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Avoid Scams: Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace has been a handy replacement for Craigslist and eBay when selling locally, especially when you’re trying to sell something too big for easy shipping (like your snowboard or pandemic purchase Peloton). If U are on Facebook Marketplace, be aware of this current scam.

The Better Business Bureau issued a warning in which a fraudster buyer attempts to purchase an item using Zelle® for payment targeting Marketplace sellers who list items worth several hundred dollars.

 

How does this scam work?

The fraudulent buyer contacts a seller requesting to buy the item and pay using Zelle®. If the seller agrees, the buyer asks for the seller’s email address to send the payment… but the buyer does not send payment. Instead, the buyer sends a fake email to the seller that appears to be from Zelle®. The email alleges that the buyer paid using a Zelle® business account and oftentimes states that the seller must also upgrade to a Zelle® business account to receive payment — for a fee of a few hundred dollars.

(By now your Spidey senses should be raising a bunch of red flags.)

At this point the ‘buyer’ will then contact the seller, claiming that they received the same email from Zelle® and, “to make things easy,” sent the seller enough money to cover the purchase and upgrade fee and ask to be reimbursed by the seller for the fee. They provide fake screenshots as documentation or proof of payment to gain the seller’s trust to send the refund without first checking their account to verify receipt of payment.

As a reminder, UME advises in our Zelle® FAQs, if you don’t know the person or aren’t sure you will get what you paid for (for example, items bought from an online bidding or sales site), you should not use Zelle®. These transactions are potentially high risk – just like sending cash to a person you don’t know is high risk.

 

Be Aware, Stay Alert

Protect yourself from scams on Facebook Marketplace. Watch for suspicious behavior; Verify any emails, screenshots, and payments that are exchanged. Stay away from any transaction that doesn’t seem legitimate. If something seems dubious, it likely is. Scammers depend on you not being thorough in these interactions, so pay close attention — and double check your financial transactions!

Three things specifically regarding Zelle®:

  1. Zelle®  does not directly charge fees for business (and personal) transactions. Transaction limits and fees are determined by the user’s bank, not Zelle®, and can vary.

  2. If someone is enrolled in Zelle® and receives money, the sender cannot cancel the transaction or get their money back unless the receiver sends it back to them.

  3. Also, you should never refund a payment before verifying that it has actually posted to your account.

 

UMe Pro Tip: Only use Zelle®  with people U know and trust.

Read more about the alert issued by the Better Business Bureau here.

If you have any questions, please give us a call at (818) 238-2900 or email us through the button below.

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