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Being my father’s son and of Scottish heritage, I consider myself to be extremely wary when it comes to falling prey to the grifters and scammers of the world. But this morning, I almost got taken.
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed to see what was going on when I came across a post from an acquaintance who I went to high school with announcing that her family was clearing out items from her father’s house. The post then went on to list about 25 items that the family was selling, including three cars (a Toyota Corolla, a Honda Accord, and a Ford F-150), a four-wheeler, a utility trailer, an RV, etc etc.
Judging from the pictures provided, the items looked well-cared for. And the prices seemed quite reasonable, although it was hard to tell because the items weren’t well described. No years or mileage info was given for the vehicles, for instance.
The post further stated that 1) the family had a truck and could deliver the items for a small fee if needed, 2) the items were being offered on a first-come, first-serve basis; and 3) my friend would not be home until Wednesday of this week to be able to show the items. Any questions could be directed to her through FB Messenger.
As my son is in need of a car, I immediately messaged her asking for more details. I immediately got a response and was told that the Toyota Corolla was a 2018 with 29K miles. At the price given of $7K, the Corolla sounded like a steal. I was also interested in a Honda 7000-watt generator and the four-wheeler, which I was told (via Messenger) had low mileage, but my friend didn’t know the year and I would have to stop by on Wednesday to see it if I was interested.
I was told (again, all through Messenger) that if I wanted to hold the Corolla until I came by to see it on Wednesday, I would need to put down a deposit of $1,500, paid through PayPal or Zelle. I would get a full refund if I decided I didn’t want the car when I saw it.
At this point, I was close to hooked. But a few things bothered me. The contact email given for PayPal was not the same as my friend’s name. I also wondered how this friend of mine, who I know to be a pretty successful person, could be so naive when it came to the market value of some of these items. A 2018 Corolla sedan with only 29K miles, for instance, has a Kelly BB value of at least $11K. To sell it for $7K seemed crazy low.
Another thing that bothered me was that the commenting function on this FB post had been silenced. So while a few people were liking the post, no one could go on and ask questions about it.
At this point, I consulted with my wife and we decided this could be a scam and that I should ask my friend some personal questions, like what year she graduated from high school and who her class president was.
I put these questions out there and the Messenger chat went dead. Ten minutes later, the post was gone from FB.
Wow. To think I was but a few keystrokes away from sending $1,500 to a hacker. It just goes to show you can never be too wary in this age of cyberfraud and AI.
I went away from the experience humbled but wiser. I thought I’d share my experience in case any of you run across a similar scam. Thoughts welcome. 🙂
Great reminder for the world we live in. I do not click on links in emails, only go directly to your company website you need. I generally do not even answer my cell phone unless the name shows up from my contact listing. However, it is difficult because doctors, hospitals etc use numbers different from the ones in my contacts, as they have multiple phone numbers. So before I started not answering the cell phone, I got a call indicating I owed money for a subscription for my grandson. They wanted my credit card info and other info to scam me. I was about to give all the info, because I thought my wife gifted it and I needed to complete the transaction. But at the last moment, I even had to my credit card out, I said, I have to check with my wife, and I heard a groan or something that did not sound right. I hung up, thankfully. Others calling you on the phone try to lure you with your son is in jail need $500 to bail him out, you granddaughter was in a car accident need $700, etc scams are many using your emotions to give in, or fast talking, or too good to be true. At 78, that is why I stopped answering the cell phone. Stay attentive out there and be safe. Thanks for the article, as we need to be reminded there are way to many ways to scam us.
I almost fell for a similar scam on Facebook Market. And the fact that the Venmo name didn’t match the FB name was the red flag for me. Later I also noticed the FB account was opened in the current year, not a long time account like legitimate accounts.
Scammers are very good at hooking their victims, some who are reasonably savvy. I consider myself savvy, but have come very close to getting hooked numerous times. We live in a dangerous world.
It is easy for our emotional selves to get excited by what looks like good/great deals. We So WANT to believe we are getting a deal. This of course clouds our judgement. Of course, the scammer is trying to hook our “greedy” side. There is a reason anglers use shinny lures to catch fish. The fish finds out too late that they were scammed.
To be safe, never ever click on any links from a financial institution that come via email, etc. The scam emails are essentially flawless at this point. Always go directly to the company’s website to investigate what was discussed in the email. Also, the same for any phone numbers in said communications, find the number on their legitimate site and use that number.
I rarely see a scam email without some sort of error: grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, or spacing. Plus the from address is usually bad.
These days I’m scared to death to click on nearly any link. It’s really disturbing that the scammers have created so much justifiable distrust in all of us.
Thanks for sharing this! It’s easy to read this story after the fact and recognize it as a scam, but it is just as easy to get caught up in a scam like this as it unfolds. Reminders like this help to keep us on our toes!
If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Glad you realized what was happening before you got scammed.
So true, Jeff. Definitely a lesson learned here …
Thanks for this, you can never be too careful. Chris.
Interesting. Yet another reason not to use FB.
That really was a smooth scam. Someone tried a similar scam on me when I was selling on FB. They wanted to pay me in advance using Venmo, but began asking for email and account numbers. Very easy to fall for.
Glad you caught on!
Great post James. Good thinking.