Facebook's Marketplace feature looks to be taking over as the number one area for online scams, with reports of cons now taking up more time at bank call centres than any other type of purchase racket, fraud bosses have revealed. It has resulted in banking insiders becoming increasingly worried about fraudsters cashing in on the absence of effective customer protection on the site.
Marketplace — the social media giant's buying and selling platform — has soared in popularity as the cost of living crisis drives families to look for bargains. On the site, Marketplace sellers list goods and arrange a sale with potential buyers through Facebook''s built-in messaging platform, Messenger, reports The Chronicle
Although Marketplace established itself in the online buying and selling business as it allowed people to see goods for sale in their local area, items are increasingly being sold over wider distances. In these cases, items tend to be posted out, similar to other marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon, rather than the buyer-collects method.
Local buyers would tend to hand over cash on the doorstep upon seeing and collecting the item, Facebook does not offer a built-in payment service like eBay does with PayPal, or Amazon does with its credit and debit card payment facility, meaning that Facebook shoppers living further afield often use bank transfers to send money directly. This leaves them without the protections offered by PayPal or credit and debit cards, where payments can be cancelled or reversed if goods and services are not delivered as advertised, according to the financial website Thisismoney.
To date, Action Fraud has received 44,674 reports citing Facebook or its Marketplace. Worryingly, experts think this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, as scams are often under-reported. TSB says three in five reports of social media purchase scams it receives can be traced to Facebook — with an average loss of £380 — and the majority of purchase scams come from Marketplace.
Bank fraud specialists have issued a list of five scam methods on Facebook's Marketplace:
1. Bank transfer con
Buyers can only pay for goods on Facebook Marketplace by cash or bank transfer as there is no option to pay by card, which means buyers can be left without any protection if a seller fails to send an item. This is important because if a transaction made with a credit or debit card turns out to be a scam, people can get their money back through the chargeback scheme. Paying by bank transfer means buyers are at the mercy of their banks in terms of getting a refund — and different banks have different policies.
Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, recommends only buying from someone in your local area if possible so you are able to see the item before buying it. "It's a very risky place to shop," he said. "It's a bit of a lottery as to whether the person you are dealing with is trustworthy, or the item exists or is as described. You're on your own and are taking a gamble. It looks like eBay or Amazon but it hasn't got the same protections around it. It's no different from someone pinning up an advert on a noticeboard."
2. Paypal friends and family scam
While scammers tend to try to get people to pay via bank transfer, they do sometimes suggest PayPal. This might make things seem more legitimate, but fraudsters will ask the buyer to use the "friends and family" option. This option is designed to be used to send money to someone you know and means the recipient does not have to pay a fee. The scammer might try to sweeten the deal by offering to knock the usual PayPal fee off the price you are charged.
However, the "friends and family" option leaves you without buyer protection. If something goes wrong, it is hard to get your money back. Often, once the scammer has taken your money, they will block you, meaning you have no information about your interactions if you try to report them.
PayPal does offer a Buyer Protection guarantee, under which it will refund you if the item is not as described or if it never arrives, but you must select the "goods and services" payment method to get this. Mr Davis advises buyers to always go through "goods and services" if you're buying from someone you don't know. He says: "If a seller tries to convince you to do something other than paying in the normal way, then something odd is happening and you should be on your guard."
3. Fake ads
Sellers on Amazon and eBay have to pay a fee to be able to use the platform, but all you need to start selling on Marketplace is a Facebook account. Bank fraud experts say this has opened the door to scammers, who set up fake profiles and use photos stolen from real listings to advertise fake deals.
If they manage to set up a number of fake profiles, crooks can advertise the same items with different profiles, and can scam many people with the same post because when an item is listed, the Messenger chat used to buy the item is private, so you can't see what's going on behind the scenes. It is the seller's responsibility to mark an item as sold, so they could keep accepting payments privately for an item that they've already sold, or which never existed in the first place, and you as a buyer would be none the wiser until it's too late.
Check when the account was set up, and if it's a very new account and there is little activity on their page, be on your guard.
4. The bargain that doesn't exist
Fraud expert Jack Buster, of ActionScam, urges shoppers to be extra vigilant if they are thinking of buying a motorhome or campervan via Marketplace, as these are big business for criminal gangs. "These fraudsters have a massive database of vehicles, with pictures and words, and they just recycle them. If enough people read it, a few are going to fall for it," he warns.
He says the biggest warning signal when dealing with vehicle scams is the price. "As a general rule of thumb, scammers slash the price by half or even to about 25 per cent of its value," he says. "The value of motorhomes has rocketed over the past couple of years. Vehicles that were £12,000 are now £25,000. The price of a fake motorhome now looks similar to the price of what a real one used to be two or three years ago, so even if it looks really expensive it could still be a scam."
5. Hoax links from 'buyers'
Even if you're selling and not buying, you can still be targeted by fraudsters, who regularly send hoax phishing links to sellers using the platform's messaging service — usually asking them to pay for shipping. Posing as potential buyers, they will tell the seller that they want to buy the item, but they are not based in the UK. They will suggest using a courier service to pick the item up, sending a link to a courier site to be used to pay for the shipping cost. The link will send money to the scammer directly, who will then disappear before paying you.
Meta, which owns Facebook, says it works closely with law enforcement to support investigations and keep scammers off its platforms. It is also a part of Stop Scams UK, a cross-industry initiative targeting scams at source. It claims the company spent around £4billion on safety and security last year.
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