Scammed on Facebook Marketplace: The tiny detail this mum missed

"This is embarrassing…I am just so upset.”

Image: Facebook @mumsonabudgetaustralia / iStock

In a cost of living crisis, buying secondhand goods on Facebook Marketplace can be a lifesaver for families on a tight budget. 

One mum however had a word of warning after she tried to treat herself for her 30th birthday and ended up the victim of a scam.

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"This is so embarrassing"

Writing in the Mums on a Budget - Australia Facebook group, she describes how as a regular user who had not experienced problems in the past, this caught her off guard. 

“This is so embarrassing... but I think I've been scammed,” the woman who is undergoing radiation treatment wrote.

“I spent the last of my money and got myself a very early 30th birthday present…three Sol De Janeiro body mists from a seller located in the Sunshine Coast area of Queensland.” 

She describes how she tried to ensure he was a legitimate seller by requesting that he send her a photo of his ID, which he did and it matched with the Pay ID name he gave.

So she sent the money to him in good faith and never heard from him again.. 

“I'm so upset. I'm a single mother who can't look for work until four weeks after my treatments finish. I'd been wanting these scents for ages.”

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"It's a scam"

One of the women in the group replying to her post searched up the items and came across the photo of the product and the same seller that the OP tried to buy from. 

She instantly could tell he was a scammer with one tiny detail: “He joined Facebook in 2024 - it’s a dead giveaway - it's a scam.”

Another user confirmed: “I never ever ever buy from anyone who hasn’t been on Facebook for at least a few years. He joined this year. Immediate red flag to me that it’s a scammer.”

While there are exceptions to this rule, it seems many of the mums agreed the date of joining Facebook was a good clue to the seller’s legitimacy.

And in regards to using Pay ID  to transfer money online, other mums had tips.

One said she has gone old school: “I only ever do cash when buying things on Marketplace. I don't trust Pay ID so I dont have it.”

And another added: “PayPal is safer as anything Pay ID you won’t get back…I never do Pay ID unless they come to my house.”

While the OP says she will never make this same mistake again, there was a happy ending. One of the kind mums in the group offered to send her some Sol Janeiro scents she had at home for the cost of the postage which means she will get her birthday treat after all.

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Selling safely on Facebook Marketplace

Here are some safety tips for selling items from Facebook Marketplace, according to Facebook's Safety Centre.

• If you're meeting someone in person, we recommend arranging your meeting in a public, well-lit area. Create and share your meeting plan with a trusted friend or family member through Messenger.
• Don't share personal information like your address or phone number in the listing itself. Communicate these details only when necessary to complete the transaction.
• If you see something that you think is a scam, you should stop communicating with the buyer or seller and report the suspected scam to Facebook.

Originally published as Scammed on Facebook Marketplace: The tiny detail this mum missed