Smithville Police Department Warns of Facebook Marketplace Scams During Holidays

November 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The Smithville Police Department, which has been receiving numerous complaints of late, is issuing some tips to guard against Facebook Marketplace scams especially during the holidays.

Captain Steven Leffew, on behalf of the department, has released the following information:

To buy and sell safely on Facebook Marketplace, you should check seller and buyer profiles, meet in a public place when selling or purchasing an item, have a friend or relative accompany you for the exchange of goods, use secure payment methods and more.

Continue reading to learn more about Facebook Marketplace scams and how to stay safe from them when selling or buying on the platform.

What Is Facebook Marketplace?
Facebook Marketplace is a section of Facebook where you can use your account to discover, buy and sell new or used items such as sporting goods or furniture. Facebook Marketplace uses your geographic location to determine items that are listed for sale near you. When you spot an item you want to purchase, you contact the seller via the Messenger app and offer a price. If the seller accepts your offer, you make a plan with the seller on how you’re going to pick up the item and pay for it.

Facebook Marketplace is a convenient way for users to purchase items at a discount. You can think of Facebook Marketplace as similar to Craigslist or Ebay.

When buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, all contact between a seller and buyer takes place on the Messenger app. Facebook strongly encourages you not to exchange phone numbers for personal safety reasons.

How To Safely Buy on Facebook Marketplace
Here are a few tips for buying on Facebook Marketplace safely.

Check seller profiles and reviews. One of the first things you should do before deciding whether you want to buy an item off of Facebook Marketplace is to check the profile and reviews of the seller. Fraudulent sellers often make fake profiles to trick potential buyers into buying an item that they don’t actually have.

When checking a seller’s profile, you may notice reviews left by other buyers. Pay attention to what those reviews have said about the seller. If a seller’s profile does not have reviews, you’ll want to be careful about purchasing an item from them because no reviews can be a sign of a fake profile or an unvetted seller.

Pick up items instead of having them delivered
Facebook Marketplace asks sellers if they want to enable the option to ship items rather than have the buyer pick them up. A common scam on Facebook Marketplace takes advantage of this feature by taking payment for an item, but never shipping it, or shipping an item in worse condition than advertised. It’s best to pick up the item instead, because it allows you to inspect it in person to determine if the item being sold is as described by the seller. Picking up the item in person also ensures that you aren’t being scammed into paying for an item that you won’t receive.

Meet the seller in a public place
When picking up an item that you plan to purchase, make sure you choose to meet the seller in a public place, if possible. This may not be possible with larger items like couches or other types of big furniture. If you know the item you’re purchasing is small, meeting the seller in a public place is the best way to pick it up because you’ll know there will be other people around you in case anything happens such as the seller trying to rob you. To be extra safe, you can ask if the seller can meet you in front of a police station.

Have a friend accompany you when picking up an item
When picking up an item you’re purchasing from Facebook Marketplace, especially if it’s a larger item you need to pick up from the seller’s house, you should never go alone. Always have a friend or relative accompany you. If you don’t have a person to accompany you on the day and time you’re going to pick up the item, let a friend or relative know when and where you’re meeting the seller.

Inspect the item you’re buying before paying
Some sellers may attempt to scam you into purchasing an item that is not as they described online. Before paying the seller, inspect the item thoroughly to ensure that it meets expectations and that you want to purchase it how it is.

Use secure payment methods
When buying an item from Facebook Marketplace, make sure you’re always using secure payment methods. One secure payment method includes PayPal, which will investigate fraud claims for you, as a buyer, unlike Venmo.

When paying for an item, avoid paying with cash, especially if you know the item you’re paying for requires you to carry large amounts of it. Instead, choose PayPal as your form of payment or another 3rd party application that investigates fraud claims. Carrying large amounts of cash makes you a target. If something were to happen during your transaction, you risk losing your money. If the seller insists that you pay them in cash, this should be a red flag that they may be a scammer.

How to Safely Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Here are a few tips for selling on Facebook Marketplace safely.

Check buyer profiles and reviews
Similar to buying an item from Facebook Marketplace, you should also check the buyer’s profile and reviews when you’re selling an item. Many scammers will create fake Facebook accounts and pretend they want to purchase an item. When sellers are scammed on Facebook Marketplace, what often happens is buyers pay and it looks like the payment goes through, but later on it’s rejected, meaning sellers never receive the payment. Sellers essentially give an item away for free.

Meet the buyer in a public place
When selling an item on Facebook Marketplace, try to avoid meeting the buyer at your home whenever you can, and instead meet them in a public place. This might not be possible for larger items that are difficult to move. However, with any item you can easily carry, meeting the buyer in a public place is the most secure option. This ensures that you’re surrounded by others in case anything were to go wrong.

Notify a friend or relative that you’re meeting someone
When meeting a potential buyer, you should try your best to have a friend or relative tag along with you. If this is not possible, the next best thing is to notify a friend or relative where and when you’ll be meeting the buyer for the exchange of goods.

Don’t accept overpayment
Some scammers will attempt to overpay you when paying for the item they want to purchase. Never accept the overpayment, it’s a sign of a common scam. A scammer will overpay you so they can ask you to pay the difference. If you pay the difference, you’ll see that the initial payment that the buyer sent was false and you never successfully received it – meaning you will have lost both the money you “returned” and the item you “sold.”

Don’t hand the item over until you receive the payment
When it comes to selling an item, you have to be careful about handing the item over until you receive a legitimate payment. Handing over an item and walking away without checking if the payment is legitimate means you may have given an item away for free.

