A Perth resident has placed a sign outside his home warning people about Facebook Marketplace scams.
Fraudsters are offering fake items, including furniture and HD TVs, and asking buyers to pay a deposit to secure the items.
To make the scam seem legitimate, they use real residential addresses and tell buyers they can pay the remainder in cash when they pick up the items.
Frustrated with scammers using his address, the man decided to take action by putting up a sign outside his home.
“We don’t sell items on Facebook Marketplace – You’ve been scammed,” the sign reads.
“We’ve had (as far as we know) more than 20 people come to our house to buy TVs and couches.
“We don’t know why they are using our address, and it is very concerning.
“We have reported it to the police and Cyber Crime, and you should too.”
Perth residents are fed up with fraudsters using their addresses to scam unsuspecting victims
They also urged victims to report the fraudulent ad and block the associated Facebook account.
One victim shared his experience buying a 75-inch 4K Samsung TV on Facebook Marketplace, only to be told the resident’s address.
They told 9NEWS the scammer asked them to wire a $100 deposit and provided a BSB and account number. This account has been traced to an ANZ branch in Melbourne.
Since then, more and more people have spoken out about the scam.
One person came forward to say the scammer asked them to wire $100 as a deposit and gave them a BSB and account number traced to an ANZ branch in Melbourne.
Another person, whose address is frequently used by the scammers, asked for advice and indicated that he was considering putting up a sign that read: ‘NO, WE DO NOT SELL MATTRESSES ON FACEBOOK.’
“For the past few months, someone has been knocking on our door about once a week saying he’s here to buy a mattress,” they wrote on Reddit.
‘The scammer sends them my home address (as a Google maps image – no text) and also asks the person to pay a deposit to ‘secure it’ as supplies are limited.
‘However, people always want to pay when collecting and come to my door expecting to buy a cheap mattress from us.
“Is there anything we can do?”
Another person whose address is frequently used by the scammers asked for advice and said he is also considering putting up a sign at his house
According to Scamwatch, Australians lost $80.2 million to social media scams last year.
Scammers can set up fake profiles on social media, messaging platforms and apps and offer items for sale that do not actually exist.
Scamwatch advises to always investigate the profile behind the listing to check how long the account has been active, how many friends or followers they have and how much activity they have had online.
“Be careful what information you share on social media,” the watchdog says.
‘Never send money to someone you only met online.’