Facebook really needs some system to help lower the chance of being scammed via their Marketplace.....  

Miss 16 came to me over the weekend, and said "I think I've been scammed". 

She likes her "label" clothing, and had seen someone selling some Stussy branded gear second hand at good prices, so enquired about an article, and was happy with the response and said she'd take it.

The seller , "John Micheal", gave a bank account number (which is getting reported to Police and bank), and Miss 16 thought that was it. But after a week, no clothing arrived. So she queried "John", and he just blocked her. 

Thats when she approached me.

So I found the item still being listed amongst others, and asked if was still available, and if so could I pick it up. 

He replied after a few hours, "still available, post only". So I asked him why it was still available when my daughter had paid for it. (hey, worth a shot :D )  He did the obvious and blocked me.

It was minimal $$ in the scheme of things, but does show FB really need some sort of verification/escrow service to try and prevent this sort of thing. Only thing you can do is report the seller but this has to be done BEFORE they block you. So you don't know until its too late.

I've since advised Miss 16 that going forward, to come see me before agreeing to purchasing anything via FB so we can assess if it seems legit or not. 

We encourage our kids to be independent and do things themselves, but then you end up with scumbags like "John" who are such low life that stealing candy from a baby means nothing, and if really puts kids off trying to do things themselves in fear of being ripped off/ridiculed. 

I feel bad for Miss 16, as its money she's earnt via chores and her band but its a life lesson as well unfortunately. 

She soon forgot about it though, when another FB deal she had on the go went extremely well and shes over the moon with her new guitar pedal board :)