Action 9: New scam targets victims through Facebook's selling feature

ORLANDO,Fla. — An Orange County man thought he could trust a new selling feature on Facebook, but instead became the victim of a scam.

Harry Voss thought he found a great buy to replace his aging pickup truck.

Instead, after wiring a private seller $2,000, he was in for a shock.

“I'm thinking right away, I've been scammed and it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Voss said.

He had been checking vehicles for sale on Facebook Marketplace, a new feature on the social media platform where users can buy and sell.

Voss spotted a 2006 Toyota Tundra and contacted the private seller in Iowa.

The truck cost $2,000 including shipping, and the seller wanted eBay Motors to handle the transaction.

“I had the eBay Motors buyer protection plan, which I heard about so much about,” Voss said.

He wired $2,000 through what appeared to be an EBay Motors account. Then he was told to wire another $1,000 to cover insurance.

Now suspicious, Voss called eBay for answers.
I've got correspondence from eBay and everything and he said, 'No sir, you don't, you're being scammed,'" Voss said.

The fake eBay Motors websites have been around for some time, but scammers targeting victims on Facebook is a new tactic.

“I really thought it was a legit site,” Voss said.

Better Business Bureau of Central Florida President Holly Salmons said sellers sending buyers to certain websites is always a big red flag.

“If you're led through a series of links, you may be led to a lookalike, you may be led to a fake site,” she said.

Voss is filling out a police report and hopes his experience will be a warning to others who use the new Facebook feature.

Voss told Action 9’s Todd Ulrich the scammer had claimed his son had been killed in an accident and that's why he needed to sell the truck.

Cox Media Group