Scam block: Santander doesn’t let customers buy items on Facebook Marketplace unless they have seen them in person
Santander’s rules preventing customers from buying items on Facebook Marketplace unless they have seen them in person have prevented nearly 2,000 scams, Money Mail can reveal.
The protections, introduced in December, mean that customers must tick a box to say they have viewed what they are buying before they can make an online payment to the seller.
If they have not, the transaction is blocked and the buyer is encouraged to see the item or use a more secure payment method, such as a debit or credit card.
Facebook Marketplace – where any user can list items for sale – does not offer protection for customers.
If you pay ahead of collection, you risk losing your money if the seller does not hand over the item.
But fraudsters are still putting pressure on buyers. Up to 263 customers who told Santander they had not seen an item in person later changed their response so their payment would be processed.
Customers who fell victim to a Facebook Marketplace purchase scam lost £647 on average.
a.cooke@dailymail.co.uk
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