POLICE have issued a warning to the public regarding scams by people posing as Facebook vendors who solicit money from unsuspecting buyers only to defraud them.
In a release issued on Saturday, the Financial Crime Investigation Branch said to be aware of people offering items for sale on Facebook Marketplace or Facebook Messenger “with the intent to defraud customers of money and use their identifications in other Facebook scams.”
Police explained how the scams work.
“The culprit(s) advertises cars, boats, motorcycles, and other items at attractive prices,” police warned. “To gain the purchaser’s trust, vendors (suspects) send images of government issued IDs which they claim to be their identity. As a result, the victim’s trust is gained and (the victim) deposits or transfers money onto an account in the name of the person whose ID was presented or some other third party.
“The victims are then informed that once the item is paid for, it will be delivered within two or three weeks. However, almost immediately after the funds are deposited or transferred to the account, the suspect discontinues communication with the victim.”
The Royal Bahamas Police Force has advised people to be cautious when sending money to individuals you do not know.
“Additionally, we want to caution individuals not to give their bank account and personal Identification to unknown persons through social media,” police said. “Your personal information and identification will be used in perpetuating the scam. This gives the appearance that you are also a part of the fraudulent activities.”
If you were affected by such a scam, contact the Financial Investigations Branch at 356-6027.
Comments
ThisIsOurs 2 years, 6 months ago
"Financial Investig"
-ations Unit
John 2 years, 6 months ago
Cases have been reported behere persons went to make a trade or purchase after making the arrangement online only to be robbed of large amounts of cash. Others have purchased electronics including cellphones, games and computers only to find the items are faulty or not working at all. Then it becomes impossible to contact the seller or to get them to take the items back. And sometimes the items offered for sale are stolen goods. Follow the old adage, ‘ If s deal seems to be too good to be real, then it is too good to be true.’
bahamianson 2 years, 6 months ago
don't know how these crooks live with themselves, taking advantage of vulnerable people in desperate situations. Please find compassion somewhere in your soul and stop doing this to your own people.
John 2 years, 6 months ago
Reminds of the stories of when Bahamians use to go shopping downtown in Miami. They would purchase tv;s (not flat screen yet) and vhs (now dvd) players and arrive in Nassau to clear customs. Only then would they realize that there was no tv in the tv box but bricks or a concrete blocks and a piece or wood or some other heavy object in the vhs box. Bahamians would purchase vehicles in Florida only for the vehicle to arrive in The Bahamas with no engine and sometimes no transmission and sometimes not working. Sometimes a different vehicle would arrive other than the one that was purchased. And there was very little recourse back then because the average Bahamian could only afford to go to Miami once a year. And, if the seller was courteous enough to answer the phone, their first response is well bring it back to us and we will see what we can do.
.
Sometimes if you did manage to get to Miami, the culprits would have moved. shut down or changed the store name. And attempting to ship a vehicle back to Florida was next to impossible. And so eventually Bahamians avoided going downtown to shop, like many other Caribbean people and people from Central and South America, who were also being ripped off. And the Downtown Miami shopping Mecca dried up.
. . Many Bahamians today have never ever been Downtown Miami, and unless they have older people in their family who tell them about it, they don't know it exists. Many Bahamians also avoid going downtown, Nassau, but for totally different reasons.
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