Targeting sellers on Facebook Marketplace is the 'hot fraud,' police warn

When Hella Bertrand listed a coat for sale for $100 on Facebook Marketplace in October, she accepted the first offer she received.

The interested buyer, "Addison," said he was out of town and could pick the coat up at a later date. He offered to send an e-transfer, and when Bertrand accepted, she received an Interac link.

"Initially [the transfer] didn't go through, even though I gave him my email address," said Bertrand. "He said, 'Well, I'm having too much trouble. It must be the wrong account.' That should have been a red flag."

Frustrated, she gave up on the sale. The next morning, Bertrand woke up to emails from her bank notifying her that $700 had been withdrawn from her account. There had been an attempt to withdraw a further $2,200, but there were insufficient funds left.

When Bertrand checked her Facebook Messenger conversation with Addison, she saw that his responses had been deleted and only her messages remained.

"I was absolutely shocked," she said.

When she checked her bank account online, she noticed a hacker had changed the email address associated with her husband's name to their own.

"That's the most frightening part — that [the hacker] was able to get in there," Bertrand said. 

She immediately deleted the email address, changed account passwords and called her bank.

Marketplace scams the 'hot fraud' now

According to the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), Facebook Marketplace scams are the "hot fraud right now."

Det. Shaun Wahbeh said the OPS receives several scam reports each day from both buyers and sellers. The "reverse e-transfer" fraud is the latest trend, he said.

It looks and smells exactly like an e-transfer, but it isn't.- Det. Shaun Wahbeh, Ottawa Police Service

"It looks and smells exactly like an e-transfer, but it isn't. It's a request that gives the suspect access to your bank account," Wahbeh explained.

Darion Ducharme teaches participants how to detect online frauds in his technology training workshops.

"The thing is, [a scam] could happen to any one," said Ducharme, who admits he has himself fallen victim to an online scam.

Ducharme explained that when a person receives a reverse e-transfer deposit link, they may assume it's real because it looks almost identical to their bank's website. But as soon as they type in their username and password, they give the scammer on the other end access to their bank account.

"Now they go into our accounts, can reset your password, clear out your bank accounts and steal your information as well," said Ducharme.

Both Ducharme and Wahbeh say some hackers use the information they've gleaned to break into the victim's other accounts, and may also use their stolen identities to perpetrate other scams.

"So it's like a never-ending cycle that could really hurt you in many ways," Ducharme said. 

Report fraud to police, banks

Wahbeh encourages victims of fraud to report their cases to police and their banks.

"We're only as good as what you give us and what your bank gives us, so if we don't get the intelligence from the bank, we will never be able to trace your money," he said.

He added that many of the fraudsters are overseas.

"There's so much in favour of the bad guys right now with technology that it's hard for police to be on top of this," he said

Bertrand's story has a happy ending. She reported her case to her bank's fraud department and the bank returned her money.

She had sold several items on Marketplace in the past but has been hesitant to use the platform since her latest experience. She posted a warning about her experiences in her neighbourhood's Facebook group and got many messages of support and advice.

"You know, once bitten, twice shy," Bertrand laughed. "But it was a good lesson."