Selling on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree and the "buyer" asks for my details or sends a link

Selling on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree and the "buyer" asks for my details or sends a link

You list something you no longer use on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or a WhatsApp buy-and-sell group and, within minutes, an eager buyer appears. They do not haggle, they ask nothing about the item and they are in a big hurry. They want to move to WhatsApp or email "to make it quicker" and, soon after, they send you a link: "I've already paid, go here to receive the money" or "I've booked a courier, confirm your details so they can collect". If you open it, you see a page that looks official asking for your card number, expiry date and CVV, or your online banking login. That is not a payment to you: it is theft. And the rule that takes the whole thing apart is simple: to receive money you never have to give your card details, your banking password or any OTP.

How does the fake buyer scam work?

The scheme has variants, but it almost always follows the same steps:

• They pull you off the platform. The first move is to switch the conversation to WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram or email. Outside the platform, nobody can detect the scam or protect you, and the scammer can send you links without any filtering.
• They send you a fake link. The page copies the look of the marketplace, a bank, a payment service or a courier company. It says the payment is "on hold" or "awaiting confirmation" and that, to release it, you must enter your card or log in to your bank. With that they make purchases or payments in your name.
• They ask for an OTP. After you enter your card, you get an SMS from your bank with a one-time PIN to approve a transaction. The fake page asks for it "to verify you are the account holder". That OTP is your signature: it approves a payment, not a receipt.
• The fake proof of payment. Very common in South Africa: the buyer sends a screenshot or an SMS that imitates a bank's payment notification, says the money "will reflect in 24 to 48 hours" because it is an inter-bank EFT, and sends someone to collect the item now. The money never arrives.
• The overpayment. They send a fake proof of payment for more than the price ("I added the courier fee by mistake") and ask you to send back the difference, or to pay "their courier" yourself. The original payment never existed.

What they all have in common is pressure: the buyer "is leaving town", "the driver is on the way" or "the payment link expires in 30 minutes". The rush is there so you do not stop to think.

How do I tell the buyer is fake?

No single sign is proof, but several together are a fairly reliable diagnosis:

1. They want to continue on WhatsApp, SMS or email straight away, for no clear reason.
2. They ask nothing about the item and do not negotiate the price. They do not care what they are buying.
3. They send you a link to get paid. Money is not "collected" on a website someone sends you.
4. The domain is not the official one. Addresses with hyphens, added words ("secure-payment", "confirm-delivery") or odd endings. Look at it calmly, not at a glance.
5. They ask for your card, CVV, PIN, banking password or an OTP. To receive an EFT, at most you need to share your account number and bank. Never the CVV or a code.
6. The "proof" is a screenshot or SMS, not money in your available balance.
7. A new profile or one with no history, often with a generic name and photo.
8. Logistics excuses: a relative or a "private courier" will collect, shipping to another province or abroad.

What do I do right now?

1. Do not open the link or enter any details. If you opened it but typed nothing, close it; just opening it usually does no harm.
2. Do not hand over the item until the money is in your available balance, checked in your own banking app. A screenshot is not money.
3. Check payments only in your banking app or online banking, opened by you, never from a link you were sent.
4. Save evidence: screenshots of the chat, the number or profile, the link (copy it as text, without opening it) and the date.
5. Block and report the profile on the platform, and the number on WhatsApp or on your phone. That way the platform can remove the account before it tries other sellers.

What if I've already entered my details or a code?

Do not blame yourself: these pages are very well made. What matters is speed:

1. Call your bank's fraud line immediately on the number on the back of your card or in the banking app. Ask them to block the card or your online banking and to review recent transactions.
2. Report any transactions you do not recognise and ask the bank how to dispute them. The sooner you do it, the better your chances. You will find more about getting money back on our blog.
3. If you gave your banking password or an OTP, tell the bank explicitly: they may need to reset your access and check for new beneficiaries.
4. Change the passwords for your marketplace account and your email, and switch on two-step verification.
5. If you shared a WhatsApp code, someone may try to take over your account: open WhatsApp, switch on two-step verification and warn your contacts to ignore any requests for money.
6. Watch your accounts over the following weeks. Your details may be reused in calls pretending to be your bank; before acting on one, read how to check whether a call or SMS from your bank is real.

Where do I report it?

• SAPS: open a case at your nearest police station with all the screenshots, the link and your bank statements, and ask for the case number. Your bank may ask for it.
• The platform itself: report the profile and the conversation from its app.
• Your bank, on its official number. SABRIC, the banks' risk information centre, publishes warnings about fake proof of payment that are worth reading before you sell.
• 10111 (or 112 from a cellphone) only if there is a real emergency, for example threats or someone turning up at your home.

And if the contact came from a phone number, add it to the spam numbers directory so that other sellers recognise it.

Frequently asked questions

Can someone rob me with just my card number? With the number, expiry date and CVV, purchases can be made online, especially if they also get the OTP your bank sends you. That is why these pages ask for everything together. Never share it to get paid.

The buyer says the platform "requires" me to verify my card. Is that true? No. If a platform needed something from you, it would ask inside its official app, not through a link a stranger sends you on WhatsApp.

Is it safe to sell in person? Meeting in a busy public place, ideally with someone else present, and getting paid in cash, or waiting until the money is in your available balance, is reasonable. Be wary of any "proof of payment" sent as a screenshot or email.

The link came by SMS rather than in the chat. Does that change anything? No. The channel changes, the trap is the same. It is the same logic as the fake parcel delivery SMS.

In short

When you are selling, the money comes to you: you never have to pay, enter your card or give codes to receive it. Do not hand anything over until the money is in your available balance, be wary of rushing and of links, and if you have already entered details, call your bank's fraud line before anything else and open a case afterwards. If you want an extra warning about suspicious numbers and SMSs, NoCall helps you identify who is on the other end before you reply.