How To Stop Scammers On Facebook Marketplace?

Published on: 19 July 2023 Last Updated on: 03 January 2024

Scammers are everywhere online these days, and it’s important to be aware of the different types of scams that you might encounter when buying and selling items on the Facebook marketplace.

Staying informed about potential scams that might be targeted toward you will help you protect your items, your personal information, and your money.

Our article gives you information on common Facebook marketplace scams and how to stop scammers on the Facebook marketplace.

What Is Facebook Marketplace?

Facebook marketplace is one of today’s most popular selling platforms for both used and new goods. Facebook users can easily navigate the marketplace to find items in their area and items that are available for shipping. It doesn’t charge any kind of fee for this service, which is part of what makes the platform so popular.

Common Facebook Marketplace Scams

As with any type of selling platform, scams are common on the Facebook marketplace. We give you an overview of the most common Facebook marketplace scams you might encounter.

1. Overpayment Scams

Overpayment scams are common both on and off the Facebook marketplace, and these scams involve the buyer claiming to have overpaid for the item by accident. They may try to show proof by providing some kind of receipt or screenshot of payment.

The buyer will then ask that you refund the difference, but once you do this, their original payment will be shown to be false or otherwise not processed. The buyer will then disappear, making off with the money that you sent them as a ‘refund.’

2. False Payment Scams

False payment scams involve the buyer sending you a payment receipt in order to get you to send a package or deliver an item.

These are often screenshots of false payments or utilize suspicious third-party apps. So, it’s important to always use a trusted payment app such as PayPal or Venmo and verify that payment is actually received before you take the next steps in the selling process.

3. Shipping Scams

Shipping scams are very common on most buying and selling platforms, and the Facebook marketplace is no exception. In these scams, a buyer may request that you go ahead and send a package before payment is received.

Alternatively, they may present you with a false payment receipt so that you will send the package. Buyers may also claim that a package was never received, and sellers on the Facebook marketplace may simply take your money and never ship your package.

These scams can be hard to catch at first, so always use common sense and scrutiny when dealing with shipping and receiving packages.

4. Bait and Switch Scams

Bait and switch scams involve the scammer listing a more valuable or popular item on the marketplace, but when you message them about that item, they tell you it has been sold. They may then offer you an item of inferior quality in the hopes that you settle for it and buy it.

5. False Listings

Fake listings, such as listings for apartments or other rentals, and listings that appear too good to be true for valuable items are often the cornerstone of this scam.

In these scams, you may be asked to fill out forms to obtain items or a rental, asked to put down a deposit, or asked to pay a holding fee, only for the rental or item listing to disappear. Then, the scammer vanishes with your money and information.

Tips for Stopping Facebook Marketplace Scammers

The following tips will help stop you from falling for scams when utilizing the Facebook marketplace. Always use caution and common sense when buying or selling online.

Make sure payments are fully received and processed before shipping any product; this stops you from losing the item if a payment turns out to be false.
Never engage with anyone who wants to send payments through sketchy third-party apps and always double-check who owns email addresses.
Always double-check electronics to make sure they are working and be wary of items that appear like they have been stolen.
If the price of something or a product is too good to be true, it likely is.
Never reveal codes that are texted to your phone, and never fill out any kind of form asking for your personal information in order to receive an item.
Always ask for tracking codes or provide tracking codes when shipping and receiving items to prevent false claims of lost packages and to ensure items are actually shipped.

To stop a Facebook marketplace scam for good, open the listing you believe is a scam. Tap on the three dots to open the menu, then navigate to the option that says ‘report listing.’ Tap or click on this, and Facebook will handle the scam listing.

You can also complete this method with the buyer by navigating to the messages exchanged with the buyer. Then, open the same menu by tapping or clicking on the three dots, and select ‘report buyer.’

Making Your Marketplace Experience Safe

Facebook marketplace is a powerful tool to help you buy and sell personal goods to locals in your area, or ship products to those farther away. However, the Facebook marketplace does have its share of scams, and it’s important to be wary as you utilize the platform. Keep your wits about you and remember our tips for stopping Facebook marketplace scammers in their tracks.

