Drivers are being warned they could lose thousands of pounds in a sophisticated scam sweeping Facebook Marketplace. With online searches for "Facebook marketplace cars for sale near me" rising by 52% compared to last year, fraudsters are increasingly targeting private car buyers.
Surge in Private Car Sales Attracts Scammers
Matt Clamp, a used car expert at Scrap Car Comparison, said the volume of people entering the private sales market is "something we haven't seen before." He explained: "More buyers are going straight to Facebook Marketplace and other private platforms, and fraudsters are exploiting it. What concerns me most is how convincing these cars can look. But the moment we check the VIN in person, that's where it unravels. The numbers fail to match, the stamp has been tampered with, or the code isn't consistent across the car."
Close Call: Buyer Nearly Lost Thousands
One contributor narrowly avoided handing over thousands of pounds for a vehicle advertised with 66,000 miles that actually had 250,000 miles on the clock. "Buying a car is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make, and this one simple check could be the difference between buying with confidence and losing thousands to fraud," Mr Clamp stated. "The people losing money to cloned car fraud aren't doing anything wrong; they just don't know this check exists."
How the Scam Works
Carwow added: "Anyone can list their car for sale on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, and most of the ads you see will be genuine. However, a small handful may not be as they seem. Some shady sellers use stolen photos of cars they don't actually own to lure you in. They'll chat with you online, convince you everything's legitimate, then push you to pay a big deposit – or even the full price – before you've even seen the car in person. Once the money's gone, they vanish."
How to Protect Yourself
Meta says it is working to tackle scams and encourages users to report suspicious activity, but scammers often take conversations off the platform where they cannot be tracked. The best defence is to stay alert and never pay upfront for a car you have not seen. Experts recommend always checking the vehicle identification number (VIN) in person and verifying it matches the car's documents. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
