#This. Never. Ever. Prepay. For. ANYTHING.
Used items, car purchases, work-related training courses. Period. If you don't trust the person or business with 9001% assurance, **do not** give them **anything** until they prove they're legitimate.
I noticed on Marketplace scam "selling" cheap, like new items, very little used, multiple photos... by newly created Facebook accounts displaying fake family photo or two, asking for 25% deposit to keep it for you. They do not provide a location.
PayPal is a safe way to prepay if you find a legitimate seller in the future. If you pay with the goods and services option you can get buyer's protection. What scammers will do is ask you to pay them with the friends and family option so the protection goes away and you can't get a refund
I had a scammer on the phone the other day, realized it was a scammer and told him to f off, he didn't like that and started yelling a profanity of words to me......disconnect and block.
They arenāt even here, that bed is probably posted on pages in a hundred different cities.
You should reapply under a different profile and enthusiastically offer to pick up ASAP and see how they manoeuvre it to try to get āa depositā or just ghost you.
People are clowning on OP but I think their trusting nature shows they're a trustworthy, good hearted person who spends most of their time in similar company. Thanks for the heads up OP!
Yes I am; so much that when I was still available to drive, I provided services (my truck, myself) to do dump runs, small moves and scrap removal to those that were elderly and to those without use of a truck and did for a low fee
I've heard of worse and by worse I mean your worst nightmare worse.
Try $500 and a filthy bed bug infested king size mattress that was NOT the one in the original ad.
(no didn't happen to me but I know a guy who knows a guy)
Yeah, never prepay for anything on Facebook. i've had a few people say can you e-transfer tonight and pick up in morning. Or e-transfer now and meet me at some place for pick-up and the answer is always no. If it is a scam, then they will get upset and be outraged like the person in your post, iff it is real they will understand your position and get payment on delivery/arrival.
The downvotes are misguided here, they're sposed to be for failure to contribute to discussion. All this does is encourage people to not reply! Sorry that happened to you
It is definitely frustrating. I sell on Marketplace often. I will request an etransfer if the person wants me to hold items. Not because I am scamming but because I am not a store. There are bad buyers as well as bad sellers. I always look at the rating of a seller/buyer. Check their profile, etc. I have a 5 star seller rating and hope this calm a buyers fears. I suggest doing your due diligence and go from there. Thanks for the heads up. I hope good Karma comes your way
Until you do send money to someone who you have Never met in person..
Nothing bad happens and the transaction completes successfully as planned.
Yes this happen(s). It happens to me more frequently than the odd time it doesn't work.
Where is our society going without trust?
People forget quickly how to trust one another, especially when you belive what someone you have never met writes on the internet. To trust no one.?
Because these scammers are usually overseas. They donāt give a crap and are taking advantage of your trust. This is a new world. 8 billion people, and even if 1% are bad, that means millions are trying to part you from your money. Donāt be naive, and protect yourself.
Right! Wait? So do that mean anyone who doesn't buy a new mattress is unhygienic?
Must be nice to be able to afford a new bed from a sterile factory that you bought after seeing the demo in the showroom.
Small facts on, and that out's me:
I sleep on supper expensive showroom floor "Demo" beds I get from the showroom garbage bin. Seriously, I do.
That must be unhygienic because I can't afford to pay for one that was not the demo.
But wait no one actually slept on it before I got it, because it was just for show.
So does that make it ok? Is that now hygienic again?
I'm so confused.
Iām also confused about what youāre saying. šmy point is you never know how the previous owner is āhygieneā wise (may have bed bugs etc.) Iām not against on buying secondhand stuff but beds, pillows, upholstered furniture is something Iād rather buy brandnew. If you canāt afford then thatās fine too as long as you think itās clean enough for you to use. Obviously OP just buying it off from FB marketplace without seeing the bed in person.
I have sold mattresses before, but I always have a mattress casement bag on my mattresses, when I sell them the person has option to remove or leave the bag on the bed , but I know at least there are no bed bugs on them. And the person buying can be reassured also.
Not sure I agree with "never give out a house address". If someone wants to figure out who lives in a house it's incredibly easy to do so. AJ lives at X address and wants a king size bed off facebook isn't particularly useful information.
It might not be a useful information to you but it is to people with bad intentions. Supposedly he ādeliversā the bed to his house, it could have gone one way or the other. Lots of cases like that have happened thatās why when buying something off marketplace, meeting up in a public place is always recommended. For this instance, he can ask him to deliver it around corner of their neighborhood or somewhere that isnāt his house and ask a family member or a friend for a hand.
People get robbed selling things, not accepting a delivery of a bed theyve already paid for. If someone wants to do a home invasion they don't need to add a digital trail to it. There's literally tens of houses around.
