Got scammed - things to be careful about

[lemuero]

Howzit Carbonites,

I'd like to share my story from beginning of the week that everyone is aware of:

My Canon 400mm lens was up for sale on FB Marketplace, going through several dodgy enquires, I focused on one guy who seemed to be legit.
Profile was already 2 years old. Had a couple of images over the months with him and family and university stuff going on.
Then we meet up and his "cousin" came as the guy was held back in a meeting.

We talked on the phone. He will EFT instantly via Standard Bank to FNB.
We waited for it to reflect for an hour we sat there. I did receive a system sms of proof of payment,
AND a screenshot from his side with the transaction and his account number and reference numbers and all that.
We sat there and after an hour we decided to split ways as we all have stuff to do.
As a security he sent me a pic of his ID. I was skeptical but then again the system-sms for the pop seemed legit and so did the transaction screenshot from him.
Leaving the place with a weird feeling in my stomach, I drove home and ..... the money never came.
Phoning Standard Bank - they said that that account does not exist. However the proof of payment sms looked "legit" to them.
These guys were professionals. Fraud, Identity Theft and professional scamming with a unit.

Lesson learnt: never accept proof of payment, ID pictures, or any kind of security unless the money reflects in your bank account.
Be careful of accepting cash as there is a high chance its counterfeit cash.
Can't trust anyone, not even if ya'll vibe.

Good luck everyone out there.

 

[MR.C]

Did you get a pic of "the cousin"

 

[prevagov]

@lemuero

Sorry for your loss bud, I know marketplace is a hunting ground for scammers. Rule of thumb, never accept and pop or eft until the money reflects or the app itself confirms that money came through. I work a lot on marketplace and it's hard to avoid but these people that say (i'm sending my uncle , cousin , uber) to collect instead of them is a HUGE RED FLAG.

Also for future meetings , try a public space like a mcdonalds or police station this will allow you to have physical witnesses and also video footage of the person you dealt with.

I'm always wary when the profile is +- 2 years old and a few postings on the profile, hope these tips help in future.

 

[Oj0]

Rule to live by. Money not reflecting, act as if it was never paid until it reflects. Reflecting is the only thing that matters, and the only thing that can’t be faked.

 

[Deviation]

FB Marketplace gotten legit dangerous. One thing I noticed was how more dangerous and skilled these people are becoming.
I stopped Gumtree and FB completely. Just not worth it. Even on Carbonite, I try not to deal with people under 6-7 iTraders. Maybe I am becoming more paranoid, but the economic downturn is making more people desperate.

 

[odtech]

If you must deal on FB join groups local to you and ones related to your sales if you sell regularly. Don't post your ad on Marketplace directly and then share it to other groups. Create your post on a group and then share it from there, that way you can totaly skip marketplace and only advertise on groups you joined.

Since i've started doing that i've had significantly less scammers contacting me although it does take a bit longer to sell.

 

[D3TTOL]

Rule to live by. Money not reflecting, act as if it was never paid until it reflects. Reflecting is the only thing that matters, and the only thing that can’t be faked.

Exactly this....

I know it sucks being scammed but how freaking hard is it to just wait for the money to reflect?
If they want to pull out of the deal because you are not willing to hand an item over without the money reflecting then it's an obvious scam.

Jirre... is common sense a unique ability now?

 

[TRINITRON]

Once I had a geopay payment take over an hour to reflect and drove away with the items and then it reflected.

Maybe a coincidence or a feature 🤔.
Cause i was in an area ive never been before.

I think the guy figured it was better to let me leave than move into his house.

When you are legit and its not reflecting it is very embarrassing, but when you are the seller you should wait till it reflects even if you have to go watch a movie and have dinner with the guy

Once when i was the seller I sent off something before reflection because it seemed like my bank was the issue that day. Luckily the guy who came to collect in person was legit.

But for the second guy on the same day I took his word payment was done and booked the courier and they came before reflection but I didnt think to cancel the delivery part (same day delivery) cause of the delay with the first guy. And guess what, he didnt pay and got an m.2 ssd for free

 

[eY_b0ss]

FB Marketplace gotten legit dangerous. One thing I noticed was how more dangerous and skilled these people are becoming.
I stopped Gumtree and FB completely. Just not worth it. Even on Carbonite, I try not to deal with people under 6-7 iTraders. Maybe I am becoming more paranoid, but the economic downturn is making more people desperate.

