Don't share your financial information (example: PayPal login and password, bank account info) or unnecessary personal information with buyers or sellers. Don't respond to messages or emails that ask you to provide verification codes or account information, such as your email address and password.
Facebook Marketplace scam red flags
Low prices for what should be high-ticket items. Refusing to meet up in person for exchanges. Moving conversations outside of Facebook Messenger. Asking for payment in the form of a gift card.
If you're selling an item, you should work with a common online payment system like PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle. And if you're new to online payments, don't accept the word of the buyer that they've made the payment (or an image of a receipt they've texted to you).
If you see any signs of suspicious activity, immediately cancel the transaction, report the listing or person and call the local authorities if necessary. Use your best judgment when communicating with the other person. Don't share personal information like your home address.
As for payment, carrying cash, especially a lot of cash, is risky. Facebook Marketplace recommends a secure person-to-person payment method such as PayPal.
What is the safest way to accept payment? Besides cash, a certified check is the safest way you can receive a payment to your business.
In order to get paid, you must mark your item as shipped and enter a tracking number. You have 3 days to mark the order as shipped. Our system will automatically cancel the order if it hasn't been marked as shipped, regardless of any agreement made with the buyer.
A legitimate buyer will more than likely ask for additional information about the item for sale, such as the condition of the item. Potential buyers who ask for personal information like your email address or phone number or request the funds quickly are most likely scammers.
People will NOT be able to see your address or phone number, unless you've chosen to put those things in your profile (don't do that). If someone is interested in your listing, they can message you through Facebook to ask questions or check availability.
Consider The Credibility and Legitimacy of the Listing
If the price is significantly lower than similar items of the same nature (especially large purchases like used vehicles), it's probably not legitimate. If someone has lots of a particular item (such that it seems crazy), it's probably stolen goods.
Fake payment receipts are among the most popular scams on the Facebook Marketplace. The buyer sends phony or old successful payment information to trick the seller. You should only ship the item once you receive the payment to your bank account and never take this kind of proof.
On Facebook Marketplace, fraudsters will create multiple fake Facebook accounts and list the same items at various price points–usually lower than comparable ones to get you excited about a deal. But once you agree on a price and pay them, the items never arrive.
Identifying Facebook Marketplace Scams
You may be dealing with a scammer if you spot any of the following red flags: A buyer or seller with a brand new profile or without a Facebook profile photo. A too-good-to-be-true price for a high-ticket item.
If you want to buy an item on the Facebook Marketplace, you must have a Facebook profile. A legitimate buyer will have a robust profile, while a scam artist likely will have a skeletal profile created recently. Some users' privacy settings may limit the amount of information you can glean from their profile.
It's great to sell exciting, trendy stuff, but reliable ecommerce best-sellers tend to fly under the radar. Facebook Marketplace is a great place to sell everyday household items like furniture, cleaning supplies, books, and glassware. There will always be demand for these kinds of products.
Listings with Hide from friends turned on are still public. If you choose to hide a listing, it will be hidden from your friends on Facebook and Messenger in most cases but will still be visible to everyone off of Facebook and Messenger.
After you mark the listing as sold: It won't be visible to anyone else on Marketplace. All buyers who messaged you about the item will get a message saying that the item has been sold. You'll get a message asking if you want to archive the conversation about the listing.
If you're buying products from Facebook Marketplace, you don't have to pay any fees. And just listing an item for sale is free too. The only time you'll have to pay a fee is when you officially sell an item. After you deliver the product and get paid, Facebook takes a cut of the final payment.
Buyers communicate on the product profile by clicking “Make Offer” or “Message Seller.” As a seller, you'll see the message under the “Selling” screen, or you can continue the conversation on the Facebook Messenger app, but it's not required.
To be eligible for in-stream ads, you need to have: 10,000 page followers. Videos that are at least one minute long. At least 600,000 minutes of view-time in the last 60 days.
By and large, credit cards are easily the most secure and safe payment method to use when you shop online. Credit cards use online security features like encryption and fraud monitoring to keep your accounts and personal information safe.