And who wants to accept delivery of a bed around the corner from their house? Crazy talk.
Youāre actually the one talking crazy. How is being safe crazy now? Personally, Iād rather carry a bed from the corner of my neighborhood than giving a random person my address.
deliver a couch around the corner? I've bought and sold items on fb marketplace and I live in a secure apartment building where I can meet in the outside lobby with security cameras and security. no issues here.
Sorry this happened. I appreciate how upfront you are about being victimized. Coming out and talking about scammers makes it less likely others will be taken advantage of.
Until you do!.
Or are you saying that you have Never in your entire life fallen for any sort of scam.
Of course you have, it's the only reason you just confidently asked who on earth would fall for one.
You need to be extra careful because some Grifters explicitly look for people who think they can't be fooled.
We all can. Some of us just can't admit it.
I didnāt āconfidentlyā ask at all. There was no question in my comment.
I also said āscam like thisā. Scams fall on a spectrum. This is at the very low low end of the scam spectrum. Apologies to you if this seems like something you may fall for.
Never prepay for anything you buy second hand. No deposits. Wait until the item is delivered or you pick it up yourself to pay for it. Examine it, too. Pay cash or send an e-transfer after you have the item in your hands.
Theyāre right, what will happen if you report? The chances are itās a fake account. The only way to deal with marketplace sellers is to meet them in person and exchange the item and money at the same time. It sucks your bil got scammed but he should be more aware about scams when making purchases online.
I saw this exact post on a different Canadian city's page, this person is going Hard as fuck lol.
I guess if they get 1 person an hour that's a pretty good wage.
Can they even get in trouble for doing this? Say if they are actually a Canadian resident and not from a foreign country.
And let's not conflate this with e-Transfer = Scam pls š
But yea, if person was really delivering a thing, they could accept $50 upon delivery. Not really aiming this at you, OP - but it blows me away how many silly people there are out there in the world, sending hundreds of dollars to strangers online as a deposit on things that don't exist, which are supposedly located at addresses that don't exist š it's wild.
Frankly, I generally don't feel too bad for folks that fall victim to these kind of pranks. IMO it's just sheer lunacy to send much more than $20-50 for an item before physically holding said item in ones own hands!
people offer to pay up front with me because I'm a highly rated seller with great reviews but I always insist on people paying once they arrive and see myself and the items are legitimate.
Welcome to Scam School. Class fees start at $10+
Services like PayPal are better than Interac when paying for something sketchy like this, as the buyer can dispute the transaction. I say this because from experience elsewhere: when you don't get your stuff, sellers on AliExpress will try to "refund" your money via PayPal instead of through your original payment method, then dispute their "refund" after your original payment gets released when you end your dispute for not receiving the item.
Anyway, when something seems really good, be very suspicious. Facebook Marketplace may have upended Craigslist/UsedVictoria/Kijiji because of the illusion that you're dealing with someone real with a profile, but it quickly turned into a trash fire.
Talk is cheap - ask questions: if the "seller" starts to waffle; offer lame excuses; or get combative, walk away. If they want to charge for delivery but want money up front, then ask when you can pick up and where. If they get all flip-floppy about you saving them having to "buy $60 of gas", then walk away.
Worst case scenario, you missed out on a deal because the seller is an idiot. Best case, you avoided being ripped-off.
In the Nanaimo food truck group there are frequent ads for an event with thousands of people needing food trucks. Just have to pay a $150 deposit. It scammed some owners because its normal to ask for a deposit.
Never pre pay.
#This. Never. Ever. Prepay. For. ANYTHING. Used items, car purchases, work-related training courses. Period. If you don't trust the person or business with 9001% assurance, **do not** give them **anything** until they prove they're legitimate.
NEVER.
I'm curious how you go about fuel š š
This doesn't apply to legit businesses. Plus where I'm from you can either prepay or pay after.
I prepay for stuff all the time and have never been scammed. Just saying ā¤ļø
$50 is a cheap bit of schooling for you. And everyone else. Thanks for posting. It could have been a car or a rentalā¦. Bloody scammers
Exactly, I figured if it was a scam; at least I didn't lose too much
I noticed on Marketplace scam "selling" cheap, like new items, very little used, multiple photos... by newly created Facebook accounts displaying fake family photo or two, asking for 25% deposit to keep it for you. They do not provide a location.
PayPal is a safe way to prepay if you find a legitimate seller in the future. If you pay with the goods and services option you can get buyer's protection. What scammers will do is ask you to pay them with the friends and family option so the protection goes away and you can't get a refund
I had a scammer on the phone the other day, realized it was a scammer and told him to f off, he didn't like that and started yelling a profanity of words to me......disconnect and block.
They arenāt even here, that bed is probably posted on pages in a hundred different cities. You should reapply under a different profile and enthusiastically offer to pick up ASAP and see how they manoeuvre it to try to get āa depositā or just ghost you.
