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In the online world, it is increasingly necessary not to take the words of a complete stranger for granted, especially those of an online seller with goods to flog.
But what about when you are the seller?
Carla Francome, from London, found herself caught in a scam, but suspicious language from the buyer and a PayPay email gave her grateful pause for thought.
The TV producer and avid cyclist had decided to list her prized blue Bobbin Kingfisher bike on Facebook Marketplace earlier this month.
In a series of tweets and screenshots uploaded to her account, @carlafrancome, on X, formerly Twitter, Carla detailed her contact with a fraudster on the social platform’s Buy and Sell feature.
TV producer and keen equestrian Carla Francome, from London, decided to put her prized blue Bobbin Kingfisher bike up for sale on Facebook Marketplace earlier this month.
The £500 Kingfisher had been given as a Christmas present by his parents, but Francome opted to sell the bike for £300 on Facebook Marketplace.
The Kingfisher had been given as a Christmas present from her parents in 2022, but Francome chose to sell the bike because she “needed something with more gears.”
After opting to sell the Facebook bike marketplace – which allows sellers to list 150 items a day – for £300, Francome quickly received a message from an enthusiastic potential buyer.
The seemingly genuine buyer, named Sunday Chukwudubem on the platform, asked about the availability and condition of the bike, to which Carla responded with honest specifications.
However, the polite exchange quickly became tense as the buyer insisted on paying for the bike without inspecting it in person.
Sunday claimed he was “out of town” and his wife had planned to collect the bike from Carla in London, before he began pressuring the TV producer to accept a PayPal payment.
Francome, worried, replied: “There’s no rush to pay me – make sure she likes it – I won’t sell it to anyone else.”
But Sunday claimed he might be “busy” at a later date and his wife might not have access to his card at that time, and so Carla proceeded with the transaction between the two men.
Carla then gave the buyer her email address and PayPal username, to which Sunday responded the next morning claiming he had paid the money and asked if she had received the funds .
After opting to sell the expensive Facebook bike marketplace – which allows sellers to list 150 items a day – for £300, Francome quickly received a message from an enthusiastic potential buyer.
A seemingly genuine buyer named Sunday Chukwudubem on the platform asked about the availability and condition of the bike, to which Carla responded with honest specifications.
However, the polite exchange quickly became tense as the buyer insisted on paying for the bike without inspecting it in person.
Carla then gave the buyer her email address and PayPal username, to which Sunday responded the next morning claiming he had paid the money and asked if she had received the funds .
Sunday claimed he sent an extra £200 because it was his responsibility as the buyer to “upgrade” Carla’s account to a business account for the full amount to be released.
The cycling enthusiast told how Sunday “kept pressing her” by sending her several messages and asking: “Are you there?”
After checking her account, Carla noticed that she had not received any money. Instead, she received a “strange” email from PayPal, which claimed she needed to “top up” her account with an additional £200 in order to clear the £300 sent by the buyer.
Another confusing email from ‘PayPal’ had been sent to Carla, claiming that the buyer should send the extra £200 to her account, but that she would have to refund the money to Sunday’s account once the whole of the £500 would have been paid.
Forwarding the email to Sunday on Facebook, the buyer began pressuring Francome to “follow the steps and instructions given by Paypal.”
He then claimed he sent the £200 because it was his responsibility as the buyer to ‘upgrade’ Carla’s account to a business account for the full amount to be released.
Asking Carla if he “could trust” her to repay the money, the producer quickly realized she had been scammed and reported the fraudster for his actions.
Sunday appeared to react frantically, sending a barrage of messages in which he claimed to “work hard for money” and that he could “never rip it off.”
The final, almost robotic, message sent by the fraudster read: “As soon as you repay them the £200, you will immediately receive a total of £500 in your account. Are you working there now?
After checking her account, Carla noticed that she had not received any money. Instead, she had received a ‘strange’ email from PayPal, in which it was claimed she needed to ‘top up’ it with an extra £200 in order to get to unlock the £300 sent by the buyer
Another confusing email from ‘PayPal’ had been sent to Carla, claiming that the buyer should send the extra £200 to her account, but that she would have to refund the money to the account on Sunday.
Asking Carla if he “could trust him” to repay the money, while telling the producer to “follow the steps and instructions given by Paypal”, she quickly realized that she had been a victim of a scam and reported the fraudster for his actions.
Carla stopped responding to the scammer, and now the cautious cyclist has warned other potential sellers to stay vigilant and pay attention to small details when making online transactions, no matter how pleasant and convincing a buyer may appear.
She said in a tweet: “I can understand why people fall for this… so please spread the word about how these scams happen.” I imagine people who aren’t used to selling online could easily jump into it.
Carla added: “Also, I’m still selling my lovely Bobbin bike if anyone would like more information. It’s a beautiful bike. Payment against bike inspection only.
MailOnline has contacted Carla and Facebook for further comment regarding her experience.
In September, it was reported that another woman revealed how hackers took over her Facebook account when she clicked on a used car advert – before her photos and contact details were used to scam other people out of thousands of dollars on Marketplace.
Ellie White Turner, 20, said fraudsters were using her profile to legitimize their attempts to extort thousands of pounds from reluctant victims and deprive her of precious memories.