Buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or Craigslist

Selling: look for the money in your own bank or payment app. A screenshot or an email proves nothing. Buying: pay when you’re holding the item, or pay in a way you can dispute.

If it’s happening now

You’re selling, and the buyer says they’ve paid. Open your bank or payment app yourself and look. If the money isn’t there, you haven’t been paid, whatever the screenshot says. The item stays with you.

An email says the payment is on hold until you upgrade, pay a fee, or click to claim it. Don’t pay or tap anything in it. Open your bank’s app yourself. Real Zelle money shows up there, and Zelle says there are no upgrades. Never used Zelle? Sign up inside your bank’s app, not from the email.

The buyer wants to mail a check, pay extra, or send a mover. Say no. Pickup only, paid when they’re standing there.

A buyer or seller asks for a code that was just texted to you. Don’t read it out. It can set up a Google Voice number linked to your phone number, which they then use to scam other people. Craigslist says requests for a code are always a scam.

You’re buying, and the seller wants a deposit or payment before you’ve seen it. Don’t send it. Pay when you see it. If it has to ship, pay with PayPal’s “Paying for an item or service” or a credit card. Not Zelle, Cash App, or “Sending to a friend.”

You’re about to meet. Pick a bank lobby or a police station. Tell someone where you’re going. Test the item before you pay. For a phone, wait until it’s erased and shows the “Hello” screen a new iPhone starts on. Then start setup before you pay. If it asks for the seller’s Apple Account or Google Account, it’s still tied to them. Don’t pay until they remove it.

What to say

• It's pickup only. I'll hand it over once I see the money in my own bank app.

• I don't read out codes. If you want to know I'm real, come see it in person.

• I don't send deposits. I'll pay when I see it.

• Can you erase it now? I'll pay once it starts at the Hello screen and doesn't ask for your Apple Account.

• I paid a seller online who never sent the item. I need to report it as a scam, ask you to stop or reverse the payment, and get a case number.

• Can you send me that decision in writing?

If something already left your hands

Stop replying. If money left, call your bank or the payment company now (below). Then screenshot the listing, their profile, and the messages before you block or report anyone.

You paid a seller who disappeared

Call your bank or the payment company now. Use the number on your card or inside the app. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment, and get a case number.

• Credit card: dispute it with the card company as never received. It has to reach them within 60 days of the first statement that shows the charge. Paid with a card through PayPal? Use PayPal’s dispute or the card company’s, not both at once. I paid with a credit or debit card.
• PayPal “Paying for an item or service,” Venmo with the purchase toggle on, or checkout on Facebook: open a dispute in the app.
• Zelle, a bank transfer, Cash App, or a PayPal or Venmo payment not marked as a purchase: you sent it yourself, so the bank or app may say you authorized it, and you may not get it back. Ask for a recall or reversal anyway, and ask for the answer in writing. If it’s no, file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Bank transfer or Zelle, payment apps.
• Gift cards or crypto: gift cards, crypto.

You deposited their check and sent some back

Don’t send any more. Tell your bank the check is probably fake. The FTC says money showing in your account doesn’t mean the check is good, and when it bounces, you owe the bank. If you sent the “difference” by Zelle, a payment app, wire, gift card, or crypto, call that company now and ask them to stop it. I paid or sent money.

You handed over the item and the payment wasn’t real

If you shipped it with USPS and it hasn’t been delivered yet, ask USPS for Package Intercept. It costs a fee and isn’t guaranteed. Report the buyer in the app. If you met in person, file a police report.

You read them a code

If it was a Google Voice code and you don’t use Google Voice, disconnect your number at voice.google.com/regain. A code for anything else: I gave out a code, password, or card number.

Then report it

Report the profile on the platform. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and at ic3.gov. Anyone who then offers to get your money back for a fee is running a second scam. Someone offers to get my money back.

What it looks like

You're selling a couch for $350. You've never used Zelle. The buyer says she paid.

Pending Payment Notification: $350.00

Z

Zelle <[email protected]>

To: Linda Mercer

6:18 PM

Hello Linda,

You have received a payment of $350.00 USD from Kayla Brooks.

This payment is currently on hold because the receiving account is a personal account. Payments for items sold on Facebook Marketplace can only be released to a Zelle Business account.

To complete this transaction, a one-time upgrade fee of $150.00 is required. The sender has been notified and has agreed to pay the upgrade fee on your behalf. Once the sender's payment is confirmed, you will refund the $150.00 to the sender. Your full balance of $500.00 will then be deposited to your bank account.

[ Release Payment ]

Transaction ID: ZL7742190385
This notice expires in 30 minutes.

Zelle Support Team

What do you do?

• Tap "Release Payment" in the email to sign up
• Open your bank's app, find Zelle, and sign up with the email or phone number you gave her
• Wait for her $150, then send it back to her
• Call the number on the back of your bank card and ask

Show the answers

• Wrong move Tap "Release Payment" in the email to sign up The button goes wherever the sender of the email wants. Signing up happens in your bank's app, and nothing needs releasing.
• Best move Open your bank's app, find Zelle, and sign up with the email or phone number you gave her A real Zelle payment to someone who hasn't signed up waits for them to do that in their own bank's app. If she paid, it shows up once you do. Zelle says there are no upgrades.
• Wrong move Wait for her $150, then send it back to her Her $150 will be another email like this one. The $150 you send back is real money, and it's gone.
• Okay Call the number on the back of your bank card and ask Safe, and they can help you sign up. The app is faster.

There's no Zelle upgrade to buy. A real payment to someone who hasn't used Zelle waits for them to sign up inside their own bank's app. Check your bank's app. Ignore the email.