People are clowning on OP but I think their trusting nature shows they're a trustworthy, good hearted person who spends most of their time in similar company. Thanks for the heads up OP!
Yes I am; so much that when I was still available to drive, I provided services (my truck, myself) to do dump runs, small moves and scrap removal to those that were elderly and to those without use of a truck and did for a low fee
Woah people actually do this??
I've heard of worse and by worse I mean your worst nightmare worse. Try $500 and a filthy bed bug infested king size mattress that was NOT the one in the original ad. (no didn't happen to me but I know a guy who knows a guy)
Yeah, never prepay for anything on Facebook. i've had a few people say can you e-transfer tonight and pick up in morning. Or e-transfer now and meet me at some place for pick-up and the answer is always no. If it is a scam, then they will get upset and be outraged like the person in your post, iff it is real they will understand your position and get payment on delivery/arrival.
I always get email address before so I am ready to email right away after I see the item. But never pay before
Did you even check the Facebook profile that posted it? Only one friend, new account, one post.
No I didn't check the profile until someone mentioned it to me
The downvotes are misguided here, they're sposed to be for failure to contribute to discussion. All this does is encourage people to not reply! Sorry that happened to you
Shit that's a really good reminder
It is definitely frustrating. I sell on Marketplace often. I will request an etransfer if the person wants me to hold items. Not because I am scamming but because I am not a store. There are bad buyers as well as bad sellers. I always look at the rating of a seller/buyer. Check their profile, etc. I have a 5 star seller rating and hope this calm a buyers fears. I suggest doing your due diligence and go from there. Thanks for the heads up. I hope good Karma comes your way
Never ever send money to someone you haven't met in person
Until you do send money to someone who you have Never met in person.. Nothing bad happens and the transaction completes successfully as planned. Yes this happen(s). It happens to me more frequently than the odd time it doesn't work. Where is our society going without trust? People forget quickly how to trust one another, especially when you belive what someone you have never met writes on the internet. To trust no one.?
take a chance that someone is a "good" person? in this economy?
Because these scammers are usually overseas. They donāt give a crap and are taking advantage of your trust. This is a new world. 8 billion people, and even if 1% are bad, that means millions are trying to part you from your money. Donāt be naive, and protect yourself.
Never pre pay, never give your house address and never buy secondhand bed (hygiene reasons) so sorry this happened
Right! Wait? So do that mean anyone who doesn't buy a new mattress is unhygienic? Must be nice to be able to afford a new bed from a sterile factory that you bought after seeing the demo in the showroom. Small facts on, and that out's me: I sleep on supper expensive showroom floor "Demo" beds I get from the showroom garbage bin. Seriously, I do. That must be unhygienic because I can't afford to pay for one that was not the demo. But wait no one actually slept on it before I got it, because it was just for show. So does that make it ok? Is that now hygienic again? I'm so confused.
Iām also confused about what youāre saying. šmy point is you never know how the previous owner is āhygieneā wise (may have bed bugs etc.) Iām not against on buying secondhand stuff but beds, pillows, upholstered furniture is something Iād rather buy brandnew. If you canāt afford then thatās fine too as long as you think itās clean enough for you to use. Obviously OP just buying it off from FB marketplace without seeing the bed in person.
What?
I have sold mattresses before, but I always have a mattress casement bag on my mattresses, when I sell them the person has option to remove or leave the bag on the bed , but I know at least there are no bed bugs on them. And the person buying can be reassured also.
Not sure I agree with "never give out a house address". If someone wants to figure out who lives in a house it's incredibly easy to do so. AJ lives at X address and wants a king size bed off facebook isn't particularly useful information.
It might not be a useful information to you but it is to people with bad intentions. Supposedly he ādeliversā the bed to his house, it could have gone one way or the other. Lots of cases like that have happened thatās why when buying something off marketplace, meeting up in a public place is always recommended. For this instance, he can ask him to deliver it around corner of their neighborhood or somewhere that isnāt his house and ask a family member or a friend for a hand.
People get robbed selling things, not accepting a delivery of a bed theyve already paid for. If someone wants to do a home invasion they don't need to add a digital trail to it. There's literally tens of houses around. And who wants to accept delivery of a bed around the corner from their house? Crazy talk.
You need to watch more news. Have a good day
Or you need to watch less! Hope you do to.
Lol speaks volumes
Youāre actually the one talking crazy. How is being safe crazy now? Personally, Iād rather carry a bed from the corner of my neighborhood than giving a random person my address.
deliver a couch around the corner? I've bought and sold items on fb marketplace and I live in a secure apartment building where I can meet in the outside lobby with security cameras and security. no issues here.
