Ot- are there scams run by buyers on FB marketplace?

[Trboatworks]

I am continuing to sell off a bunch of shop stuff on FB markets.
Nothing big and things which run maybe a couple of hundred out to a couple of thousand.

So twice now I get responders to an ad who seem like total scammers.
I can’t put my finger on it but I pick up right away that they are not legit.

What’s the angle?
It must be some sort of fishing scam going but what is there to get from me?

On what I am picking up I have no ideal but I have been in both seats as buyer and seller many many times and I guess I (anyone?) can just tell when something stinks.

Any ideals or experience?

Including maybe I just have a screw loose?

 

[john.k]

there are all the old scams like a dud cheque , the cash refund scam,etc .....which are pre internet ............the most dangerous would be the identity theft scam..........these are assembling information on you ,such as if you give them a bank account number to pay into ,your full name ,residental address,phone number ,email and other incidentals ......and to top it off, here ,if you give out an address ,a gang of teens is likely to show up and rob you.

 

[jbacc]

The first thing that makes me suspicious when I'm selling something is when the person inquiring asks if the "item" is available. They never specifically identify what I am selling i.e. drill chuck, table saw etc...

BTW, I have had good luck buying and selling on FB Marketplace, better than Craigslist but no matter where you sell your items, the scammers are abound.

Cheers

 

[Trboatworks]

I generally sell stuff from the shop only but..

One time I was selling a nice car rack from my home address.
I got someone who I swear was casing my routine for when I was home or not.
Also weird was one of those - “I am asking for my brother who doesn’t have internet” and… was one of those generic hot babe photos on account with no history..

 

[john.k]

The "is the item available' is generated by F book........I know it POs a lot of sellers ........the answer "If the ad is up ,the item is available"...........my brother sells lots of stuff on fbook for crazy high prices .........but hes an IT expert ,...which I aint.

 

[Trboatworks]

Lol- so this guy/gal/bot who raised flags for me was still in play till a second ago.
Was going to come pick up and was asking if Venmo etc was good.
I say cash on pickup and bang- “the contact has left the group chat” message from fb drops in my box.

I think I have it- they are fishing for a payment account address.

Two times I have been hit with this in the last week as I am selling stuff.

The flags/

One- Out of nowhere a message comes in that “the buyer has sent an offer” and it’s the full asking amount.

Two- The “buyer” is oddly disconnected from the item- no questions or knowledge about it.
It’s just “where do I send the money”

Three- the accounts have zero depth.

The first one this week was also the weird second party stuff- someone else is picking up I am just sending the money…

I just changed the terms on all of my listings to cash on the barrelhead.

And..
While I am bitching- twice this week on things I am trying to buy.
I contact the seller and have that first talk and bang- I get a message from FB saying “the seller has changed the listing”
Yeah- they bump the asking price up by a thousand bucks on ten grand level items.

What the hell…

 

[Trboatworks]

And another bitch…
Are you guys fighting with auto generated text?

I write something out in a post and it’s good- I see the text.

Then as I move on the generated text changes it.
I proof the post generally after it is posted and find the totally nonsensical sentences which I have to edit.
It happens about every post.
Or maybe again - I am just losing it?

 

[jbacc]

Lol- so this guy/gal/bot who raised flags for me was still in play till a second ago.
Was going to come pick up and was asking if Venmo etc was good.
I say cash on pickup and bang- “the contact has left the group chat” message from fb drops in my box.

I think I have it- they are fishing for an account address.

Two times I have been hit with this in the last week as I am selling stuff.

The flags/

One- Out of nowhere a message comes in that “the buyer has sent an offer” and it’s the full asking amount.

Two- The “buyer” is oddly disconnected from the item- no questions or knowledge about it.
It’s just “where do I send the money”

Three- the accounts have zero depth.

The first one this week was also the weird second party stuff- someone else is picking up I am just sending the money…

I just changed the terms on all of my listings to cash on the barrelhead.

And..
While I am bitching- twice this week on things I am trying to buy.
I contact the seller and have that first talk and bang- I get a message from FB saying “the seller has changed the listing”
Yeah- they bump the asking price up by a thousand bucks on ten grand level items.

What the hell…

Unfortunately, please forgive my French, some people just plain SUCK! I'm from the 'My Word is my Bond" camp and honesty and integrity being paramount in my life which seems to be ever so decreasing in society.

Social media seems to have brought out the worst in people and while it made life easier on some level to purchase and sell things including the ability to send payment electronically, it made it even easier for the scammers to rob people.

Rant over ...LOL

 

[Trboatworks]

Yeah- I am just trying to clear out excess gear in the shop.
I paid good money for all of it so wouldn’t mind getting something for it but much more of this and it all goes in the dumpster.

 

[jbacc]

Yeah- I am just trying to clear out excess gear in the shop.
I paid good money for all of it so wouldn’t mind getting something for it but much more of this and it all goes in the dumpster.