You want a used camera lens listed three hours away. You message the seller.

Facebook Messenger Marcus Tillman

7:42 PM

Hi yes it's still available

Great. Can you ship it?

Yep $420 + $18 shipping. I ship USPS same day

Zelle is easiest. Or PayPal goods and services but you'd cover their fee

Few other people asking so first to pay gets it

His profile dates from 2013 and has 4.9 stars from 31 ratings. What do you do?

• Pay with Zelle. His ratings are good
• Pay through PayPal as "Paying for an item or service," and cover the fee
• Send it through PayPal as "Sending to a friend" to skip the fee
• Pass. Anyone who ships instead of meeting is a scammer

Show the answers

• Wrong move Pay with Zelle. His ratings are good Zelle says not to use it to buy from someone you don't know, and it has no purchase protection. Ratings stay with an account, whoever is using it now.
• Best move Pay through PayPal as "Paying for an item or service," and cover the fee "Paying for an item or service" counts as a purchase. If the lens never comes or isn't what was listed, you can open a dispute with PayPal.
• Wrong move Send it through PayPal as "Sending to a friend" to skip the fee That's a personal payment. PayPal's Purchase Protection doesn't cover it.
• Okay Pass. Anyone who ships instead of meeting is a scammer Safe, but not required. Real sellers ship things. What matters is paying in a way that covers a purchase.

When it has to ship, pay in a way you can dispute: PayPal's "Paying for an item or service," the marketplace's own checkout, or a credit card. Not Zelle, Cash App, or "Sending to a friend."

You're in a bank lobby, buying a used iPhone 15 for $480. It works, and it opens to the seller's Home Screen. He sent you this yesterday.

OfferUp Tyler R.

Yesterday 4:05 PM

Phone is mint, never dropped. Unlocked for any carrier

Heads up I still have my stuff on it, haven't backed up my photos yet

I'll reset it when I get home after we meet and text you when it's done

What do you do?

• Pay. You've seen it work, and he'll reset it tonight
• Pay, and get his Apple Account password so you can sign him out at home
• Ask him to erase it now. Pay once you see the Hello screen and setup doesn't ask for his Apple Account
• Leave without it

Show the answers

• Wrong move Pay. You've seen it work, and he'll reset it tonight Until it's erased and off his account, it's tied to him. He can lock or erase it from anywhere with Find My, and you can't set it up without his password.
• Wrong move Pay, and get his Apple Account password so you can sign him out at home He can change that password tonight. The phone stays tied to his account until it's erased and removed.
• Best move Ask him to erase it now. Pay once you see the Hello screen and setup doesn't ask for his Apple Account Apple says a used iPhone is ready for you when it shows the Hello screen. Then start setup. If it asks for his Apple Account, it's still his. He said he hasn't backed up his photos. If they're in iCloud, erasing doesn't delete them. If not, he backs them up first, then you pay.
• Okay Leave without it Safe. But if he'll erase it there, you can still get the phone.

Pay after it's erased and setup doesn't ask for his account. On Android, the seller removes their Google Account before erasing.

What they’ll ask for

“I sent it. Here’s the screenshot.” It’s a picture. Check your own app.

“Zelle says you need a business account. I paid the upgrade, so just send back my $150.” No upgrade exists, and whatever you send back is gone.

“I need to know you’re real. Google’s sending you a code. What does it say?” Don’t read it out. If they want proof, they can come see the item.

“I’ll mail a cashier’s check, and my mover will pick it up.” Say no. Pickup only, paid on the spot. Craigslist calls requests to deposit a cashier’s check a scam, and PayPal tells sellers not to use a shipping service the buyer arranges.

“I overpaid by mistake. Send back the difference.” The FTC says not to accept a check for more than your price. If extra money really did land in your app, don’t send a new payment. Ask the app or your bank to return it.

“What’s your bank account number?” No buyer needs it to pay you.

“Send a $50 deposit and I’ll hold it for you.” Cash App’s own advice: pay after you receive what you bought.

“It’s with a shipping company. Pay them and they’ll deliver.” For a car, a pet, or anything big, see it before you pay. Craigslist says requests to use an escrow service can be a scam.

“Zelle or friends and family only. It saves the fee.” Both leave you nothing to dispute if it never comes. Use PayPal’s “Paying for an item or service” or a credit card.

How you pay decides what you can get back

How you paid	If it never comes, or isn’t what was listed
Credit card	Dispute within 60 days of the statement.
PayPal, “Paying for an item or service”	Never came: dispute within 180 days of paying. Came but isn’t what was listed: within 30 days of getting it, and no later than 180 days after paying. Picked up in person: only a “not as described” claim may work.
Venmo, with the purchase toggle on	Dispute within 180 days of paying.
Checkout on Facebook Marketplace	Many orders are covered by Purchase Protection. Local pickup and payments arranged in Messenger aren’t.
Zelle, Cash App, or PayPal or Venmo not marked as a purchase	No purchase protection. Ask anyway; expect a no.
Cash	Final. Fine in person, once you’ve checked the item.
Gift cards, wire, crypto	A seller who asks for these is the scam.

Selling in person: take cash you’ve checked, or money you can see in your own app before the item leaves your hands. A payment app can still pull the money back if the buyer disputes it with their bank or card company. PayPal’s Seller Protection doesn’t cover an item handed over in person unless the buyer paid by scanning your PayPal goods and services QR code.

For big amounts, take cash and meet at your bank. Tellers can help spot counterfeit bills, and you can deposit the cash on the spot. To check a $100 yourself, tilt it: the bells on the blue ribbon change to 100s. Hold it to the light: a faint portrait of Franklin shows in the blank space to the right of the main one.