Facebook Marketplace Auckland scams: Man in court on 27 fraud charges

An Auckland man has been charged with 27 counts of fraud allegedly committed over Facebook Marketplace and, in a warning to the public, police called the platform “a hunting ground for criminals”.

Police also offered advice for those who use it, saying people should not deposit money into another user’s bank account before receiving an item and should not go inside someone’s house for a trade, instead arranging to trade goods in a public place.

Up to 60 cases concerning Facebook Marketplace scams and frauds have been filed with the police’s Financial Crime Unit a month.

Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton said they had been making inquiries into a 26-year-old man who had a warrant to arrest in relation to fraud incidents in Auckland over the past few weeks.

Officers executed a search warrant at a Glen Innes property on Saturday evening and arrested the man without incident, Bolton said.

The man appeared in the Auckland District Court today on 27 fraud charges. Police opposed his bail.

There have been a “concerning amount” of reports of people being scammed and duped by other users on Facebook Marketplace, Bolton said.

“While it is a very successful buy and sell platform, it’s also a successful hunting ground for criminals to buy items using a fake bank transfer, or sell items that don’t exist and don’t deliver,” he said.

“Every day, our officers in the Financial Crime Unit are assessing and, unfortunately, filing files where a fake bank transfer has been used by these offenders.

“We’ve noticed the fake images have become more and more convincing, which means more people have fallen victim to their trap.”

Bolton said there were sometimes up to three fraud and scam cases related to Facebook Marketplace filed with Financial Crime Unit in a day.

“These types of scams are notoriously difficult for police to investigate, so we are urging those who use the buy-and-sell platform to exercise caution and do their due diligence first.

“Prevention will always be the best tactic to avoid becoming a victim.”

Other advice police gave Marketplace users included taking a friend to a trade, examining goods before completing a transaction, learning more about the person they are buying from or selling to, checking their Marketplace activity history, and ensuring vulnerable friends and family know how to protect themselves.

Police’s ultimate advice: “Trust your instincts — if it’s too good to be true or sounds like a scam, it probably is.”