Man selling his drone for $680 on FB almost loses $1,500 to scammer: 'I'm shocked, but I'm lucky'
A man thought he had managed to sell his drone for $680 in the Facebook Marketplace but was shocked to realise he was getting scammed.
Stomper Leong received an offer from a Facebook user who was interested in his listing of a professional drone.
"The buyer proposed a Lalamove payment," he told Stomp. "I wasn't sure, but I went ahead with it."
In the screenshots he shared, the Stomper offered to deliver the item personally so that he and the buyer can do a test flight of the drone.
But the buyer declined the offer and said using Lalamove would be more convenient. He later sent the Stomper screenshots showing that the order was placed, and the payment was made through Lalamove.
The Stomper followed the buyer's instructions on how to collect the money but received a $1,500 charge.
He said: "Luckily, half way through, I realised it was a scam and managed to stop in time. I nearly got scammed out of $1,500.
"I reported it to Facebook but not the police as the bank and Messenger prompted a 'Likely scam' message.
"I got a second message saying I was trying to make a transaction of $1,500, so I immediately chose not to proceed. I clicked the link again and again until the bank messaged me about the money."
At the end of the conversation, the buyer claimed the money was "stolen" and that he would contact the police, but the Stomper accused him of attempting to scam him.
Leong added: "I'm shocked, but I'm lucky."
The police advise members of the public to take precautionary measures against scams by applying the ACT acronym, which outlines three steps to take: Add security features, check for signs of a scam with official sources, and tell the authorities and others when you encounter scams.
For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
