Scam Alert: Online Marketplace Financial Information Request

TrainMyParent.com
Feb 11
2 min read

A man entering his credit card info into his phone. — A credit card is not required to sell items online.

In a twist on the online marketplace scams, we have been seeing an increase in scammers trying to obtain your credit card and other personal and financial information when trying to sell items on a social media marketplace, such as Next Door or Facebook.

How the scam works: When a seller posts an item on the marketplace, the scammer immediately reaches out to the seller, indicating that their items will not get listed until the seller provides their credit card information for financial verification. The scammers follow their playbook of creating a sense of urgency (you need to act now) and use your desire to get something done (you want to sell your stuff).

Of course, if you provide your credit card information to the person requesting it, you will find yourself facing a bunch of unauthorized charges. The good news is that you are not responsible for unauthorized charges on your credit card, but it will take some time to clean up the mess. However, if you give them debit card information, there are no protections in place, and they can clean out your bank account, which often creates a domino effect as your legitimate bills can no longer be paid, racking up late charges or bounce fees.

What you can do: Remember that an online marketplace would never ask you for credit card information when trying to sell your stuff. In addition, buying and selling on a social media site is a transaction between the buyer and the seller. The social media company is simply providing a venue to facilitate the process. They do not take a cut of the transaction, they do not verify your financial information, they simply allow you to post your item for sale and find something to purchase.

We always recommend to conduct any transactions in cash, and to not use Zelle, Venmo or other non-cash means (see a related post about Zelle payments on Facebook Marketplace). And, if the transaction has a high dollar amount, we recommend conducting the sale in a safe place, such as a police station lobby. There has been an uptick in criminals ambushing buyers of pricey items, as the purchaser ofgen arrives with a lot of cash in their pockets.

Finally, if you do want to use a credit card for a transaction with an unknown seller, we recommend using a single-use virtual credit card number that banks offer. These virtual numbers can only be used once, so the seller cannot steal your numbers for subsequent transactions.

A transaction is taking place. — Conduct high-value transactions in a safe place, such as at a police station.

As we say on TrainMyParent.com, scammers keep getting trickier, and usually target those who aren't paying attention. Scams come in many forms, including phishing emails, smishing texts, quishing packages, tech support phone calls....the list keeps growing.

Learn how you can protect yourself or your family by enrolling in the Complete Internet Security Basics and Phishing Awareness Course for Parents on TrainMyParent.com

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