FACEBOOK users have been warned to beware of a Marketplace scam that could end up costing you thousands of dollars.
Catfish host Nev Schulman uses his expertise in the art of deception to help people stay safe from online tricks.
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He thinks Britons are most vulnerable when innocently browsing Facebook Marketplace for a bargain.
Cradled by fake security on the networking app, its nearly three billion users are prime targets for fraudsters, he fears.
And Nev suggests it’s because “we’re all still newbies” when it comes to navigating selling apps like Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, Depop and eBay.
The 37-year-old MTV star has teamed up with a mobile banking app Zelle to educate users on how to identify and avoid scams.
He told Yahoo News: “Scammers target marketplace sellers because the average internet seller or seller probably hasn’t done it many times.
“Facebook Marketplace being probably one of the biggest [for scams] simply because Facebook has the most users.
“If you don’t know the few red flags to watch out for, it can be easy to fall victim to them.”
Nev warned people to beware of a common scam used by fraudsters.
Scammers can often send strange messages to unsuspecting buyers on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, claiming to be from the social network themselves.
Users are then usually prompted to click a link to confirm their information.
Due to their desire to secure their item, many naïve buyers end up unknowingly giving their personal information to scammers.
Another warning sign that Nev urged buyers and sellers to watch out for is eagerness, lack of negotiation and lack of questions asked.
The scammers then offer to pay for their purchase via a money transfer app, before claiming it didn’t go through because the seller needs to update their account.
A link is then sent asking the user to pay a small fee for the payment to continue – followed by a fake email from a non-existent company asking you to confirm the transaction.
We’ve already covered how Facebook issued its own scam warning amid an influx of complaints in recent months.
