by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
July 19, 2025
In 2023, Fb Market attracted as much as 1.212 billion web shoppers per 30 days
Tips on how to keep away from Fb Market scams
In 2023, Fb Market attracted as much as 1.212 billion web shoppers per 30 days, and its person base continues to develop. Once you’ve acquired that, primarily many unregulated, peer-to-peer offers taking place, you’re certain to draw a military of scammers rubbing their grubby little palms collectively within the on-line shadows.
So, how are you going to keep away from turning into a sufferer of a Fb Market rip-off? That’s a broad query in an unlimited market, however Spokeo put collectively a listing of a number of the hottest scams to concentrate on. With on-line road smarts and somewhat assist from this information, you may navigate Fb Market with confidence — and perhaps even discover some share-worthy offers whilst you’re at it.
How Does Fb Market Work?
Fb Market works just about like every other on-line classifieds area, and is a competitor to websites like Craigslist and OfferUp — amongst tabs like “Teams” and “Occasions” on Fb, you’ll discover Market, person-to-person labeled advertisements for privately-owned objects sorted into classes like “Electronics,” “Property Leases,” “Dwelling Items” and extra. Every advert is created and posted by the vendor, with Fb merely appearing because the host, and customers can search a specified radius in any U.S. locality. Consumers and sellers work out the deal and the hand-off through Fb’s messaging system.
Whereas Market focuses on person-to-person exchanges — formally talking, solely bodily merchandise are allowed — it differentiates itself by providing transport choicesso customers can purchase merchandise from anyplace within the continental United States if the vendor chooses.
In fact, this opens up an additional can of scammy worms. As a result of Market is generally peer-to-peer, laws are gentle, to say the least. Per Fb itself, “Each consumers and sellers are answerable for issues bought in a Fb purchase and promote group or on Market.” Buy safety solely applies to sure objects ordered by mail, inserting the accountability of defending your self as an area purchaser nearly completely on the person, which is all of the extra cause to discover the dos and don’ts of safely navigating Market.
9 Sorts of Fb Market Scams
1. Counterfeit Items
Particularly in relation to high-end manufacturers like Gucci, Apple, Prada, and Chanel, counterfeit objects abound on Fb Market. In 2022, analytics agency Ghost Knowledge reported greater than 26,000 energetic counterfeiters working Fb accounts. When you’re seeing objects bought at extraordinarily low costs, reminiscent of 60 or 70% off their common worth elsewhere, be cautious.
2. Broken Items
Ideally, it’s best to solely pay a vendor after you’ve had an opportunity to examine the products with your personal palms and eyes. Transport, although, is a complete new ballgame — you may’t regularly assess the precise situation of a product with a couple of JPEGs (to say nothing of some Fb customers’ pictures abilities), and it’s possible you’ll obtain objects that don’t stack as much as what you thought you bought.
That is particularly frequent for electronics, as scammers could deliberately promote non-working electronicswhich you’ll’t take a look at from afar, at a this-should-very-much-work sort of worth. Whereas con artists could promote deliberately busted stuff, trustworthy sellers will handle your issues and discover a decision.
3. Items Not Acquired
Fb Market’s transport choice could make purchasing extra breezy. Nonetheless, the fact is that when you agree to just accept supply by the mail, you run the chance of not receiving the merchandise in any respect, regardless of having paid for it. Fortunately, Fb does supply buy safety on most objects bought this manner. Extra on that later.
4. Sketchy Giveaways…
Whereas some legit giveaways solely ask in your title and Fb profile, others could ask for a complete type’s value of personal info, like checking account or Social Safety numbers, and even passwords. That form of info mining smells like a phishing rip-off, a standard sort of rip-off that makes an attempt to separate you from delicate info to commit id theft and entry your financial institution accounts. When you’re uncertain who you’re coping with, working a fast folks search may also help confirm somebody’s id earlier than sharing any private particulars.
5. …and Different Phishing Scams
On that word, any sort of Fb Market transaction that asks you for personal info is prone to be a phishing rip-off. Native sellers don’t want your Social Safety or checking account routing quantity to promote you a TV, and legit shippers will depend on Fb Checkout, so that you don’t want to present them any monetary information straight.
6. Advance Funds
For native purchases, if a vendor asks you to ship cost in any manner, form, or type earlier than you’ve an merchandise in your palms – usually to “safe” or “maintain” the acquisition of an in-demand merchandise – that ought to set off your inside alarm. The identical applies to any non-local purchases that require you to pay upfront utilizing off-site strategies quite than Fb Checkout.
