Deb Hann – Senior Constable
This week I am again prompted to remind you about Facebook fraud. Facebook Marketplace is an unregulated trading platform. While a lot of legitimate people use it, there are equally those recidivist fraudsters who use it purely to exploit victims for cash.
Senior Constable Deb Hann – On the Beat
Yes, I have mentioned this before, but we continue to get complaints resulting from those who are taken in by opportunists and lose money as a result, sometimes large amounts. These losses could have been avoided.
As always, I do not recommend ever making any large purchases involving online payment through Facebook marketplace, sight unseen. If you cannot meet the seller in person to check the item exists and is as described before making payment in cash or online, you are choosing to expose yourself to financial risk.
Fraudsters will often post a photo of an item online and thereafter effectively re-sell the same item repeatedly defrauding people. In most cases, they were never in actual physical possession of the item they were selling in the first place.
When communicating with sellers, look out for any inconsistencies in the language used in their messaging and location details. If it is an overseas fraudster, there may be spelling errors or use of phrases that are not in common use in New Zealand. I would also question whether a legitimate overseas company would sell high value products via Facebook marketplace.
Fraudsters often create fake profiles to commit crime. Check the profile of the person you are dealing – when did they join Facebook, do they have many Facebook friends or follow any pages that indicate normal social media use? In short, do your due diligence.
When selling items on Facebook marketplace, be wary of overseas based purchasers giving odd stories about why they are buying an item in Cambridge. Do not give away too much information to sellers in advance.
For example, if you provide a purchaser with your home address for item pickup, and then tell them you can’t meet them at a certain day or time as you will be out or away, you are advertising an opportunity for burglary.
In reality, you simply do not know who is behind any Facebook profile – unless you know them personally – regardless of the name or photo they display.
Finally in the last seven days Cambridge Police have dealt with the following incidents: 12 reports of car crime, seven thefts (retail and other), three fraud matters, a wilful damage, seven family harm incidents, a parole recall warrant, two bail breaches, two drink drivers and five other traffic incidents.
