Victorian business owner warns Facebook users over sneaky scam 2023

The creator of a prominent skincare brand is warning Aussies about a cunning Facebook scam that has become too widespread and simple to fall for.

Tribe Skincare owner Kayla Houlihan warned her 237,000 TikTok followers about Facebook Marketplace scammers.

She received weird reactions hours after placing her social media ad to sell her TV.

Four persons sent her nearly identical texts indicating they were unable to pick up the item but would send someone else and pay for the TV using PayID.

“I didn’t really understand how it was a scam if I was getting paid,” Ms. Houlihan told her TikTok fans.

But everyone telling me the same thing was suspicious.

Ms. Houlihan stated the crooks “all used the same script”.

After a journalist got six of these messages in two hours on Facebook Marketplace, News.com.au reported on the hoax.

PayID lets you accept payments by linking your cellphone number or email address to your bank account.

Once connected, you can submit this information instead of your BSB and account number.

Facebook Marketplace scammers typically ask sellers for their email addresses to “pay” them.

They then send a fake email to the vendor claiming the PayID account needs money to “release the funds”.

The bogus email will indicate a problem occurred “while crediting your PayID account” because the customer tried to deposit more money than the vendor’s account can handle.

Then the phony email asks the vendor to transfer the customer cash to “expand their account limit”.

Last week, Ms. Houlihan’s warning was watched over 200,000 times.

Scamwatch said that internet shopping frauds cost Australians $9 million last year.

PayID cost Australians $260,000.