How To Protect Your Wealth While Using Facebook Marketplace

If there’s one thing plenty of us love to do, it’s spend hours scrolling through social media each night. The best bit? This is now far more than a way to keep up with our loved ones. From finding hilarious videos to keeping up with the neighborhood and everything in between, it can be tough to pull ourselves away from that endless scrolling.

Another part that comes from scrolling through social media is finding all those bargains, but how are we meant to know if something is too good to be true? What if someone is trying to scam us out of money? Learning how to protect your wealth while using Facebook Marketplace could be just the thing we need.

1. Don’t take communication off of Facebook

Not many people know that Facebook will protect Marketplace purchases through its Purchase Protection policies. Scammers do. That’s why so many are keen to move communication away from the app and through other messaging platforms, often asking buyers to send money before they can ship the item or to make sure it’s secure. If you want to keep yourself safe, be sure to keep all communication through Facebook alone and be wary of anyone asking to use another form of communication.

2. Be wary of people offering to ship items

The best way to protect yourself while using Facebook Marketplace is to only buy items that you can collect in person. Of course, you should always let someone know where you are, meet in a public area, and bring someone along if you can. What about an item that seems perfect but it needs to be shipped? Those are better off ignored. Most of the time, people simply get the money for the item and then never ship anything. If you absolutely have to have something shipped, be sure to have the seller send up-to-date videos and photos as well as tracking numbers - and only ever pay through Facebook Checkout.

3. Don’t pay a deposit to hold items

If something is in high demand, you might find someone asking for a deposit to ensure you’re the one who gets the item. At least, that’s what a scammer might tell you. In these cases, they don’t have people lining up to buy something and instead want to get their hands on some money before disappearing. Even if something seems legit and you trust the person, don’t pay a deposit to make sure it’s yours. Instead, it’s always best to hand over cash in person once you have seen the item.

4. Consider the original price of designer items

Sadly, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Those Lululemon jackets and brand-new Coach bags might seem like a steal, but they could be nothing more than a scam if the prices are well below what they should be. Plenty of scammers prey on people looking for a cheap deal and will use this to their advantage. If you want to check if something is legit, try reverse image searching to see if the item has been listed elsewhere. Even if it’s not, think about why someone would be selling something for such little money.

5. Be cautious when entering Facebook giveaways

Plenty of scammers now use social media to their advantage, hoping people will click on fake links and enter fake giveaways before harmful malware is downloaded onto someone’s phone or computer. From there, they often have access to all your passwords and can do some pretty dangerous things. If something sounds like it could be fake or seems just a little too dreamy, think twice before clicking that link. If you’re really worried, you can always report the post and allow Facebook to investigate to help save other people from falling for the scam.

6. Check the seller’s account and check the age

Setting up a fake Facebook profile is pretty easy. All you need is an email and some stolen photos to get started. Even though these accounts often get flagged and reported, scammers don’t always need long to make a sale. Check someone’s profile before making any purchases through Facebook Marketplace to see if they’re someone to be trusted a little more or if they have only just made their profile and suddenly have hundreds of items for sale. If it’s the latter, there’s a good chance this could be nothing more than a fake page.

It might not be so hard to learn how to protect your wealth while using Facebook Marketplace. However, a few simple tips could be the difference between finding the deal of a lifetime or losing a ton of our hard-earned money.