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Arnab

Arnab is a professional blogger, having an enormous interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of his professional commitments, He carries out sharing sentient blogs.

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6 Benefits of Microsoft 365 Security

Microsoft 365 is the integrated solution your business has been waiting for: If you're considering investing in Microsoft 365, or perhaps need a little more convincing, read through the list of benefits below. Here we cover details of Microsoft Office 365 security and compliance, enterprise-level mobility, and powerful solutions that help to optimize productivity – wherever your team is working. To get a clear picture of the benefits of Microsoft 365 we’ve sought the help of IT experts who are in the know. Microsoft Office 365 Security Features: When your employees work remotely, they carry a lot of sensitive data on their laptops and mobile devices. For business owners or managers, you want to be able to rest assured that this data is securely stored, while still being easily accessible to your workforce. The key security features included with Microsoft 365 are: Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Azure Information Protection P1 Intune Data Loss Protection These features protect against external threats such as hackers, phishing emails and malware, and prevent sensitive customer information - whether that's email addresses or credit card details - from leaving the organization. By purchasing all these features in a single package, you will also save a significant sum of money on your monthly subscription. Layered Security Approach: Microsoft 365 provides three levels of security: Threat protection. You will be protected from both common external threats, such as spam, phishing emails, and malware, while also receiving cutting-edge defense from more sophisticated threats, such as zero-day ransomware. Data leak protection. As previously stated, 365 prevents any sensitive data from leaving your system, which will provide peace of mind to any employer with a remote workforce. Control data access. You can customize your own level of security when it comes to sensitive data, by applying restrictions such as 'do not copy' or 'do not forward to certain information. You can also remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices. Advanced Threat Protection: If you suffer a malware attack, it could spell the beginning of the end for your business by resulting in lost work hours, loss of income and an undermining of public trust. With Microsoft 365, links are checked in real-time to warn you if it will take you to a malicious website. Email attachments are scanned for malware, and your devices are monitored for any suspicious strings of communication that might indicate the beginnings of a ransomware attack. All of this means that the future of your business won't rely on your employees' ability to spot a suspicious email or attachment before they have a chance to click on it. Data Loss Prevention: Keeping all the sensitive information your business holds secure is a difficult task and a constant battle that never goes away. With 365, you can apply data loss prevention policies to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, encrypt devices to protect data if that device is stolen or lost, and manage all your companies devices remotely; handy for when an employee leaves and you need to wipe all company data from their phone and laptop. Control Data Access: The Azure Information Protection Feature allows you to manage and control how data is accessed and shared across your business. You can require your employees and customers to sign in to sensitive information with a fingerprint or PIN, and classify that information as 'sensitive' to restrict how it is shared both inside and outside the business. Windows 10: By upgrading to Microsoft 365, you get the added bonus of standardizing your employee workstations on Windows 10. Windows 10 is the most secure Windows platform ever, coming with its own range of security innovations that significantly reduce your business's risk profile, as well as adding cloud-based management to ensure that all your devices are properly configured. Read Also: Ways Of Protecting Your Privacy Online Top 10 Computer Security Mistakes Defending Your Modern Company Through the Use of Threat Intelligence