7. Rental Rackets and Automotive Cons
Equally, advance cost scams are prevalent within the areas of actual property leases and car purchases. A lot of these Fb Market scams will both insist on advance “holding” funds or ask for “safety deposits” earlier than you’ve ever seen the property or car. They could additionally try and phish for priceless non-public info underneath the guise of a “background examine.”
8. Additional Costs
An in-person deal ought to solely price what you and the vendor agree upon. For purchasing Market stuff by mail, that’s much more true; objects bought through Fb Checkout ought to solely embody the price of the product and transport. “Insurance coverage” and different additional prices are bogus makes an attempt to reap the benefits of you.
9. “Verification” Codes
If a vendor desires to ship you a code through textual content message to “confirm your id,” you’re a Fb Market rip-off. What’s taking place right here is that the sketchy vendor is making an attempt to get your cellphone quantity to arrange a Google Voice account that they’ll then use to rip-off and phish others with out placing their quantity in danger. This one could not instantly drain cash out of your checking account, however it may result in bother for you and different victims in the long term.
Watch Out for These Pink Flags
From counterfeit stuff to phishing makes an attempt, there’s a complete spectrum of indicators that ought to set off the Fb Market rip-off siren. Proper off the bat, concentrate on these practically common purple flags:
Providers, animals, and healthcare merchandise on the market. In response to official Fb Market guidelines, these are usually not allowed.
Costs that appear too good to be true on luxurious objects. Likewise, for leases which might be manner beneath market charges.
Equally, a number of posts of the identical merchandise utilizing the identical image throughout completely different areas is a giant purple flag. Click on the vendor’s profile to view their different listings earlier than committing.
Sellers are asking you to take the dialog off-site. That’s a giant purple flag for a phishing shakedown; don’t do it.
Sellers are requesting extra prices past transport.
Faux-looking Fb profiles. Sensible scammers don’t need to disclose their true identities on social media, so preserve your eyes peeled for brand-new vendor profiles with few mates, fake-looking images, or inconsistent profile information.
Sellers getting too private or divulging sob tales throughout your DM trade is usually the primary signal of a phishing rip-off.
Methods to Keep Protected
So, on the finish of the day, is Fb Market a protected platform? It may be when you shield your self with a couple of commonsense steps, beginning with these scam-proof staples:
Solely buy shipped objects utilizing Fb Checkout.
Meet native sellers in a public, populated place. Keep away from going right into a vendor’s dwelling or inviting them into yours. Take your items dwelling unassisted by the vendor, and think about bringing a good friend or member of the family with you for pick-ups if attainable.
Examine your items totally in particular person, or request extra images when you’re uncertain a few shipped buy.
Don’t ship advance funds for native objects.
By no means pay with present playing cards. Scammers usually request this type of cost as a result of it’s not simply traceable, which means when you get scammed this manner, you’re plain out of luck.
When you’re contemplating a high-value buy or rental, think about conducting a fast background examine on the vendor to make sure every thing checks out.
What To Do If You Get Scammed
Native Transactions
As a result of Fb locations just about all accountability on the people in an area Market transaction, there’s not a lot you are able to do if the worst occurs. First, you may report a vendor through Fb when you consider you’ve been scammed. This will outcome within the vendor being banned from the Market, nevertheless it received’t refund your cash. The in need of is that native transactions aren’t lined by any type of Fb’s buy safety. Nevertheless, you may in fact notify your native police when you consider a criminal offense was dedicated, and report scams that you simply assume could also be repeated to the FTC through their free ReportFraud web site.
You can too report counterfeit objects on Fb, whether or not you bought them in particular person or by mail. Talking of…
Purchases By Mail
When you’ve been the sufferer of a Fb Market rip-off involving shipped (or, on this case, perhaps unshipped) objects, you’ve acquired somewhat extra leeway for getting your a reimbursement. Once you buy an merchandise utilizing Fb Checkout (i.e., not peer-to-peer cost strategies like PayPal, Venmo, or money), Fb routinely contains Buy Safety on eligible objects (most objects, excluding autos, leases, providers, and orders over $2,000).
On this case, you may file a Buy Safety declare with Fb when you didn’t obtain your order, if the merchandise arrived broken or in a different way than described, if the vendor didn’t honor a promised refund, if the acquisition was unauthorized, or if the vendor has been banned. After reviewing the declare, and presumably requesting extra information or reaching out to the vendor alongside the best way, Fb could give you a full refund. Alternatively, your financial institution could cowl you for fraudulent purchases in your debit or bank card.
This story was produced by Spokeo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
RELATED CONTENT: Grass Grievance: Home-owner Jailed In Bizarre Battle With HOA
