The short answer
It can be safe, but only if you treat every listing as unverified. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and OLX connect you with strangers. Nobody checks that the seller owns the phone, that it works, or that it isn’t locked or blacklisted. Meta’s own help centre notes that it doesn’t offer refunds for person-to-person or off-platform transactions, so if you pay a stranger and things go wrong, you’re usually on your own.
Our founder was scammed about three times buying tech this way before starting NOSHTECH. Below are the tactics that come up again and again, and how to protect yourself from each.
1. The price that’s too good to be true
A nearly new iPhone or MacBook at half the usual price is the most common bait. Meta lists underpriced items as a key warning sign. Scammers use a low price to create excitement, so you skip the checks you would normally do.
Protect yourself: know the going rate for the exact model and storage size before you start. If the price is far below it, assume there’s a reason.
2. “Pay a deposit and I’ll hold it for you”
The seller says lots of people are interested, but if you send a deposit, they’ll keep it for you. Once the money is sent, the seller stops replying. Meta’s advice is not to send deposits for valuable items without confirming the item and the seller in person.
Protect yourself: never pay anything before you have the phone in your hands and have tested it.
3. The courier and “I’ll ship it” scam
The seller says they’re in another city and will send the phone by courier once you pay. Sometimes you receive a tracking link that leads to a convincing but fake courier website, sometimes asking for extra “fees”. The phone never arrives.
Protect yourself: buy second-hand phones in person. If you do use a courier, check any tracking number directly on the courier company’s real website, not through a link the seller sends.
4. Fake proof of payment
This one mostly targets sellers, which matters if you’re selling your old phone to fund a new one. The “buyer” sends a screenshot or PDF that looks like a bank payment and asks to collect immediately, or claims they overpaid and asks you to refund the difference. Meta specifically warns about payment screenshots and overpayment requests.
Protect yourself: a screenshot is not payment. Only hand over goods once the money has actually cleared in your own banking app.
5. Pressure to move off the platform
The seller quickly asks you to continue on WhatsApp, email or another app, often with a story about not checking Facebook. Off-platform, there’s less record of the conversation and fewer ways to report them. Meta also warns about people asking for verification codes sent to your phone or email: sharing one can hand over your account.
Protect yourself: never share a verification code or password with anyone, and be extra careful when a stranger rushes to move the chat elsewhere.
6. Rushing and the swap at the meet-up
Scammers create urgency: another buyer is on the way, they have to leave in five minutes. In the rush you might not notice that the phone is locked to someone else’s account, has a different IMEI from the box, or that the sealed box you were shown was swapped.
Protect yourself: take your time. Turn the phone on, check the IMEI with *#06#, test it with your own SIM and make sure it isn’t locked to an Apple or Google account. Our guide on checking if a phone is stolen walks through each step.
Safer habits for any marketplace buy
- Meet in a busy, public place during the day, and bring someone with you.
- Check the seller’s profile: how long it has existed, their ratings and their listing history.
- Pay only after you’ve inspected and tested the device, and avoid unusual payment methods such as gift cards or crypto.
- Keep all messages, the listing and proof of payment.
- If something feels off, walk away. There will always be another phone.
If you’ve been scammed
Report the listing and the profile to Facebook (or the platform you used), contact your bank immediately if you paid by EFT or card, and open a case at your nearest SAPS station with screenshots of the listing, chats and payment.