Charles Crane/MDN Minot ND Buy, Sell, Trade, and Rummage serves over 44,000 users on Facebook, but isn’t immune to scammers and other bad actors.

With the nation contending with rising inflation, everyone is on the hunt for a good deal. One place locals in the Minot area turn to, myself included, is the “Minot ND Buy, Sell, Trade, and Rummage” page on Facebook. However, the allure and gratification of instantly connecting with an item in your area often comes with risks.

Over 44 thousand users are members of the page, scrolling through everything from furniture, appliances, electronics, vehicles, and even apartments and homes. But along with the daily updates on what is available, there are occasionally words of warning from users who have fallen victim to scammers. These posts usually include screenshots of the offending account, with bitter descriptions of how they were tricked out of their hard-earned money, often with nothing to show for it.

Pushy scammers do everything they can to pry partial or full payment out of the would-be buyers prematurely, doing everything they can to avoid meeting in person, or for the items to be inspected before the deal is sealed. Those who fall prey to such methods have little to no recourse available once the scammer has blocked or deleted their account. Often these scammers try to move the transaction and communication off the platform, seeking payment through a cashless service like Cash App or Venmo.

Tracey Godejohn has been the administrator of the page for about eight years, and spoke with me about the issue, and how the page deals with bad actors seeking to defraud its users.

“Quite a few years back, I noticed the page was getting bigger, so I added three questions to vet those wanting to use the page.” Godejohn said. “It helps eliminate content and spammers, and prevents people with bad intentions from joining. We look at profiles and see if they actually are local and if they are who they say they are.”

Even with all the safeguards in place, sometimes malicious accounts are able to be convincing enough and slip through. It is not uncommon for unaware Facebook users to have their genuine account hijacked and be convincing enough to gain entry into the market. Godejohn said the page depends on users also doing their part to be vigilante and report any questionable listings or users they encounter.

“Facebook’s algorithms delete more stuff than we do and put users on post approval so that we can review something before it goes live. They’re smart about what they do though, especially with pets.” Godejohn said.

In general, it is good practice for buyers to verify as much about the seller as they can, from their identity to their location. Facebook’s marketplace does include a robust review and rating system for users that use its commerce platform, and a lack of background is often the first red flag to look for.

“You want to look for pictures and posts. Anything that will tell you who you’re actually dealing with. Like my wife said to me recently, ‘if their Facebook page has nothing on it. Don’t buy it.'” Godejohn said.