How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
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Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#2Wow, for once a PayPal story where someone didn't get screwed.
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#3> The next morning, I called PayPal and asked them how the seller could’ve opened a case on my behalf against themselves. They weren’t sure.
That's scary :/
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#4When I do FB marketplace I go cash and in-person. It lets you assess the quality of whatever you're buying.
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#5Interesting story - I wonder how they managed to manipulate the Paypal account of the victim. Clearly Paypal has a problem there.
But the other issue is that of general lawlessness and the fact that this scammer will get away with the attempted scamming, and probably do it to other people, too. For every person like the OP who manage, somehow, to protect themselves, there are 1000 others who don't. And there is the issue that the scammer broke the law, in their state and in the victims state, and probably federally, and yet there will be no action from law-enforcement. In such an environment, why not go into this kind of business? What's the downside? It seems to me that there isn't any downside. Sort of like committing perjury.
In general, how bad does it have to get before the law gets enforced?
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#6There's a lovely line in the original BitCoin paper which says:
> Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers.
The word "easily" is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there! Escrow is a difficult problem to solve. There is no infallible smart-contract which can protect both buyers and sellers. There's just a lot of messy human interaction which - if the stakes are high enough - can only be resolved in court.
Are PayPal's protections sloppy? Probably. Is Facebook Marketplace a cess-pit? Mostly. Can technology solve a cultural problem? I think we all know the answer to that!
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#7When I do FB marketplace I go cash and in-person. It lets you assess the quality of whatever you're buying.
This is the way.
Does FB Marketplace even have any sort of reputation system? Or are you banking entirely on the age of the account?
I'm a heavy Facebook user, but I avoid FB Marketplace like the plague. Just seems like a great place to get scammed.
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#8[deleted]
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#9Is it possible that the scammer works for paypal or has someone on the inside with access to open and close tickets?
Re: How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace (2023)
#10> (They asked early on for my phone number “for the tracking information,” which in retrospect doesn’t make a lot of sense.)
When I have shipped parcels (legitimately to people I know personally), the courier services have a place on the form for phone numbers. And I do generally try to make sure I fill in an accurate phone number.