LETHBRIDGE, AB – There is a buy-and-sell payment scam ongoing across the province and police are hoping more people don’t fall victim to it.
The Alberta RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit warns this fraud has sellers using platforms like Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace and unknowingly getting money requests, rather than payment transfers.
This is how it works. Police say scammers show interest in a listed item on a buy-and-sell platform and contact the seller. They then ask to send an online money transfer as a deposit to hold the item. A money request is then sent instead of a transfer and it’s usually in another language. The victim, unable to translate the request or figure out the scam, accepts the transaction and the funds are pulled from their account.
Mounties say as a result, sellers are getting cheated out of their money instead of receiving payment for their listed items.
RCMP stress there has been no specific trend in the type of listings or sellers being targeted.
If you are listing things for sale over the internet, police suggest you avoid online interactions with potential buyers that involve money transfers in French or languages you’re not able to translate.
