NEW BALTIMORE, Michigan – A father who was expecting to take his son to see the Detroit Lions has lost hundreds of dollars due to a Facebook scam.
Tim Paletti was unable to obtain tickets for the event through ticket resale websites due to their high price. So, when the New Baltimore father saw a decent bargain on Facebook, he messaged the individual selling tickets in the hopes that his kid could watch the Lions game.
“It seemed like a typical suburban woman with children. (I) felt everything was normal, including the image of her and, I assume, her husband wearing Lions apparel,” he stated of the seller’s profile.
Paletti stated that the person was offering seats for $175 plus a $50 parking pass, so he gave them a $400 Venmo payment to get two tickets. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the payment. That issue was finally rectified, and the payment was processed, but Paletti still did not receive his tickets.
Paletti became skeptical of the seller after several hours of no response to his texts.
“I kept thinking, ‘This does not seem right.'” I know better than this. “It’s too good to be true,” he explained.
Paletti eventually contacted the seller again after noting that the tickets were still being advertised for sale. This is when the seller blocked him.
“I know better than this, but I was blinded by wanting to get my son these tickets,” Paletti told the crowd. “As frustrated and upset as I am, I’m just more mad at myself.”
Paletti filed a police report and contacted Venmo in the hopes of getting his money back.
Facebook Marketplace Safety Tips
Facebook provides recommendations for safely buying and selling on the website:
- Double-check any deals that appear too good to be true. Scammers may employ low-cost things to attract buyers into a fraud.
- Do not submit deposits for high-value things (apartments, vehicles, etc.) without first validating their authenticity. Before submitting payments, try to authenticate the item(s)’ existence and ownership (for example, a pink slip for a car) in person or via video chat.
- Always check the tracking numbers you see on Marketplace against the shipping company’s website, and ensure that the delivery address and shipping information are valid.
- Review the seller’s profile to learn more about them. On their profile, you may see ratings and reviews from other buyers, people you may know, other listings, and Marketplace activity.Even if a sale is not made through Marketplace, analyzing a person’s profile can reveal if the page is fraudulent.Check the page’s location.Consider how new the person’s page is.
- Occasionally, the page will display posts with a clock sign near the date they were made. This signifies that a post was backdated when it was published, which is a common practice used to make a page appear older than it is.
- Even if a sale is not made through Marketplace, analyzing a person’s profile can reveal if the page is fraudulent.Check the page’s location.Consider how new the person’s page is.
- Occasionally, the page will display posts with a clock sign near the date they were made. This signifies that a post was backdated when it was published, which is a common practice used to make a page appear older than it is.
- Check the page’s location.
- Consider how new the person’s page is. Occasionally, the page will display posts with a clock sign near the date they were made. This signifies that a post was backdated when it was published, which is a common practice used to make a page appear older than it is.
- Purchase Protection covers eligible purchases made through Facebook’s checkout. Items exchanged in person for cash or other person-to-person payment methods are ineligible.
- When purchasing in person, inspect the things carefully before completing the transaction to ensure that they are genuine and functional.
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