Facebook Marketplace scams targeting sellers and car buyers
Treat any link a buyer sends you as a scam. Receiving an e-transfer never needs your bank login, and no payment needs a "business account upgrade".
Fake buyers send e-transfer "deposit" links that steal your bank login, or say your account must be upgraded before a payment can land. Fake car listings demand deposits before you ever see the vehicle.
How it works
If you are selling: a buyer says they will send a deposit and texts you a link that looks exactly like your bank’s e-transfer page. It is a reverse e-transfer request. Logging in hands the scammer your bank credentials. A favourite excuse is that the buyer is "out of town" and wants to pay now to hold the item. One Ottawa seller lost $700 overnight from a $100 coat listing, and Ottawa police called this the "hot fraud" against sellers.
Another version arrives as a fake Interac notification saying the payment came from a business account and autodeposit is unavailable, so you must pay a small fee or log in to "upgrade to a business account" to receive the money. There is no such upgrade. Interac asks you to forward fake Interac emails to phishing@interac.ca.
If you are buying: too-cheap vehicle listings pressure you to e-transfer a deposit before viewing the car, or the car is stolen with falsified paperwork.
How a real e-transfer arrives
Money sent to you by e-transfer shows up inside your own banking app. With Autodeposit it simply lands. Without it, you accept the transfer by opening your own bank’s app or website yourself, never through a link someone sent you. There is no fee to receive money and no account type to upgrade.
Interac asks you to report suspicious messages to phishing@interac.ca.
Source: Interac: security
Does Interac ever ask you to upgrade to a business account to receive money?
No. There is no fee, no upgrade and no login needed to receive an e-transfer. Any message that says otherwise is a scam. Interac asks you to forward suspicious messages to phishing@interac.ca.
What to do
- Never log in to your bank from a link someone sends you. Open your banking app yourself.
- For local sales, deal in cash or confirm an e-transfer arrived inside your own banking app before handing anything over.
- Never send a deposit for a vehicle you have not seen. Verify ownership before paying anything.
- Forward fake Interac emails to phishing@interac.ca.
- If you tapped the link, entered details or paid: here is exactly what to do next, step by step.
- If this one also reached you by text, forward that text to 7726 (SPAM). How to do that on iPhone and Android.
- Got a different message? Run it through our one-minute checker.
Sources
If this has already happened to you, our scam recovery visit can lock down your accounts and devices. And if you are just not sure whether something is a scam, asking us is always free.