Top 15 Facebook Marketplace Scams and How to Avoid Them

Ali Qamar  - Cybersecurity Analyst
Last updated: October 10, 2023
Read time: 17 minutes
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Fraudsters have pestered trading since humankind invented it. Even when trades occur on the most technologically advanced platforms, the risk of being scammed remains, and Facebook Marketplace is no exception. Therefore, every Facebook user must become aware of the risks involved in the platform. This article tells you how to spot fishy deals and what to do about them.

THE TAKEAWAYS

In ancient Rome, Mercury was the god of both thieves and traders. That’s not a coincidence. Trading has given thieves the best chances to practice their craft throughout human history. Unfortunately, that has never changed, and new trading platforms such as Facebook Marketplace only provide thieves with new opportunities to abuse the goodwill of legitimate traders. Thus, staying safe starts with awareness about Facebook Marketplace scams – how they happen and how to prevent them – which you will get from this article.

Facebook Marketplace has had a checkered history. It went from a miserable failure to a great trading platform after its re-introduction in 2016. Today, it’s a great place to sell and buy anything online. And don’t underestimate Facebook’s sheer size. The billions of users active on Facebook make it easy for numerous listings to be available for any user, regardless of the physical location.

However, nothing is ever perfect, including Facebook. Hence, the platform has some disadvantages, and the Facebook Marketplace scams are among the main ones.

If you’re going to join the Facebook Marketplace world, you must keep yourself safe from those scams. That means knowing what threats you could face, how to prevent them, and how to deal with them if they happen. Let us tell you all about it!

Facebook Marketplace top scams – The quick list

We will deal with each type of scam in detail later in this article. But for those in a rush and only need to read the gist, here’s our quick list.

  1. Gift card scams. The scammer will request payment in gift cards. Then he ghosts you. Since the cards are anonymous, there’s nothing you can do.