Facebook Marketplace warning for Aussies as tiny detail exposes new threat: 'Be cautious'
Australians are being urged not to believe everything they see when browsing on Facebook Marketplace. While the online store where you can buy, swap, and sell virtually anything can be a great place to pick up a bargain, it's also a breeding ground for scammers.
An Aussie in Victoria recently experienced this when they saw someone selling what they claimed was an iPhone 16 Pro. They inquired about the device and the seller sent over a receipt to prove it was legit and came from an Apple store in Queensland.
While the proof of purchase appeared to have all the right information, there were a few tiny issues.
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The bits at the top that detailed where the iPhone allegedly came from were all correct.
It was apparently purchased for $2,849 back in November and had serial numbers and IMEI numbers included.
But if you had a look at the GST, that's when the first eyebrows started to rise.
The RRP for the 1TB phone was $2,521.50, and yet the purchaser reportedly paid $327.80 in goods and services tax.
GST is usually only 10 per cent, so it should have only been $252.15 added onto the bill.
But the biggest red flag was slightly lower when the receipt said "Paid Visa commonwealth banking".
Obviously, it should read Commonwealth Bank, however most Apple receipts will just list the payment type (ie. cash or with a Visa or Mastercard and blank out your card number.
Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
'Be cautious': Aussies sound alarm over Facebook Marketplace
Worried that this iPhone was going to be a dud, the person in Geelong posted a photo on social media to ask others if they thought they should buy it.
It was a resounding no.
"Don’t buy an iPhone off Marketplace! Especially if they tell you it’s sealed or they provide a receipt! 9/10 [times] it is a fake. I bought a 15 Pro Max for $900, all the serials matched and the phone was in pristine condition and it was even sealed like you’d buy like new and it turned out to be a dummy. Be cautious," said one individual.
"Looks fake, it is missing the ABN on the receipt. I’ve checked my receipt from last year and the terminal ID is in full, not with the xxx in the middle and it also has a transaction ID that this is missing," added another.
Someone even went as far as checking the IMEI number, which is a unique identifier for every phone, and found it was registered to a person in Ireland.
