Marketplace scam 10 January at 10:52AM edited 2 June at 4:17PM in Ask An Expert: Archive 4 replies 419 views

JulieWilde

I’ve been scammed on Marketplace. I’m resigned to the fact there probably nothing I can do but wondered if there is?  Facebook have no way of reporting this that I can find.  The seller is still listing and not responding to messages. Is there anything I can do?

SpillerMRS

Is it worth screen-shotting and sending to Police? I'm sure that sounds like something they wouldn't be bothered with but you never know - may connect some dots if there is other criminal activity afoot. Very frustrating and horrible thing to happen

MovingForwards

JulieWilde said:

I’ve been scammed on Marketplace. I’m resigned to the fact there probably nothing I can do but wondered if there is?  Facebook have no way of reporting this that I can find.  The seller is still listing and not responding to messages. Is there anything I can do?

Have a read through this section:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/ebay-auctions-car-boot-jumble-sales

As the question does pop up almost weekly. 

If you need further information post a thread and confirm how you paid etc as the members are quite knowledgeable.

MSE_Katie

Thanks for your question @JulieWilde. Did you transfer money to the scammer online and never receive the item? Or did you exchange money for an item that's faulty in person?

MSE_Katie

Transcript of the video above:

So the idea of Facebook Marketplace is that you meet up with people in your local area to exchange goods for cash. So that's why it's really popular for things like furniture, collectibles, clothing, things that are easy to go and pick up in your local community. However, Facebook's purchase protection doesn't apply if you make a transfer of money through Messenger or a transfer of money in person. It only applies if you use its own in-built payment tools.

Now, when you've been scammed on Facebook Marketplace, that's usually because somebody has messaged you and asked you to transfer payment before they post it. If that's happened to you, I suggest you go straight to your bank and you tell them what's happened. They can try something called chargeback, which is where your sending bank tries to claw back the money from the bank that received that money. It's a voluntary scheme, so it's not guaranteed to work. And you have to act very, very quickly, usually within 120 days. So get straight onto your bank, ask them if they can do anything to get the money back for you.