Facebook Marketplace - how to avoid the scammers?

[seenthemight]

I've put a couple of things on FB Marketplace and soon had people sending the "Is this still available?" question. For the first one I answered "yes" then after a delay I got a message that sounded very like it was a bulk send, which confirmed my suspicion that this was a scammer - just someone wanting to harvest my address, with no intention of ever collecting the item. For the second one, I haven't yet decided - he has said "I live in [my area] and can collect quickly" so I've asked for a day/time, but haven't yet given my full address. His FB profile is not public, and he is wearing a motorbike helmet in the picture, but he may just be protective of his privacy, as I am. How can I politely verify that he is genuine before I give my address?

someone offering to collect isn’t suspicious

It's a free item, so needs to be collected. But FB scammers are often just collecting data and then don't turn up.

I got fed up of being messed about so I take it to the charity shop now. Much less anxiety.

This is the reason I don't use Facebook marketplace. I take it the item is too large for you to take to a public place and hand over there?

The ones who immediately respond "is it the same as this item" with a link are scammers.

I'd be much more lenient with someone who says they live in the area. What data do you think he's collecting?

The FB people that don’t turn up are just wankers, not data harvesting! Asking if something is available is one of the default messages you can send thru marketplace, and again isn’t scamming.

Do you know what scamming actually is?

It is a scam when they bulk-send "Is this still available?" then, when they get lots of answers they bulk-send requests for your address, then you hear nothing more. They're just data mining.

I think it's probably best to just extend the conversation a bit before giving personal info, because if they're data mining they probably don't have time to interract.

Still waiting for him to get back to me, so let's see.

Too big to take anywhere myself.

What data do you think they are mining that they couldn’t just get from the electoral roll?! It’s good to be wary of scammers but you seem to be overthinking this OP!

Edit your ad.

’if it’s still on marketplace it is still available’

no couriers

collection only

I answer vaguely "its xx town near y pub" and ask what time they would want to collect. Usually eliminates the scammers.

I sometimes offer to meet at the pub/mini supermarket if it feels a bit odd. Depends how large the item is and how much I want rid of it.

My electoral roll record isn't public. There's a box you can tick to make it public or not public. 🙄

Most people under-think these things, which is why the scammers can operate so easily.

What do the scam from ‘is it available?’

wheres collection? Town X

I only give my address with confirmed collection, on the day of collection.