Facebook Marketplace Scams: How to Spot Them and What to Do

A Facebook Marketplace scam usually tries to get you to pay before you’ve seen the item, accept a fake or reversible payment, move the conversation off Facebook, or share a verification code. The safest habits are simple: buy and sell locally in person, inspect items before paying, meet in a busy public place, and never send a deposit, gift card, crypto or code to a stranger. If you’ve already been scammed, contact your bank immediately and report the listing to Facebook.

Most people on Marketplace are genuine buyers and sellers. The trick is recognizing the handful of patterns that scams share, whichever side of the sale you’re on. The same patterns turn up on other sites, as our guides to Craigslist scams and Etsy scams show.

How Marketplace scams usually work

Scammers change their stories constantly, so this isn’t a complete list. But most scams fall into a few broad types.

Scams that target buyers

• Pay first, never receive. A great deal on a popular item, a seller who “can’t meet” and asks for a deposit or full payment by a payment app, and then nothing arrives.
• Rental and ticket listings that don’t exist. A home or event tickets at a tempting price, with a request for a deposit before you can view anything.
• Counterfeit or faulty goods that look fine in photos and are only discovered once you get home.
• Fake shipping or escrow services, where the seller sends a link to a site that looks official and asks you to pay there.

Scams that target sellers

• Verification code requests. A “buyer” asks you to read back a code sent to your phone “to prove you’re real”. That code is often being used to set up an account or phone number in your name, or to get into one of yours.
• Overpayment. The buyer sends more than the price, by check or a payment that later bounces or is reversed, and asks you to refund the difference.
• Fake payment notifications. An email or text that looks like it’s from a payment service, saying money is waiting and you need to click a link, upgrade your account or pay a fee to release it.
• Prepaid shipping label or courier setups, where a remote buyer insists on arranging pickup and payment in a way that leaves you with no item and no money.

Warning signs of a Facebook Marketplace scam

One sign on its own may be innocent. Several together should make you stop.

• The price is well below what similar items sell for
• The seller or buyer is far away and can’t meet, but still wants to deal
• They want to move to text, email or another messaging app right away
• They ask for payment by gift card, crypto, wire transfer or a payment app’s “friends and family” option
• They send links to pay, to “confirm” a sale or to track a delivery
• They ask for a verification code, your email address to “send payment” or personal details the sale doesn’t need
• They pressure you to act fast because “someone else is interested”
• The profile is very new, has few friends, or has no history of buying and selling
• The listing photos look like they came from a store’s website

How to buy safely on Marketplace

1. Check the seller’s profile. Look at how long it’s existed, any ratings and whether it looks like a real person. A reverse image search of the listing photo can show whether it was copied from elsewhere.
2. Stay in Messenger. Keeping the conversation on Facebook means you keep a record and can report the account easily.
3. Buy locally and inspect before paying. Test electronics, check serial numbers where you can, and try on or measure items.
4. Meet in a busy public place. Many police departments designate safe exchange spots, often a well-lit lot or lobby with cameras. Otherwise choose a busy store entrance or cafe in daylight.
5. Take someone with you, or at least tell a friend where you’re going, who you’re meeting and when you expect to be back.
6. Pay only once you have the item. Cash in person is simple for small purchases. For larger ones, use a method your bank or card provider tells you offers protection, and understand that many payment app transfers work like cash and can’t easily be reversed.
7. Be cautious with shipped items. Facebook has offered checkout and purchase protection for some shipped listings, but where it exists it only applies if you pay through Facebook’s own checkout on an eligible listing. Paying outside Facebook usually means that protection doesn’t apply. Check Facebook’s current purchase protection terms before relying on it.

For rentals, never pay a deposit for a place you haven’t seen in person, and confirm that the person you’re dealing with actually owns or manages it before signing anything. Our guide to rental scams explains how to check a listing and its owner, and our ticket scam guide covers fake event tickets.