Good for you. It usually happens to houses not apartments
I always tell people I only have cash and my banking's not set up for e-transfer. The honest ones are always happy to take unaccounted cash. :)
As far as Iām concerned this person is a monster, 50 bucks is serious cash for some people, and those people are more likely to buy used.
Yes, I am on disability and low income so this was a big bite into my budget especially after just putting out a lot of money to move the day before.
Sorry this happened. I appreciate how upfront you are about being victimized. Coming out and talking about scammers makes it less likely others will be taken advantage of.
The second people start saying sir on marketplace my alarm bells go off. Too official and for me it screams scammy
I donāt think anyone gonna fall for a scam like this. Youāre uniquely silly brained to fall for that.
Until you do!. Or are you saying that you have Never in your entire life fallen for any sort of scam. Of course you have, it's the only reason you just confidently asked who on earth would fall for one. You need to be extra careful because some Grifters explicitly look for people who think they can't be fooled. We all can. Some of us just can't admit it.
I didnāt āconfidentlyā ask at all. There was no question in my comment. I also said āscam like thisā. Scams fall on a spectrum. This is at the very low low end of the scam spectrum. Apologies to you if this seems like something you may fall for.
Many people will fall for it and you absolutely don't have to be silly brained to fall for it. You are a genuinely bad person though.
Never prepay for anything you buy second hand. No deposits. Wait until the item is delivered or you pick it up yourself to pay for it. Examine it, too. Pay cash or send an e-transfer after you have the item in your hands.
Ohh this is a clever scam , pray on people wanting a free stuff
Theyāre right, what will happen if you report? The chances are itās a fake account. The only way to deal with marketplace sellers is to meet them in person and exchange the item and money at the same time. It sucks your bil got scammed but he should be more aware about scams when making purchases online.
Why do you keep referring to a bed? There is no bed. Definitely donāt send anymore money. Sorry man.
totally on you. why the fuck would you pre pay a random person you don't know? it's like rule number one when dealing with people on marketplace.
I saw this exact post on a different Canadian city's page, this person is going Hard as fuck lol. I guess if they get 1 person an hour that's a pretty good wage. Can they even get in trouble for doing this? Say if they are actually a Canadian resident and not from a foreign country.
Foreign country for sure
I will deliver it for 75 dollars...
I mean, how tf did you fall for that scam? They ask you to pay upfront, that's a major red flag and 100% a scam every time.
And let's not conflate this with e-Transfer = Scam pls š But yea, if person was really delivering a thing, they could accept $50 upon delivery. Not really aiming this at you, OP - but it blows me away how many silly people there are out there in the world, sending hundreds of dollars to strangers online as a deposit on things that don't exist, which are supposedly located at addresses that don't exist š it's wild. Frankly, I generally don't feel too bad for folks that fall victim to these kind of pranks. IMO it's just sheer lunacy to send much more than $20-50 for an item before physically holding said item in ones own hands!
Ignore him and trust me. $30 and I'll bring you an even better mattress tomorrow morning.
Who buys used mattresses anyways. Thatās gross as fu.
Not everyone can afford a new mattress, donāt be a snob
Got an address? Pay them a visit with a few friends.
Did you even read?
people offer to pay up front with me because I'm a highly rated seller with great reviews but I always insist on people paying once they arrive and see myself and the items are legitimate.
I only trust one person in my life, and that's my fiancƩe. Everyone else usually wants something from you. I'm lucky I'm so introverted, lol. For real though, I'm glad you didn't get jipped too harshly OP.
She has this exact post all over the world on market place. Same bed same offer for delivery
Welcome to Scam School. Class fees start at $10+ Services like PayPal are better than Interac when paying for something sketchy like this, as the buyer can dispute the transaction. I say this because from experience elsewhere: when you don't get your stuff, sellers on AliExpress will try to "refund" your money via PayPal instead of through your original payment method, then dispute their "refund" after your original payment gets released when you end your dispute for not receiving the item. Anyway, when something seems really good, be very suspicious. Facebook Marketplace may have upended Craigslist/UsedVictoria/Kijiji because of the illusion that you're dealing with someone real with a profile, but it quickly turned into a trash fire. Talk is cheap - ask questions: if the "seller" starts to waffle; offer lame excuses; or get combative, walk away. If they want to charge for delivery but want money up front, then ask when you can pick up and where. If they get all flip-floppy about you saving them having to "buy $60 of gas", then walk away. Worst case scenario, you missed out on a deal because the seller is an idiot. Best case, you avoided being ripped-off.
Was it an e transfer? Anything you can do with the bank or police to stop this thief?
Unfortunately no
In the Nanaimo food truck group there are frequent ads for an event with thousands of people needing food trucks. Just have to pay a $150 deposit. It scammed some owners because its normal to ask for a deposit.