The Risks of Buying and Selling on Facebook Marketplace
Here are a few risks of buying and selling on Facebook Marketplace.

Can lead to financial loss
Scams are everywhere, including on Facebook Marketplace. If you don’t take precautions when buying or selling items on Facebook Marketplace, you may end up losing money. According to Tech Jury, over one billion users are active on Facebook Marketplace and scammers have targeted one in six of those users.
Two of the most common scams on Facebook Marketplace are scammers approaching users with fake Facebook accounts and scammers not delivering items that buyers have already paid for.

Bait-and-switch scams
Bait-and-switch is a scam in which sellers offer a too-good-to-be-true deal on an item. When attempting to purchase the item, the seller may raise the price. In this type of scam, the seller lures potential buyers with low prices and then tries to sell them a different item that is more expensive. If you notice that after messaging a buyer they increase the price of the item, don’t continue messaging them, as this is a bait-and-switch scam.

Fake payments
Scammers also target sellers on Facebook Marketplace. A common scam that targets sellers is fake payments. This may be by a scammer sending you a fake screenshot that they’ve sent you a payment when in reality they haven’t. You should always ensure that you successfully receive payment from the buyer before shipping out an item or handing it to them.

What To Do if You’ve Been Scammed on Facebook Marketplace
If you’ve been scammed when attempting to buy or sell on Facebook Marketplace, here’s what you should do.

Report the seller or buyer to Facebook
If you believe you’ve been scammed on Facebook Marketplace, the first thing you should do is report the seller or buyer to Facebook. To do this, take the following steps:

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Click the Marketplace symbol.
3. Click on the seller’s profile that you wish to report.
4. Click the seller’s name.
5. Click the three dots, and then click “Report.”
6. Follow the instructions on your screen.

File a police report
Apart from reporting the seller or buyer to Facebook, you may also report them to your local police department. Filing a police report will help the police be aware of Facebook Marketplace scams happening locally.

File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center 
After reporting the seller or buyer to Facebook and filing a police report, file a report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. You can do this by going to their site. Reporting the crime to the FBI helps them register scams and determine if there are any patterns and trends they can use to catch scammers and other cybercriminals.

Keep Safe From Facebook Marketplace Scams
Facebook Marketplace is a convenient way to shop for items at a discounted price, but because it’s online, it comes with the risk of online scammers. When buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, make sure you’re following the tips above to keep yourself safe and avoid financial losses.

November 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Lady Tigers went 2-0 in the Hall of Fame Play-Day at Gordonsville Saturday, but the Tigers were 0-2 for the day.

The Lady Tigers defeated Liberty Creek 57 to 36 and Gordonsville 60 to 45 while the Tigers lost to Liberty Creek 61 to 43 and to Clay County 58 to 56.

In the girls game against Liberty Creek, DC led 12 to 4 after the 1st period, 27 to 20 at halftime, and 49 to 25 after the 3rd period before notching the 57 to 36 win.

Ella VanVranken led in scoring for DC with 23 points followed by Chloe VanVranken with 12, Avery Agee and Tess Barton each with 6, Hannah Brown 4, and Allie Melton and Lillie Young each with 3.

In the game with Gordonsville, the Lady Tigers led 16 to 11 after the 1st period, 31 to 22 at halftime, and 50 to 33 after the 3rd period before going onto win 60 to 45.

Ella VanVranken scored 25 followed by Chloe Vanvranken 14, Avery Agee and Tess Barton each with 8, Allie Melton 3, and Bella Rackley with 2.

For the Tigers in their game with Liberty Creek, DC trailed 12 to 10 after the 1st period, 25 to 18 at halftime, and 48 to 29 after the 3rd period before losing 61 to 43.

Conner Close led the Tigers in scoring with 17 followed by Seth Fuson, Ian Colwell, and Alex Antoniak each with 5, Logan Duke, Jordan Parker, and Jon Hendrix each scored 3 and Kaleb Spears had 2.

In the game with Clay County, the Tigers led 20 to 15 after the 1st period and 35 to 31 at halftime. The Tigers were up 52 to 44 after the 3rd period but were outscored in the 4th period and lost to Clay County 58 to 56.

Dallas Kirby led in scoring for the Tigers with 21 points followed by Jon Hendrix with 15, Conner Close 6, Seth Fuson and Alex Antoniak each with 5, Ian Colwell 3, and Jordan Parker with 1.

The Lady Tigers, 2-1, will travel to Providence Christian Friday. November 24th. The Tigers, 0-3, currently have no games scheduled this week.

November 19, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Two Blood Assurance drives are scheduled this week.

A DeKalb County Neighbors Helping Neighbors Blood Assurance Drive will be November 20 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the County Complex in front of the Senior Citizens Center at 718 South Congress Boulevard. The blood drive will be on the mobile. All donors will receive a pair of “Turkey and Football” socks inspired by Friends! (while supplies last). To schedule an appointment, go to Bloodassurance.org/dekalbco or contact Jimmy Poss at 615-464-7426 or jimposs72@yahoo.com.

Meanwhile, another Blood Assurance Drive will be November 21 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Family Medical Center, 302 North Congress Boulevard, Smithville. The blood drive will be on the mobile. All donors will receive a pair of “Turkey and Football” socks inspired by Friends! (while supplies last). To schedule an appointment, go to Bloodassurance.org/fmc or contact Michiko Martin at 615-597-4395.

Please remember to EAT A GOOD MEAL and drink additional water, avoid energy drinks, and bring your ID. Blood Assurance is the SOLE blood provider for our local hospitals. One donation can save three lives.

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