Internet Safety: How To Spot And Avoid Scams

Individuals and businesses are at increasing risk from online scams. Let’s set the scene. According to International Data Corporation, there will be more than 40 billion connected devices worldwide by 2025. Cyber Ventures reported that almost four million records are stolen daily due to data breaches, which is about 45 per second. And a study from Maryland University demonstrated that there is a new victim of cybercrime every 39 seconds. Online scams are costly and potentially fatal. While many dangers exist online, raising your awareness and adopting good habits can improve your information security and internet safety. How to Spot (and Avoid) a Scam Phishing attempts are the primary ways people are scammed online. Scammers may send these communications via social media and text, but the overwhelming majority use email. While phishing attacks can be specific - known as spearphishing attacks - the vast majority are sent indiscriminately. Fortunately, this spam will tend to have some giveaways. Spotting these can help protect us and our data. Demands for Personal Information Reputable businesses don’t ask for personal information via email or social messaging. Delivery drivers that need you to confirm your full name and address are normally bogus. Banks and government departments never ask their clients to send sensitive data such as bank account information, usernames, or passwords via email. Offers Too Good to Be True (Probably Are) Be suspicious when offered extremely low-price goods, services, or holidays. If it makes you wonder how they can afford to make such a deal, the answer is that they expect to add hidden fees, or the offer doesn't exist. The sender expects to gain valuable personal information from people eager to sign up. Claims You Have Won Something It's exciting to win a contest or lottery draw but ask yourself if you even entered a competition. Messages like these generate excitement and prompt people to act quickly to claim their prize. Such communications may also suggest that you have been personally and individually selected. In a way, you have been selected, but so have thousands of other people, and not for anything good. Terrible Spelling and Grammar Spam is renowned for its major spelling and grammar issues. To avoid scams, remember that businesses spend thousands on marketing. They work hard to ensure their communications are attractive and error-free. If you notice spelling and grammar errors, it's unlikely to be from a reputable business. Fake Addresses and Other Impersonation Attempts Scams often use impersonation to benefit from a brand’s authority. People are more likely to believe a message if it seems to be from Microsoft or the Government. To avoid falling for this trick, check the URL or email address carefully. A scammer typically alters a business name slightly to make it seem authentic, such as the Facebook instead of Facebook or Microsoft instead of Microsoft. If the sender claims to be from a big organization but uses a generic email account, like Gmail or Hotmail, this is also a warning. High-Pressure Tactics Most scams work best for criminals when the victims don’t think too deeply about their actions. Communications that insist on an urgent, immediate response should be read very carefully. Verify the details where necessary. More on Avoiding Scams Now that you know how to spot and avoid specific scams, here are some more tips on how to avoid scammers in general. Use Reverse Phone Lookup Services to Verify Senders’ Details One reason the internet is such a hotbed for crime is that it’s easy for criminals to maintain anonymity. Cybercriminals can stay off the radar by using a virtual private network and dealing in wire transfers and cryptocurrency. They can pretend to be someone else, of course; your bank manager; a delivery driver; or an IT help desk technician. Or a friend or family member. If you’re not sure who you are communicating with, use the internet to your benefit. Go to PhoneHistory or any other reverse phone lookup site to verify people’s contact details. You can do this whenever you have suspicions or simply because you’re dealing with someone you’ve not met in a physical location. Block and Report Spam Don’t hit reply, no matter how much you’d like to hit the sender. Giving them a piece of your mind tells them you have an active email address and that other spammers should probably target you. Most email service providers enable you to block and/or report spam. Ideally, do both. Depending on the email system, you might need to choose “block” before you see the option to report it, or vice versa. Blocking and reporting spam helps your email provider eliminate spam emails from your inbox. And it can help them protect other users from potentially harmful communications. Do Not Interact with Potential Scammers Resist the temptation to click on a link within the message if you are suspicious about the sender's intent. Clicking a link can signal to the sender that your email address is active and cause malware to be downloaded to your device. Malware can cause many issues, including: locking you out of your machine (a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS)); encrypting your data unless you pay a ransom for the decryption key (ransomware); installing software that allows a third party to track your activities and/or keypresses (spyware). Read Privacy Notices Since the implementation of GDPR cybersecurity regulations, a pop-up frequently appears on visiting a website, inviting you to read their privacy policy and asking you to confirm your preferences regarding cookies. Most websites are reputable with good intent. Sometimes, however, they are willing to sell the information they learn about you to third parties, who may send you anything from unsolicited marketing emails to harmful, targeted scams. If you don’t have the patience to read every privacy notice, it is still worthwhile saying no to all but essential cookies. It’s quicker than it seems. And make sure to deny the company’s permission to contact you or share your data unless you trust them. Conclusion Internet safety can seem daunting, but most people don’t think twice about improving their car security, home security, and personal safety. Stay observant, check out the identities of people you haven’t developed relationships with yet, and employ a few other good internet habits to keep you, your friends, and your family safe online. Additional: What Is Zero Trust In Cybersecurity Context? Top 6 Cybersecurity Trends Everyone should Know Everything You Need To Know About PKI In Cybersecurity Top 10 Cybersecurity Features That Are A Must-Have In An Ecommerce Store