Yeh shit. Jaco Basson was such a nice guy. He did a shit ton for the rugby scene, and was always there to help people till he got fucked by fb market place. RIP groot man. Dankie vir die brannas.

 

[cameronw]

Eish sorry for what happened to you.

Yes that is part of the new scam. Sometimes they would send a Uber driver to you to collect. Send u all the proof but nothing reflects.

So when they mention they will be sending Uer or Bolt to collect u tell them na deal is off. Scammers.

 

[∀Z‾soʇɐuɐɥ┴]

Howzit Carbonites,

I'd like to share my story from beginning of the week that everyone is aware of:

My Canon 400mm lens was up for sale on FB Marketplace, going through several dodgy enquires, I focused on one guy who seemed to be legit.
Profile was already 2 years old. Had a couple of images over the months with him and family and university stuff going on.
Then we meet up and his "cousin" came as the guy was held back in a meeting.

We talked on the phone. He will EFT instantly via Standard Bank to FNB.
We waited for it to reflect for an hour we sat there. I did receive a system sms of proof of payment,
AND a screenshot from his side with the transaction and his account number and reference numbers and all that.
We sat there and after an hour we decided to split ways as we all have stuff to do.
As a security he sent me a pic of his ID. I was skeptical but then again the system-sms for the pop seemed legit and so did the transaction screenshot from him.
Leaving the place with a weird feeling in my stomach, I drove home and ..... the money never came.
Phoning Standard Bank - they said that that account does not exist. However the proof of payment sms looked "legit" to them.
These guys were professionals. Fraud, Identity Theft and professional scamming with a unit.

Lesson learnt: never accept proof of payment, ID pictures, or any kind of security unless the money reflects in your bank account.
Be careful of accepting cash as there is a high chance its counterfeit cash.
Can't trust anyone, not even if ya'll vibe.

Good luck everyone out there.

I would be severely worried about receiving a screenshot from any banking app if done on a mobile phone as generally these apps don't allow you to take screenshots...
The sending of an ID is a massive red flag as well.

Safest thing to do when getting an sms is checking it on the originating bank's site to validate the payment, but even if it does validate, don't release shit to anyone you don't know till the money reflects in your account.

 

[gilani777]

I would be severely worried about receiving a screenshot from any banking app if done on a mobile phone as generally these apps don't allow you to take screenshots...
The sending of an ID is a massive red flag as well.

Safest thing to do when getting an sms is checking it on the originating bank's site to validate the payment, but even if it does validate, don't release shit to anyone you don't know till the money reflects in your account.

These should be the two items to rememberer when doing any deal:
1) if they send you a ID picture - run
2) if the cash/EFT doesn't reflect - stay

 

[johnny_h]

If you value your time, rather sell here for a lower price than put something on Facebook Marketplace.
90% of the messages are from scammers wanting to pay with PayPal, or send an Uber to pick up or want me to drive to them in fuckoffville and deliver.

All kinds of profiles, often a few years old with only a few random posts months apart, its alot of scammers that makes it a complete waste of time.

It's also very easy to send a fake pop sms, they just use a bulk sms provider that will send the sms from a non cellphone number with the text from a legit eft sms just edited with your details.
Like everyone says, pop is worthless, the only thing that matters is if your bank balance increases

 

[albaster]

A bit of devils advocate. I have purchased from marketplace plenty of times after spotting 92% scammers and eventually getting the legit guys.
The last purchase I missed was a case of me wanting to send a friend.
I did ask seller what he preferred as a payment method and that I’d be happy to do either way. I could eft him direct once my friend is there and he only releases upon reflection or I could eft my buddy to withdraw cash and hand off on collection. I then got ghosted by the seller and the deal never happened.

So even though I do understand him being careful, where do we draw the line on someone being sent automatically being a scammer?

I did this because I’m based in the cbd and the seller was in Simon’s town. I happen to have a buddy who stays there and comes through my way daily for work. Just made things so much easier for me to ask him as opposed to the long commute.

 

[SouljaMan]

Not sure about other banks, but with Standard Bank if you get them to create you as a 'Beneficiary' on their bank account profile, the money will usually go through a lot quicker.
If they say no to doing this, then walk away.

 

[biltongbites]

Sorry for the experience you had. I tend to walk away from the deal once the person starts saying they will send a courier or will send a screenshot as proof. Funds need to be in my bank before I let the item go. I also like to have a video call with the person to discuss the sale before meeting because it seems like scammers hate video calls.