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Marketplace Scams UK: Facebook, eBay, Vinted & More

Buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Vinted, Gumtree or Depop? Spot fake sellers, fake buyers and off-platform payment cons, and report them.

A recurring marketplace scam pattern is an attempt to move a transaction away from whatever protected checkout or messaging flow the platform offers. On classified local sales, where cash on collection may be normal, the equivalent warning is pressure to pay a deposit or follow an unexpected payment or courier link before inspection. The move can be into a bank transfer, a WhatsApp thread, a 'friends and family' payment, or a link sent in chat. Where a platform runs its own checkout, that checkout is where buyer and seller protection lives, so a push to leave it is a strong warning where the platform offers an eligible protected checkout.

The scale is not marginal. Purchase scams — paying for goods that never arrive — made up 71% of all authorised push payment fraud cases in UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026, and online shopping was the most commonly reported scam type among victims in Citizens Advice's 2025 Scams Awareness survey, at 26%. Both figures, with publishers and periods, are in our UK scam statistics dataset. Unsure about a listing, a buyer or a 'payment confirmation'? Paste it into our free AI scam checker for an automated second opinion — it is a fallible assessment, so still check the account, the item and the payment state in the official app yourself.

Buying or selling? Find your situation

Marketplace fraud attacks buyers and sellers in completely different ways, so start with which side of the deal you are on.

Buying, and the seller wants a deposit or transfer before you have seen the item. This is the classic fake-seller pattern on local and classified listings: Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, Preloved and Shpock all see the same 'transfer to hold it' script, whatever protected checkout the platform may also offer.
Buying on a platform with its own checkout, and the seller offers a discount to pay outside it. That is protection-stripping — see eBay scams, Vinted warning signs, Depop off-app payment cons and Etsy sellers who ask you to pay off-site.
Selling, and the buyer has produced a payment confirmation, an overpayment or a link to 'release' funds. Read Facebook Marketplace fake buyers and Vinted buyer scams before you post anything.
You have had an email from the platform itself about a fee, a held payment or a listing about to be removed. That is platform-impersonation phishing, such as the fake eBay listing fee notice.
It is a car. Vehicles can involve especially large deposits or payments — see Autotrader car scams.
It is somewhere to live or stay. Property listings attract deposit fraud: Rightmove rental scams and fake or hijacked Airbnb listings.

What platform protection actually covers

Marketplaces are not interchangeable, and the difference decides what happens when a deal goes wrong. Protection is conditional and transaction-specific everywhere: eligibility, evidence requirements and deadlines vary by platform and by deal.

Platforms with their own checkout — eBay, Vinted, Etsy, Depop, Airbnb — publish protection terms that apply to eligible purchases paid for through the platform itself. Pay outside it and you may fall outside the platform's protection altogether, which is exactly why an off-platform 'fee-free' discount is such a strong warning sign. Our Etsy guide and Vinted guide set out how each platform's cover works, and the eBay guide explains why keeping messages as well as payment on the platform matters if you later need to evidence a dispute.
Local classified listings — Facebook Marketplace's local ads, for example — introduce a buyer to a seller rather than processing the payment, so an ordinary local cash-on-collection deal should not be assumed to carry buyer protection at all.
Gumtree now sits in between. Gumtree now offers Buy Now, secure payment and Buyer Protection through Mangopay for eligible delivery-enabled items up to £250; the button appears only on eligible ads. Ordinary local and in-person listings should still not be assumed to carry that protection. Check the exact ad and complete any protected checkout inside Gumtree. Our Gumtree guide covers the deposit-before-viewing script that still dominates local deals.
Preloved is different again. Preloved says it does not itself handle ordinary transaction payments, although some listings may offer an optional Trustap transaction. Verify that option from the listing or account you opened yourself and read the current Trustap terms; never trust a buyer-supplied “Preloved payment” link. Our Preloved guide covers the rest of the classified-deal checks.
Shpock needs its own line. Shpock's current help says its Buy Now feature and Wallet have been discontinued. For a new deal, do not assume that Shpock supplies an in-app payment or Buyer Protection step. Users may agree collection or arrange tracked delivery themselves, but Shpock says it has no courier service of its own. A supposed “Shpock courier”, or an unexpected courier or payment link, is a strong warning sign; our Shpock guide covers the deposit-before-collection script.
The payment type matters as much as the platform. A PayPal 'friends and family' payment is not a purchase payment and does not attract purchase protection. Refuse a request to transfer money to a personal account that does not independently match the business or seller you verified. A bank transfer does not provide card chargeback, Section 75 or marketplace buyer protection, although an eligible domestic consumer transfer may fall within the mandatory APP reimbursement rules. Report a transfer you have come to doubt to your bank quickly.

Selling: a payment confirmation is not a payment

Every seller-side con attacks the same gap — between seeing evidence of a payment and having the money. A screenshot, an email that appears to come from a payment provider, or a 'funds held pending dispatch' notice can all be fabricated. Verify the status in your own bank or platform account, opened independently, and never from an email or a screenshot someone has sent you. Do not dispatch while the platform still shows the payment as pending. Facebook Marketplace fake buyers and the overpayment refund request are common variants, and the overpayment version needs particular care: a credit you can see in an account can still be held, recalled, reversed or investigated, so do not send a separate 'refund' without first contacting your bank or the platform through a channel you opened yourself and confirming the position.

Watch too for the variant aimed at the seller: a link to 'confirm your card' or 'verify your account' to release funds. As the Vinted buyer scam guide explains, a genuine sale is settled through the platform's own order and payment process, so check the order and payment state in the official app rather than acting on a link sent in chat, and treat any request to enter card details to 'release' money you are owed as a scam. Collection deals have their own version: a message from a courier you did not arrange, whatever brand it claims, is a warning sign rather than a delivery arrangement.

