Staying Safe on Facebook Marketplace: A Guide for Seniors

Facebook Marketplace is a popular place to buy and sell locally in Canada — but it comes with real risks. Scammers actively target sellers and buyers, and transactions gone wrong can be very difficult to reverse. This guide will help you use Marketplace safely.

For sellers

• Only accept cash or Interac e-Transfer as payment — verify the e-Transfer in your actual bank app, not from a screenshot.
• Never accept cheques or money orders — they can be fake and take weeks to bounce.
• Never ship items to buyers you haven't met in person.
• Meet in a public place — a coffee shop, a shopping centre, or your local police station's 'safe exchange zone'.

For buyers

• Check the seller's profile — no reviews, recently created accounts, or very few friends are red flags.
• Ask for additional photos of the item before agreeing to purchase.
• If a deal seems too good to be true — it is almost certainly a scam.
• Never pay by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency — legitimate sellers don't ask for these.