Facebook selling site targeted by scammers

Police have issued a warning to people hoping to buy products via a Facebook page in Whangarei.

Police have issued a warning to tread carefully when looking to buy goods through online selling sites.

A message posted by Northland Police on their Facebook page warns that active fraudsters are at work, using the "Whangarei Buy, Sell, Swap" Facebook page to extract money out of buyers, and then not send the purchased product.

Police said the most common items being used in the scam were smartphones.

Rachel Jones commented on the Facebook post: "My brother bought an iPhone from someone on this page for $400.

"He took it to Vodafone and it turned out to be a fake iPhone and that's why it didn't work properly. So I guess this is how they're doing it; rather than giving money and not sending phone."

Rob Butler wrote: "As admin of one of the biggest Whangarei buy sell swap pages we try our best to protect people.

"People need to be smart before making deals. Don't hand over money before you see the goods and don't hand out your address willy nilly. Be smart and take responsibility for your actions."

Jan Butler, the admin of an online selling Facebook page, said she had had no experience of similar fraud herself, but she approved posts before they got to the page to help avoid fraud.

She said it was up to buyers to be suspicious of everybody, as admins of buy/sell pages could do little to stop it happening.

"[But] the scammers don't hang around long, so as soon as they get what they want it's deleted, and within minutes [they are] up and running again with [a] new profile."