Calgary police are warning people shopping on peer-to-peer buy-and-sell sites like Facebook Marketplace to be vigilant about knowing who they are dealing with.
Const. Mark Hennessey with the Economic Crimes Unit Fraud Team said shoppers can be lulled into complacency believing they know the person they are talking to.
“Unless you know the person in real life, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Do I really know who this is?'” Hennessey said.
Global News reached out to police and Facebook Marketplace after a Calgary couple sent photos of a post for a vehicle they paid for but never received.
The couple said they paid $2,500 for the vehicle using Bitcoin.
Police said they’re hearing about these types of scams more often.
Hennessey added that just because it’s on social media it doesn’t necessarily mean the ad or the profile is legitimate.
“I think this can lull you into a false sense of security and not make you exercise a diligence that you need when you’re performing this kind of transaction.”
Hennessey suggested buyers or sellers meet in a public place and whenever possible, use cash.
“The issue with Bitcoin, wire transfers or other unusual payment methods is that there are really no back end consumer protections there,” he said. “There’s no way to dispute the payment and potentially there’s no way to get your money back if it is fraudulent.”
Global News also asked Facebook what it is doing to protect consumers on sites like Marketplace — a recently-added tab in the Facebook app that lets users buy and sell items in their communities.
Facebook directed us to its safety tips page, but also told us it is looking into this specific case.
Calgary police said in certain cases they can track down the person behind the ad, especially if they’re local.
They can also work with various sites to make sure the fake ads are taken down and no one else is scammed.
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