How to sell safely on Marketplace

1. Only accept payment you can confirm. Check that money has actually arrived by opening your bank or payment app directly, not by clicking an email or text.
2. Don’t accept overpayments. If someone pays more than the asking price and wants a refund of the difference, decline and cancel the sale.
3. Be wary of checks and cashier’s checks from strangers. A check can appear to clear and still bounce days later, leaving you responsible for the money.
4. Meet in public, and don’t give out your home address for pickup if you can avoid it. For large items that must be collected from home, have someone else there.
5. Don’t hand over the item until you’re paid. A buyer who wants the item first and promises to pay later is a risk.
6. Ignore anyone who wants to “verify” you. Real buyers ask about the item, not your identity.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real person or client.

Priya lists a stroller for sale. Within minutes, a buyer messages to say they’ll take it and asks for her phone number “to confirm she’s a real seller”. Shortly after, a text arrives with a six-digit code, and the buyer asks her to send it over.

Priya recognizes this as a code scam. She doesn’t reply, reports the buyer’s profile to Facebook and blocks them. The next day, a different buyer asks to see the stroller in person, and they meet in the lobby of her local police station, which her city lists as a safe exchange spot. The buyer pays cash after checking the brakes and folding mechanism.

Had Priya shared the code, the scammer could have used it to set up a phone number or account tied to her details, which she’d then have to unwind.

What to do if you’ve been scammed on Marketplace

1. Stop contact. Don’t send more money to “fix” the problem or get a refund. That’s often a second stage of the scam.
2. Contact your bank, card provider or payment app immediately. Explain what happened and ask whether the payment can be stopped, disputed or reversed. Timing matters, and results vary by payment method.
3. Save everything: the listing, the seller’s or buyer’s profile link, messages, receipts and transaction IDs. Take screenshots before the account disappears.
4. Report the listing and the profile to Facebook using the reporting option on the listing or in the conversation.
5. If you paid through Facebook’s checkout, check whether the purchase is eligible for Facebook’s purchase protection and follow its claim process.
6. Report the fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. For a local in-person theft or robbery, contact your police department.
7. Secure your accounts if you shared a code, password or personal details. Change passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, and check your Facebook login activity. Our guide on what to do if your Facebook account is hacked can help if you’ve lost access.

If you shared your Social Security number, ID photos or bank details, follow our guide to what to do if your identity is stolen, and consider a credit freeze.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Paying a deposit to “hold” an item. Genuine sellers can hold an item without money, or simply sell to whoever arrives first.
• Clicking payment links in email or text. Check payments only in the real app or on your bank’s site.
• Trusting a profile because it has a photo and a name. Fake and hacked accounts look just as normal.
• Posting the scammer’s details publicly. It rarely helps and can create legal and safety problems. Report to Facebook and the authorities instead.
• Paying a “recovery” service. Firms that contact you promising to get your money back for a fee are commonly a follow-up scam.

When a scam affects your own reputation

Scammers sometimes use real people’s names or hacked profiles to list fake items, and victims then leave angry comments or posts about the person they think scammed them. If your name or profile has been used in Marketplace scams, report the impersonation to Facebook, post a short warning to your friends, and keep screenshots showing the account isn’t yours. Our guide to reporting a Facebook account covers the reporting options, and our personal reputation management team can help if accusations start appearing in search results for your name.

Frequently asked questions

Does Facebook refund you if you get scammed on Marketplace?

Only in limited cases. Facebook’s purchase protection can cover eligible purchases made through its own checkout. Payments made outside Facebook, such as cash or a payment app transfer, generally aren’t covered, so contact your bank or payment provider instead.

Why do Marketplace buyers ask for a verification code?

To use your phone number to set up or take over an account, often a calling app number or one of your own logins. No real buyer needs a code. Don’t share it, and report the account.

Is it safe to give my phone number to a Marketplace buyer?

It’s usually unnecessary. Keeping the conversation in Messenger gives you a record and easy reporting. If you do share a number, never share any code sent to it.

How do I report a Facebook Marketplace scam?

Report the listing and the profile to Facebook, contact your bank or payment app if you paid, and report the fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. Call the police for in-person theft or threats.