Collection day, cars and viewings

Some marketplace losses happen face to face, or should have. Never pay for a car you have not seen and inspected, and be sceptical of any seller who cannot meet, wants a deposit to hold the vehicle, or claims the marketplace itself will hold your money in escrow — that last line recurs in these cons, so check any such scheme with the site itself before relying on it. For a long-term residential rental, view the property and verify the landlord or agent before sending a holding deposit or rent. For a short-stay platform such as Airbnb, prepayment may be normal, so keep the reservation and payment entirely inside the official platform. A landlord who is conveniently abroad and will post the keys after a transfer is the classic rental scam, and a fake or hijacked Airbnb listing works by moving you off the platform.

For an in-person handover, meet somewhere public and busy in daylight, take someone with you, inspect the item, and hand nothing over until the money has arrived — the advice in our Gumtree guide and Preloved guide applies to any classified deal. A live video call can help corroborate that the seller has the item in front of them, but it is not proof of ownership, identity or a safe transaction. Seasonal listings deserve extra care: bargain festival tents and camping gear on Vinted appear every summer from sellers who want to move the conversation to WhatsApp.

If you have already paid, or handed over the item

Contact your bank or card issuer first, on the number on your card or statement, and report it as fraud. If you paid by card, ask about chargeback — a card-scheme process with scheme-set deadlines rather than a statutory right.
Where a credit agreement funded the purchase, Section 75 may apply, subject to the required credit-to-supplier relationship and a cash price of more than £100 and no more than £30,000, counted per item or qualifying set. Marketplace purchases often involve intermediaries, so paying on credit does not guarantee cover.
If you sent a bank transfer, eligible domestic consumer payments by Faster Payments or CHAPS made on or after 7 October 2024 may fall within the mandatory APP reimbursement rules, subject to exclusions, an £85,000 cap, a 13-month outer reporting limit and a possible excess of up to £100 that cannot be applied to a consumer the firm assesses as vulnerable. Reimbursement is not guaranteed — report quickly.
Report inside the platform too, while the account still exists: the listing, profile and message thread are the evidence it needs. Then screenshot everything and work through the payment, account and identity steps in our scam recovery checklist.

How to report a marketplace scam in the UK

Use the platform's own reporting tools first — on the listing, the profile and the message thread — because that is what lets the platform investigate while the evidence still exists. It may restrict or remove the account as a result, but no report can guarantee that outcome, so protect your own position as well. Platform-branded phishing emails should be reported through the platform's current security or help route, which the platform publishes on its own site rather than in the email itself, and forwarded to the National Cyber Security Centre at report@phishing.gov.uk. If you have lost money or shared bank details, report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland. A suspicious SMS text can be forwarded free to 7726. For consumer-rights help, use the service for your nation: Citizens Advice in England and Wales on 0808 223 1133, Advice Direct Scotland in Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline in Northern Ireland on 0300 123 6262.

All marketplace scams guides

Marketplace Scams

Gumtree Scams UK: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Listings and Buyers

Gumtree is legitimate, but scammers use it. Here are the most common Gumtree scams targeting UK buyers and sellers, the warning signs, and how to stay safe.

Buying on Facebook Marketplace and asked to pay by bank transfer before viewing the item? Spot a fake seller, buy safely, and report it in the UK.

Updated 30 July 2026

Common questions

Is it safe to pay a Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree seller by bank transfer?

Treat a request to transfer money for an item you have not seen as a strong scam warning sign on a classified site. A bank transfer has no card chargeback and no marketplace buyer-protection process, though an eligible domestic consumer transfer may still fall within the mandatory APP reimbursement rules, subject to exclusions and limits. An ordinary local listing should not be assumed to carry buyer protection. View and collect in person, pay on collection, and walk away from any seller who insists on a deposit to 'hold' the item.

A buyer sent me a payment confirmation — can I post the item?

No. Screenshots and confirmation emails can be fabricated, and a 'funds held pending dispatch' notice is a known con. Check the payment status in your own bank or platform account, opened independently, rather than from anything the buyer sends, and do not dispatch while the platform shows the payment as pending. If the buyer says they have overpaid and wants the difference back, remember that a credit you can see can still be held, recalled, reversed or investigated: do not send a separate refund without first contacting your bank or the platform through a channel you opened yourself.

A seller offered a discount if I pay outside the app — what is the risk?

You may fall outside the platform's protection, which applies only to eligible purchases paid through its own checkout, and eligibility, evidence requirements and deadlines vary. Paying outside the app may remove platform protection regardless of why the discount is offered. Decline and keep an eligible transaction inside the platform; if the seller refuses, walk away. Keeping the conversation on the platform matters too, because the thread is the evidence if you later need to raise a dispute.

I have been scammed on a marketplace — can I get my money back?

It depends on how you paid. Contact your bank or card issuer immediately: card payments may allow a chargeback under card-scheme rules, and where a credit agreement funded the purchase Section 75 may apply if the required relationship exists and the cash price was more than £100 and no more than £30,000. For an eligible domestic consumer bank transfer by Faster Payments or CHAPS on or after 7 October 2024, the mandatory APP reimbursement rules may apply, subject to exclusions, an £85,000 cap and a 13-month outer reporting limit.

Where do I report a fake listing, buyer or seller?

Report it inside the platform first, using the report options on the listing, profile and messages: that lets the platform investigate and it may restrict or remove the account, though no report guarantees it. Report platform-branded phishing emails through the platform's current security or help route, and forward them to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report any financial loss to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland.

Sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-07-30. Reporting routes are checked against our verified canon of official UK sources. Read about how Beat the Scam writes guides.

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