Facebook Marketplace scams are now taking up more time at bank call centres than any other type of purchase scam, fraud bosses have revealed, as banking insiders become increasingly worried about fraudsters cashing in on a lack of customer protection on the site.
Marketplace - the social media giant's buying and selling platform - has ramped up in popularity in recent years, as the cost of living crisis has meant families are keen to grab a bargain instead of buying new or wanting to sell items to raise cash. Marketplace sellers list goods and arrange a sale with potential buyers through Facebook 's built-in messaging platform, Messenger.
Although Marketplace was originally popular because it allowed people to see what was for sale in their local area, more and more items are being sold over a wider distance. In these cases, items are posted out, similar to other marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon.
Read more: Seven signs to look out for that show a website may be a scam
But whereas a local buyer could hand over cash on the doorstep, Facebook doesn't offer a built-in payment service like eBay does with PayPal, or Amazon does with its credit and debit card payment facility, which means that Facebook shoppers living further afield often use bank transfers to send money directly. This leaves them without protections offered by PayPal or credit and debit cards, where payments can be reversed if goods and services are not delivered as advertised, according to Thisismoney.
This year to date, Action Fraud has received 44,674 reports which mentioned Facebook or Facebook Marketplace. And experts believe this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, as fraud is 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 experts have advised you to watch out for the following on Facebook 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 you make with your credit or debit card turns out to be a scam, you can get your money back through the chargeback scheme. Paying by bank transfer means you are at the mercy of your bank 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 that you are able to see the item before you buy 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 convince people to pay via bank transfer, they do sometimes suggest PayPal to make the scam seem more legitimate, but 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 knocking the usual PayPal fee off the price you are charged.
Beware: The friends and family option leaves you without buyer protection, so if something goes wrong, it is hard to get your money back. What usually happens is once the scammer has taken your money, they will block you, meaning you do not have any 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, saying: "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 them 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.
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 as these are big business for criminal gangs. "These fraudsters have got 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 said.
He says that 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, 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 to help scams at source, and spent $5b (around £4b on safety and security last year.
Now read:
-
Police issue warning after 153 per cent rise in 'sextortion' scams across County Durham
-
Santander issues warning to account holders after woman nearly lost £80,000
-
Tech experts issue warning over worrying rise in Instagram account cloning and social media scams
-
Ponteland estate agent worker who stole £195,000 to fund gambling habit walks free from court
-
The latest County Durham fish-seller put behind bars for scamming elderly customers out of thousands
