Among the furniture and electronics for sale on Facebook marketplace, are a number of properties up for rent in ideal Manchester locations, but upon further inspection it comes to light that some of these flats are not what they seem.
Scammers are stealing images from a range of real estate and hotel booking websites and posting them on Facebook marketplace as they’re own properties, with many on the site falling into the trap of believing the properties and those advertising them are genuine.
Facebook marketplace is a buy and sell site available to use through Facebook, a social media platform created by Mark Zuckerberg and now owned by company Meta.
One victim’s experience
The MEN was alerted to the scam following a gentleman speaking of his experience of being scammed out of £650 for a central Manchester flat which was actually located in Glasgow. Once the scammer had the money, the property and their Facebook account ‘vanished’.
Speaking of being scammed, he said: “I saw the images and they all looked real, I could even see out of the windows and I recognised that it was central Manchester. The guy’s profile had a real picture for his profile image and I was that desperate to find somewhere I didn’t look into it any further.”
Facebook marketplace warns buyers to never reveal their email and instead keep conversations and deals on their platform, yet many users miss this warning.
READ NEXT: Greater Manchester Police officer suspended over disturbing Manchester Airport video
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, continued: “He asked for my email to send over more pictures and I gave it to him. It was only really two more of the living room but again they matched the ones on the site. I asked for a viewing and he said he wanted a holding deposit first before any viewings,”
“This was my first time trying to rent somewhere alone so at the time I had no idea it was odd for this to be the case. I transferred him the money at around 7pm. I woke up the next day and his account and the flat had vanished. I tried to call him and he blocked my number. That’s when one of my friends said that he had most likely scammed me.”
Alongside his friend, they reversed Google searched the images he had been emailed and discovered the flat was up for sale on a real estate site in Glasgow.
The victim of the scam noted how ‘stupid’ he felt for falling into the trap and wanted others to be made aware.
“People need to know that these scammers are out there and it is so easy for them to steal these images and write false information,” he added “I feel so stupid that I gave them my money, hopefully people read this and think twice before reaching out to people on the site.”
But he wasn’t the only one, nor was the man who stole his money the only scammer on the hunt on Facebook marketplace.
Fake properties available on Facebook marketplace
After further investigation, the MEN discovered a number of fake properties on the site, including one account attempting to sell a flat which was actually a hotel room in Frankfurt, Germany.
Even more worrying, the scammer posted a fake address in Warrington for the hotel, which instead of being the supposed flat, was actually a terraced house which was not up for sale.
Similarly, another luxury flat advertised with a Stretford address was again a property in Glasgow, with the address being a home on a residential street, that was not up for sale either.
Other flats were found to be located in Leicester, Birmingham, Kensington and Sheffield, all being listed as being in Greater Manchester boroughs such as Salford and Oldham.
The majority of property pictures had been taken from RightMove a popular and commonly used website by those looking for properties to rent and estate agents wishing to advertise their properties.
Other images were taken off Booking.com an online travel agency for guests wishing to book holiday accommodation.
However, it is not just the properties with fake and stolen images, the scammers are also stealing and lifting images of real people to use as their profile pictures, with one account even stealing the image of a foreign public figure.
A scam profile had a flat listed as Manchester central, however after conducting a reverse image search the property was found to be available for rent in Mosley Central, Birmingham.
The scammer was also found to have used a picture of popular Romanian singer, Andreaa Balan, discovered through reverse image search, as her profile icon.
When the MEN reported this fraudulent account to Meta, it was taken down.
Other scam accounts also used fake profile icons in order to come across as real people to buyers.
One user whose alleged Oldham property was actually located in Stafford, stole a young women’s image off of social media platform Tiktok.
Another used an image of a elderly women who lived in Alabama and some accounts used images created by AI.
Contacting the scammers
The MEN contacted one scammer, whose property was allegedly available to rent on Salford Quays for £450, but was discovered on Right Move, and would cost £355,000 to purchase.
They asked to communicate through email and when asked by the MEN to discuss the flat over Facebook messenger, they said the conversation would not continue unless it was done by email.
Another, when asked if the fake property was available for viewing, declined unless a deposit was paid. Upon refusal and asking again to see the property first, they stopped responding.
Other signs of scammers is no picture apart from a profile image, no friends following their account and giving no information about themselves on their page. Scammers typically also ask to communicate via email and ask for deposits or payment prior to allowing buyers to view or come collect their product.
Meta’s response
A Meta spokesperson said of the issue: “We don’t allow fraudulent activity on our platforms and have removed the accounts brought to our attention. Facebook Marketplace is a local meet up and collection service so we don’t facilitate payments or shipping, and we advise users to never pay for something until they see it in person.”
“We are continually investing in protections against fraud for people who use our platforms and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations. We encourage our community to report activity like this to us and the police, so we can take action.”
“We continue to work closely with Stop Scams UK, a cross industry group across banking, telco and tech companies to help identify scams at the source. We also provide advice on how to protect yourself and your purchases whilst shopping on Facebook Marketplace:”
-
Marketplace is a local meet up and collection service with the majority of payments done when goods are exchanged. We encourage users of Marketplace to follow these steps when buying goods:
-
Check if the Facebook profile appears new or incomplete, as this could be a sign that the account has been set up for scamming.
-
Check reviews of online sellers to see what previous customers have said.
-
Insist on meeting in a public space to view the product before completing any transaction.
-
Don’t hand over money until you see the item for sale, and use payment options that include strong protections, like PayPal. Avoid using PayPal’s ‘Friends and Family’ payment option.
