Facebook Marketplace is Meta’s e-commerce proposition that has managed to attract more than a billion users worldwide over time. And this is that using this platform is as easy as having a profile on a social network, because from there you can make purchases or sell items.

However, this site is not immune from being used by cybercriminals to scam people, which is why ESET shared this information with Infobae 8 very common ways to get ripped off on Facebook Marketplace.

damaged products

Sometimes products are advertised for sale that, according to their photos, are in new and perfect condition, but when the customer receives the purchase, they find thatThe item is damaged and not what was offered or appears to have been used before. On the one hand, it is possible that it is only due to a dishonest seller, because he can also be a fraudulent criminal.

fakes

Just as some Facebook Marketplace users were surprised to receive damaged items, others discovered fakes. For this reason, special attention should be paid Perfumes, jewellery, cosmetics and designer clothes, as these are the items that are most frequently repeated. Many people look for discounts and good prices online, but these types of products are rarely sold.

Purchases that never arrive

This method of stealing from Facebook Marketplace is also very common, Criminals offer products for sale that are never shipped to the buyer because they don’t exist. But if they keep the money collected from the victim. This type of fraud is more likely to occur when the alleged goods are located outside the potential customer’s local area.

Fake sweepstakes and prizes

This type of scam is another case of phishing, and it doesn’t exactly happen on Facebook Marketplace, but Cybercriminals if they use the platform’s name to send purported sweepstakes links Products or merchandise advertised on the Meta site.

In this way, they hope that message recipients will open links to supposed prizes like cryptocurrencies and expensive items, but these will be typical forms filled with personal data that will later be stolen to continue impersonating other people. .

Misleading advertising

It can be said that this This is a kind of dishonest strategy to attract buyersBecause very tempting promotions are advertised on expensive products, when a person is interested in an item, they are told that the offer is no longer available and are offered a similar but much more expensive product or range and an item of very different quality. .

Seller scams

Data theft

While potential buyers are most vulnerable to online fraud, sellers are also at risk of fraud, particularly by Google Voice, a service that provides a phone number to make calls and send messages from mobile phones or computers.

This type of theft consists of the criminal pretending to be a customer who is quite interested in buying the product being offered, so he will try to start a conversation with the merchant and then continue it outside of Facebook Marketplace.

usually They lead the advertiser to Whatsapp, where they will send him an alleged code to confirm that they are talking to a legitimate merchant. But it turns out that Google Voice account opening is two-step authentication, once a person is trapped and shares the code, criminals impersonate the merchant to continue stealing more people.

Refund

This step of fraudsters consists Represent a customer who has accidentally charged more than the value of the product, So they ask the seller to refund the amount they overpaid and send a screenshot of the alleged transaction as proof. If the entrepreneur falls into the trap, he will lose the amount that the thief demanded.

Shipping insurance scams

In this case, entrepreneurs who sell very expensive products usually receive messages from criminals who Representation of buyers who are willing to pay the cost of delivery of goodsAnd they prove it by sending a photo of the clear shipping invoice, that’s the theft. Sellers must pay for parcel insurance.

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