How to Spot the

How to Spot the Red Flags for Online Selling Scams

by Immediate Past President Mark Rommel Ababao

Rotaract Club of Manila Bay

In this new normal, people made a lot of changes to adapt, which led to several discoveries. With social contact being limited, online selling has become prevalent and an important part of the local economy. Online marketplaces such as the Facebook marketplace provides convenience to both sellers and customers.

The Facebook marketplace is a popular online platform that is meant to be a community-oriented service that brings people together to buy and sell different products. Although it does not have a built-in payment system and requires having a Facebook profile to use the service, security and convenience are two of the major priorities of the app. If you are a seller, it is easy to use the platform - upload a photo of the product and indicate its price. For customers, they can easily type the product they are looking for, click on the item, and message the seller.

While the platform provides easy access to products, it can be an easy venue for different scammers. In the marketplace, people may encounter bogus buyers or sellers. Here are some red flags to watch out for when doing online shopping:

Suspicious or Incredulous Profile

Have you ever tried stalking your crush? Well, this is the right time to channel the inner detective within you. Before purchasing an item in Facebook marketplace and communicating with the seller, make sure that the seller has a full Facebook profile. Always remember that anyone can do scams, (i.e. catfishing) wherein they use fake photos on their profiles. You may spot a fake profile if you added the seller and you can only see very few pictures uploaded consecutively, no pictures at all, no friends, or if the profile was only created recently. You may also check the likes and comments on the uploaded picture of the seller to check if it’s a real person/profile. Worried that maybe it’s just in private mode? Don’t worry because even if the seller is in private mode, you can still check their picture, number of likes and there will be a share button, unless you are blocked. You may also do a quick reverse image search on their profile picture. If it comes up as someone else, you know you're dealing with a scammer .

Inconsistency

Never deal with a wishy-washer seller. One way to identify a scammer is to check his/her familiarization with the product. Scammers can be inconsistent with their stories, maybe on how they introduce themselves, or about their product. There are some sellers who are notorious for changing their minds when selling stuff on Facebook. They’ll include a price in their post, but when you message them, they'll increase the price. Then they won’t message you for a few days and raise the price again. If they did this to you, back out. It’s time to find more credible sellers

Too Much Negative Reviews

They say - don’t judge the book by its cover, but you can always judge a seller by their reviews. Always read the reviews of both items and the seller.. You may be able to read about the attitudes of the sellers if they’re approachable, trustworthy, or rude. Even if you're buying in a different app, you should always consider checking the reviews before purchasing any items to prevent purchasing any fake products or dealing with a bogus seller. .

Pushy Seller

Not everyone is gifted or perfected “good selling or negotiation techniques”. And you can spot a scammer if they are always pushing for you to purchase, although you want to think further about the purchase or may have doubts on the seller.Two things that a scammer always does if they spot the buyer as suspicious, it’s either they will be persistent in making follow-ups and bombard you in order for you to say yes or they will stop and block you.

If you spotted some of these red flags from the online seller, then don’t engage with him/her. It’s best to find a different seller. And just in case you come across these red flags, the best way to deal with it is to report them. Here’s how to report a bogus seller: First, navigate to Facebook marketplace. Then click the listing from the sellers you want to report. Next, click Report post or Report Seller and then, follow the onscreen instructions.