Wayne Draper and his wife wanted a puppy. When they came across pictures of a new bulldog on Facebook, they instantly fell in love.
The Facebook page it was advertised on had been operating since January 2021, and had seemed to cycle for several litters of puppies. They promised their pups were ANKC (Australian National Kennel Council)-registered, wormed and had a full veterinary health check.
“We saw the video and photos, we looked into it, and it seemed legitimate,” Draper said.
He was asked to fill out a questionnaire, to check if the couple were suitable. Once they were approved, they sent $1,000 to the business to secure the puppy.
“Then the communication slowed down – he said his daughter was in the hospital with a critical injury,” Draper said.
“I said: ‘I’ll bring the rest, $1,500, on the Friday or Saturday when we pick up the dog and go from there.’”
When the business asked for an extra $500 to be transferred through Bitcoin, Draper realised it was a scam. He kept communicating, hoping to get some of the money back.
“I was trying anything to get some money. I couldn’t believe it. I learnt a big lesson from it. Never purchase a puppy like that.”
Eventually, the page stopped responding. On 19 January, he reported it to Facebook – but it is still active.
“I’m disappointed with Facebook,” Draper said. “They haven’t done anything about it. Facebook needs to have more rules in place, and check for scams.”
Meta would not answer how many scams are reported or taken down but said it had increased enforcement against spam.
“We’re investigating the matter. Scammers present a challenge in any online environment, and marketplaces are no exception,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We continue to invest in AI to improve the accuracy of our enforcement and strengthen our review systems.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says overall reported scams from classified ads are down – but the amount scammers are stealing through these methods is up.
Last year, Australians lost $8,465,443 to classified scams, but many go unreported.
“In 2022 there was a 37% reduction in classified and online shopping scams reported when compared to 2021,” an ACCC spokesperson said.
“Total losses from such scams however have increased by 5%. This indicates that while these scams are impacting less people, those impacted are on average suffering greater losses than in the prior year.”
A cyber security expert at Avast, Stephen Kho, said this was because the scams were becoming more sophisticated.
“What we are seeing is the level of sophistication is going up. Initially, it was just a lot of phishing emails, SMS, and voice mails,” Kho said.
“We’re increasingly seeing really sophisticated scams. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and other trading platforms are all affected.”
It’s not just buyers who are getting scammed. Kho was recently selling his car when he was targeted by scammers.
He put up a classified ad, asking $10,000 for the car, and was offered $13,000 from someone who offered to pay that week and have it picked up by a courier.
“You see them pay over PayPal, the $13,000, it appears, then you give the car to the tow truck, then suddenly the money disappears,” he said.
“There’s a mechanism where there’s a clearance time and the payer has a right to withdraw. You think you’ve got the money, you’ve given the car away. And you’ve lost the money.”
As more Australians become aware of common scams, the level of sophistication – including tactics to build rapport and manipulate potential customers – is increasing as scammers find new ways to steal money, he said.
“These scammers are tricking people that previously would be like ‘I’m not going to click on this’,” Kho said.
“It’s a business to them, in the end. Romance scams, super fund scams, the level of sophistication has gone through the roof.”
The incoming chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Stephanie Tonkin, said buy-and-sell companies needed to do more to keep customers safe.
“Last year the ACCC said that online platforms like Meta, Gumtree and the rest must have much stronger online safeguards against scams,” Tonkin said.
“We totally agree as this is a multi-platform issue and endemic problem – you can’t whack this mole in just one spot and expect it to disappear.”
