New data from NAB reveals that customer reports of buying and selling scams increased by 78% in the final quarter of 2023, with most incidents involving social media or online marketplaces. While the bank did not name Facebook Marketplace specifically, other sources confirm the platform accounts for the majority of online buying scams.
Facebook Marketplace launched less than a decade ago as a safer alternative to anonymous platforms like Gumtree, linking each listing to a user's Facebook account to build trust. However, it has become overrun with scammers, according to analysts and victims.
Ryan Hansen, an analyst at IDCare, a national identity crime service, regularly poses as a victim to expose scammers. In one example, he found a suspicious listing for a 2010 Hilux ute priced at $5,000. The seller's profile was created in 2008, but the account had 80 identical listings for the same vehicle. When contacted, the seller asked to switch to email to avoid detection and claimed the ute was being sold through a car transport company. An official-looking email from a fake domain instructed Hansen to pay via Bitcoin ATM—a major red flag.
Other scams target sellers with phishing links, fake bank-transfer screenshots, or requests for driver's licenses that are then used for identity theft. Stolen accounts are often used to perpetrate further scams, leading to victims showing up at the wrong address to collect goods.
Despite Facebook's initial promise of connecting users with 'real people,' the platform now faces a crisis of trust as scam tactics evolve. Meta, Facebook's owner, has not commented on the latest figures.
