(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester Police Department is warning the public about a Facebook Marketplace scam which cost a Rochester woman $1,000.
According to the department’s Crime Prevention & Communications Coordinator Amanda Grayson, the 21-year-old was attempting to sell clothing on the social media platform’s sales network.
The woman was told the scammer would pay her via Venmo, and received an email indicating the payment was sent to her. The e-mail requested a $500 upgrade fee to become a business account and access the money. She then sent $500 using Apple Pay to an email address provided by the scammer.
When the seller was still unable to access the payment in her Venmo account, she called a phone number in the email and was told to send $500 in bitcoin. After she was still unable to access the payment, she realized she had been scammed.
Facebook reminds users, when talking to buyers and sellers, you should avoid:
- Communicating with buyers or sellers privately outside of Facebook and Messenger. This may look like:
- Requests to contact other individuals (example: relatives of the seller) that are not the true owner of the Facebook account.
- Users contacting you about a Marketplace listing outside of Marketplace (example: from Instagram).
People that push you to move quickly to complete a sale, or pressure you to complete the sale immediately. This can be an attempt to get around any normal safe practices.
Messages or emails directly from the seller telling you that there was something wrong with your payment.
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