Scammers are now targeting buy-and-sell apps like Facebook, Letgo and OfferUp


Want to sell your used children’s clothing, or anything else in your home, for that matter?

Buying and selling apps like Letgo, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, and Wish Local promise easy sales.

And they all claim they are safer than Craigslist, as they focus on your community, and you can check the buyer’s online profile.

But one mom discovered that the same scammers who target Craigslist are now also targeting these selling apps via free online socializing.

Strange people contacting her

We found Destinee LaFleur getting her hair set at a local salon. But she was getting upset by the strange people contacting her about the children’s gym shoes and other items she had listed.

“They didn’t have time to come to me personally, so they said they would have a shipper come out.  They would mail me a check with a tracking number, and they would like me to deposit it right away.”

Then the checks started coming, for hundreds of dollars, far more than she was asking for.

“They mailed me a check for $950. Another was for $1,050,” she said.

They wanted LaFleur to send money to a shipper, who would pick up the goods, and keep the rest, but it was all very suspicious.

“None of the names matched up,” she said. “This one’s Annie, the person that supposedly buying was Anita, but the email was from a Rosemary.”

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with these new buying and selling apps or Craigslist if you want to buy and sell clothing.

The problem is that unless the person lives a few streets away, you are facing the same problem as with Craigslist: you just don’t know who you are dealing with.

Resale shops pay less, but safer

Allison Johnson manages a franchise of the resale shop Once Upon a Child.

“It is kind of scary, it really is,” Johnson said. “You never know who’s going to show up, you never know what type of person it is.”

Local resale shops are a great way to sell your children’s clothing and shoes, without the risk of being sent bogus checks, meeting up with strangers or having strangers come to your home.

Johnson says you might get a little more money for your children’s items on a selling app, but unless you know the buyer, you are taking a risk. You can also donate to a charity like Goodwill, and take the tax deduction.

“There’s not enough money in it for meeting a stranger to be worth your safety,” she said.

If you decide to sell your unwanted children’s items on an app:

  • Check any potential buyer’s profile carefully. Scammers will set up fake profiles, where you can’t tell where they really live.
  • Deal with people who live near you, never out of state. Why would someone three states away want to buy your used gym shoes?
  • If they want to send you a check, and have you ship the items to you, stop right away. You are being scammed. The check will be fake.

That way you don’t waste your money.