Police are warning Northlanders of the dangers posed by scammers on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Tania Whyte
Facebook Marketplace is fast becoming a hunting ground for scammers with one Northlander having been conned out of $15,000.
Constable Trae Harrison, who investigates fraud in the Whangārei and Kaipara districts, said they had received 53 complaints about the social media buy and sell forum since the start of the year.
And there was no sign the volume of complaints would ease with police flat out trying to investigate as many as possible, he said.
Harrison described how many of the scams involved phony Facebook profiles where sellers used a fake account and false name to make an empty promise to ship items paid for by buyers.
“As soon as they’re done with their scam they cancel their account and disappear with their money.”
In one poor Northlander’s case, they were scammed out of $15,000 on Facebook Marketplace during a “single unfulfilled purchase” with many more users having lost hundreds of dollars.
“It can be hugely devastating for some people losing that kind of money.”
Those scammers used any items “you could imagine” to commit fraud, Harrison said.
Other cons involved people showing “easy to fake” screenshots of bank transfers or quickly cancelling a transaction before the money actually leaves their account in order to obtain the goods for free.
“The way [Facebook Marketplace] is set up is it’s an international company so you don’t have the consumer protection, say,…
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