When attempting to sell a futon on Facebook Marketplace, I encountered numerous scammers.
This year, I made the decision to replace my Amazon starter couch with a more substantial one. I put up a listing for a generic velvet-green futon on Facebook Marketplace, expecting college students or recent New York transplants to be interested in purchasing it at a reduced price.
Since September, I’ve received numerous inquiries about the futon—most of them likely from scammers. These individuals initially offer the full asking price through Facebook Messenger, which should have tipped me off, as seasoned Marketplace users usually haggle. Subsequently, they ask basic questions that are already addressed in the item’s description: “Where are you located?” and “What’s the condition?” After reiterating the details and providing my approximate location, the conversation typically steers toward immediate payment to remove the listing or arrangements for their relative or mover to pick up the futon the same day.
Skeptical that any genuine buyer would send payment via Zelle without inspecting the item in person, I refrained from accepting these offers. Acceptance might have led to phishing attempts through a text or email disguised as Zelle communications, potentially aiming to extract more money than the futon’s value. For now, the futon remains folded in a corner of my cramped apartment. My attempts to use Facebook Marketplace as intended—to buy and sell items among local residents—have thus far been unsuccessful.
My experience is just one example of the various ways people fall prey to scams on Facebook Marketplace. Some scams involve non-existent high-value items, such as cars, listed by bogus sellers who demand prepaid debit cards for eBay or Amazon payments, only to vanish thereafter. While peer-to-peer online trading has always been a caveat emptor situation, sellers themselves are now also vulnerable to scams. An Australian freelance writer recounted her embarrassing ordeal in The Guardian, losing $1,000 while trying to sell a pair of boots after unknowingly providing sensitive information to a scammer’s phishing link.
Although scams occur across multiple online selling platforms, the surge in Facebook Marketplace’s popularity since its 2016 inception has made it a prime target for scammers. Marketplace’s setup initially fostered a sense of transparency and trust in person-to-person transactions. Users interacted using profiles containing names and photos, enhancing trust compared to anonymous Craigslist ads. With an existing Facebook profile, users could easily post listings with images and descriptions, simplifying the process. By 2021, Facebook Marketplace had amassed 1 billion monthly users, capitalizing on the e-commerce boom during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, malicious entities exploit this built-in trust to dupe unsuspecting users out of considerably more money than the value of their second-hand items. Scams have become a common feature of the app, yet Meta, Facebook’s $800 billion parent company, has struggled to eradicate them.
To prevent further scams, Meta’s spokesperson Ryan Daniels states that the company aggressively identifies, disables, and bans scam-associated accounts. Moreover, they are developing a notification system to aid users in identifying potential scams related to payment apps, set to roll out in the coming months. However, Daniels did not provide further details about these notifications.
The true scale of the problem remains obscured as many scams and attempted scams go unreported. A 2022 survey of 1,000 people in England revealed that one in six had been scammed on Marketplace. Similarly, another 2022 survey of 1,000 individuals in the US found that 62 percent had encountered a scam on Facebook. From January 2022 to November 2023, the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker recorded over 1,200 reports mentioning Facebook Marketplace in the US and Canada.
In my case, the scammers followed a similar script: two messages from different accounts, yet both adopting the same odd spacing format, asking if the listing was legitimate. They offered the full price upfront, insisting I mark the item as sold and arrange for pickup. When I demanded payment in person, they disappeared after making flimsy excuses. When confronted, one responded with “lmao” before I reported their profile to Facebook.
Fraudsters execute their scams similarly to multi-level marketers, says Adrianus Warmenhoven, a member of NordVPN’s security advisory board. They might create scams, package them into toolkits featuring scripts and phishing links, or acquire orphaned and hacked Facebook accounts. Many of the messages I received came from accounts created a decade ago or more, showing these weren’t freshly created for scamming on Marketplace. Warmenhoven says that various tools used in these scams are available on the dark web or advertised on Telegram. However, Telegram did not respond to inquiries regarding these activities.
Another common scam involves luring people to upgrade their Zelle accounts for a business tier, promising to send a sum and requesting the seller to refund it. The catch is that the money was never sent, appearing only in fake screenshots or emails. Zelle specifies that they send emails solely from @zelle.com and @zellepay.com domains, warning that other domains might be scams. However, Zelle declined to provide further information concerning Facebook Marketplace scams to avoid divulging information to fraudsters.
Scammers also exploit Google Voice, requesting verification codes under the guise of identifying potential scammers. With these codes, scammers can create a Google Voice number using the victim’s phone number, concealing their identity for future scams or account takeovers. Google advises people to avoid sharing verification codes and offers options to reclaim stolen Google Voice numbers. When questioned about Facebook Marketplace scams, Google highlighted its guidance on avoiding sharing verification codes.
Experts assert that the ever-evolving nature of scams poses a challenge for companies in combatting them. Zulfikar Ramzan, chief scientist with digital security company Aura, likens it to a game of whack-a-mole, where fraudsters continuously alter their scam techniques. This makes it immensely difficult for organizations to keep up with the sheer volume of scams at scale.
Despite ongoing issues with scams, Meta has continued to expand Facebook Marketplace. A ProPublica investigation in 2022 uncovered rampant Marketplace scams, hinting at potential understaffing that hindered the company’s ability to tackle scammers. Besides their in-house team, Meta contracted 400 Accenture employees globally, assigning each individual over 600 daily complaints or support requests. The investigation further revealed cases of alleged armed robberies and even murders related to Facebook Marketplace meetups. However, Meta declined to address queries regarding their current scam monitoring methods or respond to the ProPublica findings.
Facebook Marketplace has evolved beyond local selling, now offering options for shipping products post-sale. Additionally, numerous small businesses have leveraged the platform to expand their operations. However, these varied transaction types have brought about diverse scam-related concerns. While Marketplace provides purchase protection, it doesn’t cover payments conducted through third-party platforms like Zelle, local pickups, or transactions conducted via Facebook Messenger.
I encountered numerous individuals seemingly eager to scam me—I reported many of them and discontinued conversations, which subsequently disappeared. While a few might have genuinely been interested, they dropped out early in our discussions. Ultimately, the aggravation wasn’t worth the potential gain. Now, I’m left with this couch, and there’s only one recourse left—I’m shifting to another section of Facebook entirely: Buy Nothing.