Have you used Facebook Marketplace lately and, moments after posting the item you are selling,  you were bombarded with "Is this item still available?" messages?

It happened to me today. Within 5 minutes of posting my boat for sale, I had just as many Facebook messages asking if the item was available.

The same thing happened to me over the weekend when I listed a generator for sale. Again, within minutes, several people reached out to ask if the item was still available.

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And as quickly as I could respond "Yes", they replied with "Can I call you" or "I want to buy it, send me your cell number". Knowing about the scam, I knew to NOT send out my cell number.

Here's what happens when you do.

The scammer will tell you that they want to make certain that you are a "real" person by sending you a code via your cell phone. They then want you to send them the code via Facebook Messenger to verify you are real.

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But what they are actually doing with that code is trying to take over your identity.

With that code, the scammer can set up a Google Voice number that will be linked to your phone number, which is the first step in scamming people in your name.

The scammers can even go so far as to set up accounts in your name or access your phone account or bank accounts, and even do a SIM swap and get ALL of your information!

Best practices when selling on Facebook Messenger include sticking to Messenger for all communications regarding the sale of your item and never giving out your cell phone number in Messenger.

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