Why DRM Is the New Standard for Document Security

Document security has been a bone of contention for quite some time. There are so many reasons why some documents should not be seen by everyone. For example, documents containing national secrets should only be accessed by people with a security clearance because, in the wrong hands, the information could ruin whole countries and regimes (or at least the careers of some people). Similarly, businesses store some of their most sensitive information, including trade secrets and intellectual property, in documents. If the information in such documents were to be made available on the Internet for free it could ruin a business. What is more, people nowadays prefer to share their documents electronically rather than via hard printed copies. Of course, electronic sharing offers some extra benefits, for example, the authors save on printing costs, distribution is much quicker, and you can reach global markets more easily. But, unfortunately, it can also become too easy to share electronic documents. For example, people can copy and paste another person’s work or company secrets and sell them as their own. Various controls have been employed in the past to guard against such documents falling into the wrong hands or being distributed for free. As it stands, these controls have not been very successful in carrying out their mandate and so many document security products fail to adequately protect documents from unauthorized use. One such method which falls short is encryption. As soon as a file is opened by an authorized person, they can do anything they want with it. This includes copying and sharing the information. Even using watermarking to prevent copying does not solve the problem. Using regular software to process a document gives the recipient the ability to remove the watermark and go on to redistribute documents as they see fit. Likewise, internal document management systems fall flat as soon as a document is moved outside of the organization. The most effective tool for document security should be able to tackle all the problems associated with the above-named control mechanisms to be considered an industry standard. Digital Rights Management (DRM)and licensing controls do just that. With regard to forwarding documents, DRM ensures that only an encrypted file can be shared with authorized users. It is, therefore, paramount that each recipient is given a key so that he or she can access the contents of a document. The key needs to be transparently relayed and locked to the authorized user’s device so that it cannot be shared along with the protected document. The fact that a key cannot be transferred from one user to another also means that each person will have to be individually authorized by the admin. What is more, DRM can be used to enforce expiry, prevent screen grabbing as well as stopping copying and pasting techniques from being used while the document is on display. That leaves the subject of printing a document. You can use DRM to prevent printing but it is sometimes necessary to allow a document to be printed by the recipient. If the recipient were to misuse this privilege by “printing” the document to a PDF driver, then he or she has effectively created a control-free document. DRM controls could be used to prevent the use of file drivers to ensure that an unprotected document is created. That being said, once a document is printed, it can be rescanned and a PDF can be created. The easiest way to prevent this would be to watermark it in a way in which the watermark itself cannot be easily tampered with. Also, using DRM, a dynamic watermark can be added to ensure that, if a person were to try and share his or her version of the document, there would be evidence to identify him or her. A static watermark can also be used to prevent scanning as it works to effectively distort the image that the scanner or photocopier picks up, making the scanned copy unusable. DRM can also be used to revoke documents that have already been distributed and to automatically expire documents once they have been viewed or printed a number of times or after a number of days use. So, DRM is the only complete solution to document security as it supports previous methods of document security (encryption and access controls) and fills in the gaps that the other methods cannot. Also, it is effective both inside and outside of organizational controls. If you are looking to enhance security for all your documents, then DRM may be the only sure way to go. Read Also: Top Cloud Security Controls You Should Be Using Would Your E-commerce Website Pass The Cybersecurity Test? Here Are 3 Things You Could Be Doing Wrong

How To Stop Scammers On Facebook Marketplace?

What Is Facebook Marketplace?