Facebook Marketplace is a great way to shop for a deal, but there can be some risks involved.
On July 14, 2026, Barrie Police officers responded to a report of a theft after a Facebook Marketplace transaction involving a high-value collectible sports trading card.
The suspect directed the seller to meet shortly before 6:30 p.m. outside an address located in the southeast end of the city, which was later confirmed not to be his residence. During the interaction, the suspect took several photographs of the collectible card. When the seller briefly diverted his attention, the suspect grabbed the card from his hand and fled on foot toward a wooded trail.
Officers obtained video surveillance, and through the investigation, identified the suspect as a 16-year-old Barrie resident. When police attended the youth’s residence, he answered the door wearing the same clothing captured in the surveillance footage.
The youth was taken into custody, and the trading card was recovered. As a result of the investigation, a 16-year-old male is charged with theft over $5,000
Online buy and sell platforms like Facebook Marketplace are a great way to connect with buyers and sellers, but you must be cautious. Do your homework, document everything, don’t hesitate to ask for ID, and never put yourself at risk.
Barrie Police urge anyone arranging to sell or buy to consider meeting in a public location, bring someone with you, and if something doesn’t feel right, walk away. No sale is worth risking your safety or your property.
Facebook recommends that you stick to cash or trusted payment services. Be careful with fake emails that appear to be from payment apps like Zelle or Venmo asking you to take some type of action before you can accept payment. This may look like an email telling you to upgrade your account or pay a fee. Ask to see valuable items in person before sending payment. Never pay for an item in advance. And always check your account to confirm payments. Don’t trust screenshots that a buyer may send you – confirm the payment yourself to avoid being scammed.
If you do get scammed or have any issues, flag the listing or the user on Facebook and report the incident to Meta. Gather all evidence, including screenshots of the user profile, listing URLs, message threads, and transaction details, and file a police report. If the theft involved an e-transfer or a bank transaction, contact your financial institution immediately to see if the funds can be frozen or recovered.
Additional tips for buyers
- Double-check deals that seem too good to be true. Be cautious of listings that are significantly underpriced compared to market value. Scammers may try to use underpriced items to lure buyers into a scam to purchase defective or fake items.
- Do not send deposits for high value items (apartments, cars, etc.) without confirming that they’re real first. When possible, try to confirm the existence and ownership (example: a pink slip for a car) of the item(s) in person or over a video chat before sending payments.
- Always verify the tracking numbers that you see on Marketplace on the shipping company’s website and make sure that the delivery address and shipping information is correct.
- Review the seller’s profile to learn more about the seller. On their profile, you can see ratings and reviews from other buyers, friends you may have in common, view their other listings, and review their Marketplace activity.
- Eligible purchases made with checkout on Facebookare covered by Purchase Protection. Items exchanged in-person using cash or other person-to-person payment methods are not eligible.
- When buying in person, before completing the transaction, be sure to inspect the items closely to make sure that they are real, in the expected condition and work properly.