I assume it’s non machinist related items and/or too big or costly to ship? Just curious.

Anyway, good luck and stay well.

Joe

 

[Trboatworks]

Minor shop machines and oddball marine gear.
Not things I would bother to ship and not things which are appropriate or raise to the level that I would clutter this board with them.
I did list a Starrett rule I have here.
Anyone need a nice asymmetrical cruising chute with turtle?

I have a bunch of machinery related gear to sell and if I ever get organized enough will try a push here to clear it out.
Lathe chucks, boring heads and assorted tooling etc.

 

[guythatbrews]

Hate FB and hate marketplace. I have had a FB presence for a long time but never visit, never post. I've been in earnest about buying on marketplace but due to my sparse contributions I don't get many seller responses. Scammers make it tough for legit buyers, too.

Wish they'd just try getting a real job for once!

 

[redlee]

Theres one going around here, nice vehicles for sale cheap. I respond and I get please use email for info.

 

[gustafson]

One scam is generating a google 'confirmation code'
they are trying to set up a fake google account and getting you to send them the code

 

[Bob-J-H]

I have come to the conclusion that if something has not got a lot of value. It is better to just give it away. Sometimes, it is not worth the hassle.

 

[Trboatworks]

I don’t know how sophisticated these scams are but one thing that raised my eyebrows was the “accept offer” button sent initially.
It’s a hot link- a real FB link or clone?
Who knows.
My normal caution keeps me from ever hitting a link someone sends.

I got my eBay account grabbed by hitting a link sent in an email years ago.
Scammer “alerted me” to my item being relisted with my photos and sent the eBay link to the sale.

I hit it and my account at eBay was instantly seized by hackers who sent out “second chance” offers to everyone who had bid on a recent sale of mine.

A $12k sale and they offered second chance at far less than that with scamming for down payment I guess.
EBay was no help so I sent out a notice to everyone I could alerting them to the scam.

 

[Nerdlinger]

One scam is generating a google 'confirmation code'
they are trying to set up a fake google account and getting you to send them the code

yerp, I tried selling something for the first time and got like three different offers all with, "I'm going to send you a six-digit google verification code so when it comes through tell me those numbers.....for my safety." I'm such an idiot I had no clue what that was about so I googled it and sure as shit it's some total scam about them getting your phone number to pop up on their account so they can do something sneaky, blah, blah, blah, how do they sleep at night?

 

[dkmc]

Online seller tips:

1. If you list an item BE AVAILABLE to respond to questions. Don't put the item on then go on vacation or to the lake for the weekend where there's no internet and you can't respond.
2. If you put up a couple shitty pics, expect buyers to ask for more/ decent pics of the item.
3. Be prepared to expect questions about what you're selling, especially if it's a technical item.
Don't act like every question is a PITA.
4. If a buyer agrees to purchase and wants to 'come get' the item, they WILL need your address and maybe cell number if it's a road trip for them (in case they have a problem, they can call and let you know whats going on).
5. When I ask for your address, don't tell me "I'll send it tomorrow when you're coming". WTF is the problem with sending NOW so I can google map it and plan the trip?
6. Don't ignore questions, then when the buyer goes cold, bombard them with responses after you've ignored them repeatedly.
7. Don't list an item or machine in "Running Condition", send a short video of it running, then when I ask "I assume the laptop is included" tell me "No laptop, but I'll let it go with it for $300". That's called "Bait & Switch". If you pull that shit, expect me to ghost you from that point forward. *
8. If someone's on the road traveling hundreds of miles, have a bit of courtesy knowing they are committed. Hold the item and give them a chance to show up. Don't sell the item to another party when you know they are on their way. (Based on a story on the tractor forum).
9. Act like a moron and don't be surprised if the interested party becomes not interested in what you're trying to sell. And don't be shocked or surprized they "wasted YOUR time" when you've wasted theirs.

*7 above...Had a guy pull that after I told him I was coming to purchase. A quick search turned up a better deal 1 hour closer, with a seller that was the opposite (very helpful, responsive, nice guy to deal with) and stopped communicating with the other jerk. The guy messaged throuout the day wanting to know 'when will you get here'? Suddenly he wasn't so distant. He eventually figured out I wasn't going to show up. And thanked me for 'wasting his time'.

 

[snowman]

All that dkmc said as well as, If the item is listed fcfs, expect me to offer to pay a deposit via paypal goods and services to hold the item. I'm not driving 3 hours to find out you loaded it out fifteen minutes ago.

 

[SIP6A]

I too have tried to sell on FB marketplace and given up. The scam they tried to pull on me was the shipping scam. The way it works is they want to buy whatever your selling without question and will send you a check. The item I was trying to sell was $8,000.00, the check shows up and it's for $9,000.00 get a call and told I will her from the "shipper" about picking it up. You will then hear from the "shipper" to send them the $1,000.00 if you do this you will be out a $1,000.00 when it turns out the check is no good.

Seem like everything these days is a god damn scam.