PlayStation 5 fans and other digital citizens are taking it on themselves to detect, police and prevent fraud on Facebook Marketplace.
They tell Fair Go it’s because they aren’t getting the help they need from the social network, or from police.
Aucklander Maryam Hasannasab spent days trying to track down the person who took her $205 and then didn’t send a Samsung Galaxy S8 they had listed on Marketplace.
“While we are sitting here, some people are making money with a photo of a phone,” she said.
She spoke with the seller on a mobile call, swapped messages and agreed to pay by bank transfer.
"She said she is 57-year-old single mum of two children and grandma. So, I thought, 'Maybe it’s better if I buy from this woman who's a single mum. Why not? Then I can help her as well,'" Hasannasab said.
The phone never came, and contact ceased.
Hasannasab had three other Facebook users make offers to the seller to prove this wasn’t a mistake. Jade Macdonald was one.
"When she said it was still available, we knew she was still scamming people."
Macdonald says the woman’s profile looked legitimate - 50 friends, some but not many photos.
"It's kind of hard to tell whether or not they've just got privacy on or they're just a fake account," she said.
Hasannasab thought that police would have no trouble acting given she could supply them with a name for the profile, a mobile number that worked and bank account details, and evidence of those three other attempts to buy after she’d paid.
“The police said we are really sorry. They refused to investigate it and they said, 'We are really sorry; you should have been more careful.'”
Pressure from Citizens Advice Bureau changed that, but after a weekend to investigate the complaint, police responded to Hasannasab that this would become a cold case as they couldn’t identify who had taken her money.
Fair Go asked what they’d done to check. Auckland Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Allan replied: “Police acknowledge the victims’ loss in this case and how disappointing that is. Online fraud is a significant problem in New Zealand and globally. As a result, police receive many more complaints than we can reasonably investigate".
Allan told Fair Go Hasannasab was the first to lay a complaint about the bank account number – their aim is to identify prolific offenders and hold them to account.
Police also have some specific concerns about the social network’s digital marketplace.
"Police has undertaken a significant number of public appeals, using media and social media to warn the public on the dangers of using Facebook Marketplace and lack of consumer protection. We encourage people to use reputable websites for their transactions," Allan said.
Facebook users are pretty fed up too. Some have banded together on Facebook to start groups calling out bad behaviour. Scammer Check NZ has 2500 members and among other things, maintains a block list of NZ bank account numbers that have been reported to them as involved in scam transactions on Marketplace.
Hannah Lewis helps run the group and told Fair Go the approach has worked.
“We actually had someone that scammed someone, and they messaged us and said, ‘we've paid them half back and then we're going to pay another half back on Tuesday: can you remove the post?’ So, we removed it,” Lewis said.
But how to stop the scammers in the first place? Let’s start with fake ads for the hottest tech item right now, the PlayStation 5, and the man chasing those fakes - Barry Curtis.
“Nobody's going to give me $300 to put an ad on Facebook,” he said.
Curtis is a relief dairy milker, so he has some spare time while the cows are drying off for winter. He’s a keen gamer so he already owns the new PlayStation 5. Mostly, he is fed up seeing others milked by dubious Facebook Marketplace ads, so he’s trying to break the chain by warning other users - one DM at a time
“Sorry to be the one to inform you but, pretty sure this is not real. Here's the info I've discovered, no contact address. Here's the NZ company’s screenshot,” he said.
Ninety-five per cent of the time, the person takes down the ad, convinced by Curtis’s personal approach.
Curtis has noticed a lot of the fake businesses that are promising to pay people to advertise fake PS5s also claim to be Kiwi but clearly are not.
“I don't like people being scammed so if I can save one person $750 or $800, I feel like I've done something.”
Curtis says the latest trick seems to be creating a fake Facebook marketplace profile for a really small business, then adding a link to that fake profile page which take you to a real public listing on the NZ Companies Register for the real business.
It helps to make the fakes look more legitimate at a glance but causes big headaches for the real business. Only a call or message to the real business bursts the bubble to reveal a scam. Curtis says that detective work can take minutes, but many simply don’t stop and check before they pay and then lose their money.
Facebook executive Antonia Sanda has assured Fair Go the company is working behind the scenes to keep Marketplace trustworthy but isn’t sharing those methods in public or detail because it’s a constant battle to stay ahead of the scammers.
“The issue of scams and fraud is not unique to Facebook - it has plagued the internet for years," Sanda said.
"We do not allow scams on our services and we take action to remove them as soon as we become aware."
Facebook also points people to its guide to buying and selling which clearly some people don’t read.
"We also work to get ahead of scammers and that includes making investments in our enforcement and putting in place real world consequences, including taking legal action," she said.
"We encourage people to report this behaviour when they see it."
Sanda says the quickest way is to use the 'report' feature on Facebook.
Taking up that offer, Fair Go has provided a list of 23 suspect profiles Curtis has been battling.
It’s a drop in a digital ocean - so the best advice is still the same from Facebook, from police and now from Hasannasab, Lewis and Curtis.
Unless you are prepared to lose the money, make sure any deal is completed face to face. Have a friend with you. Do this whether you are buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace.
If for any reason that can’t happen, best not to make that trade.
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