An acquaintance of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous, recently fell victim to a type of scam I’d never heard of.
The scam was run through Facebook Marketplace.
If you’re not familiar with Facebook Marketplace, it’s basically an online classified ads section of Facebook.
This individual, let’s call her “Jane,” had been selling various items on Facebook Marketplace for about a year with the help of her granddaughter.
Sometimes Jane’s granddaughter would post the pictures of the item and write the description. Sometimes she even was allowed to be the one who communicated with the buyer.
Their business venture had gone very well — they’d bought and sold quite a few items together.
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Jane recently listed an item for sale and promptly received a message from a prospective buyer. She told her where she lived so the buyer could complete the transaction at Jane’s house.
The buyer then asked for and received the Jane’s phone number.
Then the buyer said something strange.
She said she wanted to make sure Jane was a real person, so the buyer said she would send a code to her.
Then the buyer told Jane to check her text messages and tell her what the code was. If Jane gave her the correct code, the buyer would know she was a real person, and she would buy the item.
This whole time, the granddaughter had been doing all the communication via Facebook Messenger.
Jane said her granddaughter did ask permission to give out her phone number and address, but she didn’t ask permission to give the code to her.
She told the buyer the code anyway.
And that was the last she heard from the buyer.
When Jane looked at the entire conversation later, she realized all the talk about being a real person and giving out codes was unusual.
She did a little research and learned that she’d just fallen victim to the Google Voice scam.
Google Voice is a phone number you can obtain from Google. There are a few exceptions, but most users will be able to use this number for free to call, text and receive voicemails.
The scammer got Jane to give her her phone number, but to complete the Google Voice application, she needed a code Google sends that is supposed to ensure the correct person gets access to the Google Voice account.
When Jane’s granddaughter sent her the code, that was all she needed. Now she had a Google Voice phone number, and she knew Jane’s real phone number and her address.
If a crook has enough pieces of information about you, like your phone number and address, they can attempt to open new accounts and order merchandise in your name, but have the items shipped to them.
There are a few things you can do to make sure you don’t fall prey to the Google Voice scam.
First, be very cautious about giving out any bit of information about yourself unless you know and/or trust the individual or company.
With Facebook Marketplace, for example, no one ever needs to exchange phone numbers. You can do all your communicating with Facebook Messenger. If someone insists you give them your number, refuse and ignore all future attempts to communicate.
You also don’t need to give them your home address.
Just tell them you’ll meet them in the E-Commerce Exchange Zone inside the Municipal Center, located on East Monroe Street. It’s a location in the Municipal Center for this exact purpose. It has security cameras, and to help you feel even more safe, the Springfield Police Department is next door.
An honest buyer won’t have any trouble meeting you there for the exchange.
Second, be very careful when giving kids access to your phone or computer. They simply don’t have enough knowledge or life experience yet to know when someone might be trying to scam you.
If you or someone you know has fallen victim to the Google Voice scam, the Identity Theft Resource Center has a short video on YouTube that shows exactly what to do to protect yourself. It’s about three and a half minutes long and gives very clear instructions.
To watch it, go to YouTube.com and search for “How To Recover From Google Voice Scam.” You’ll know it’s the correct video if it is 3 minutes, 23 seconds long and produced by the IDTheftCenter.
Third, never give anyone else any kind of security code given to you by a company. Those codes are designed to protect you, your account and your money. If you give a stranger your security code, you’re practically begging to get scammed.
The Google Voice scam may not be as well-known as other scams, but it’s out there. Take the steps above to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Dave Kinzer is a music teacher and a financial coach in Springfield. Contact him at www.davekinzer.com. His column will appear here every other Wednesday.
