they send you doesn’t even mention the actual item you are selling.. They don’t care what you are selling. They didn’t sit there and type a message to send to you specifically to inquire about the item you are selling. What they did was cut and paste a general message that could be sent to anyone selling anything. I’m willing to bet that in most cases they actually speak very little English and are doing what they are told by some other scammer…

[Sanslab-wutv]

When posting an item for sale on Marketplace, you should always say cash only, no phone numbers, no codes, no holds, price is firm.

[anthonyrobu]

To be fair, from a buyers side/perspective, FB marketplace auto generates the first msg sent to a seller with the beginning of it as ; Is this item still available?" It doesn't matter if you (the buyer) delete it from the beginning of the message or not. FB Marketplace will always insert it to the start of the first response msg. Most sellers will automatically think it's a scam and just not reply to it. It is very frustrating as a buyer because your chances of getting a reply are slim to none. On the other hand you are correct on the giving out your phone # part. The buyer and seller already have an open dialog through messenger. As long as the seller actually responds to the potential buyers msg.

[AllenGottfried]

Great Video! Another big tipoff is when they tell you that they are going to have their brothers cousin -- or some weirdly disconnected family member pick up... then they usually ask for phone number which you don't want to give as mentioned in the video.

I also highly recommened that people watch channels including scammer payback and pleasant green -- these guys are great scam baiters and you will learn a lot about all the crazy scams out there.

[dixiefallas]

They use stolen genuine peoples profiles to try to sell vastly underpriced items and they are all over FB marketplace here in the UK too. Cheers for bringing this up and FB needs to sort this out seeing as they are very quick at fact checking everything you post on your actual real account! Thanks 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[DavidLGood]

I appreciate the video, and actually enjoyed seeing paper notes over the typical motion graphics so common elsewhere. It was fun. The scam progression needs, however, to start at your STEP 2. "Is this still available" is the default prompt in Facebook Marketplace. You literally have to type nothing and just hit the 'Send' button and that message will appear. And asking if you can pick it up today is super common. Shoot... those two things are what just about everyone has asked me that ended up buying products from me. Just because it was common for scammers to say, according to the report you talked about, doesn't mean it's exclusive to scammers. It is used by scammers because it's used by EVERYONE. Otherwise, nice job on this video (from a security guy who did scam videos for years).

[dinosaur]

Very informative. I just wanted to clear up one thing you said. Price gouging is typically charging well above market value during times when products are scarce (like during covid). You're talking about heavy discounting, which, like you said, is almost always a red flag. It usually occurs on big ticket items like motorcycles and ATV's, cars, trucks, and things like RV's. If you see an RV that would normally sell for $50, 000 advertised for much less, say $10k or $15k, it is a scam. If you see an ATV advertised for $500 that would normally sell for $2000, it's a scam. If you contact the person and offer them a price that is substantially lower than what they are asking and they immediately agree, it's a scam. If it seems to good to be true, it is.

[billbombshiggy]

I don't do Facebook checkout. It's LOCAL CASH ONLY when I sell on Facebook, which I rarely do these days.

[DavidK-uvoe]

Google voice should be also adding an explanation of what the verification code is for. Then the victims would know it isn't a verification code for identity, but a verification code to setup a google voice account. Google is enabling this scam.

[lemonflavoreds]

‘Is this available ? ‘ is a default question on FB marketplace