Past few months I noticed that there are quite a number of brand new Samsung phones on fb marketplace sold for way cheaper than its RRP.
This is one of the example - S22 ultra plus galaxy buds for $650 brand new:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1706689123107949/?…
My gut feel is that these are fakes - can anyone educate me how to differentiate the real ones from the fakes?
I think youre spot on - they're absolutely scam ads.
Feels like the days where you can safely buy a decent second hand phone is long gone.
The days are not long gone. There are still legit phones and sellers out there.
Common sense is long gone.
Except there are actually high quality fakes out there. At least looks wise.
You need to actually do a lot of research to avoid getting scammed, which is one of the reasons why I'm asking the question here - to educate myself.
'Common sense' alone won't stop you from grtting scammed.
@OneDollarDucky: But 'common sense' when purchasing phones from a marketplace would involve research, due diligence and other basic practices of which we are reminded ad infintum on ozbargain forums.
So I would argue that common sense will likely prevent you from getting scammed.
It's a fake listing the poor quality photos like that give it away and when they list the specs like that you message them and they send you a link to a random site to buy… Try and see for yourself.
Try ebay
Depends on context, but you are 90% right.
I bought a Moto edge 30 neo off gumtree secondhand but sealed in box, seller was a printing business and the phone didn't work with his PC software suite so he was selling a few phones cheap. I went to buy in person and it in fact was a printing business with many employees printing things. So he wasn't a 'rando' trying to make a quick buck selling from a Maccas carpark or some dodgy online only grey-import hack phone shop.
Obvious scammer.
Multiple listings all with different locations.
Incorrect specifications, (S22 Ultra doesnt have 12gb ram with the 128gb model)
The Xbox Series X listing that has a different location shows on the box Pegi 16 which is a european system comparable to our G,PG,M,MA,R ratings.
The sellers account shows "Works at Philippine Sports Commission"
Sellers friends are located in the Philippines.
Good point on the specs comparison. Ive always assumed scammers would at least be smart enough to copy paste the specs straight from the official website!
They only need to be smarter than the sucker who buys from them
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/831532954984844/?m…
This guy is selling a steam deck in Brisbane, but lives in Egypt. They won't be fakes just non existent
Most of the time if you look at the descriptions of the posts it'll say "visit this website:" and it's some dodgy website with a ton of cheap tech which will take your money and not send anything.
Usually the fb profiles are from some other country and post dozens/hundreds of ads in every capital city. I've reported every one I come across but fb doesn't do anything against them. I even messaged Zuck on insta asking him to just ban URLs from marketplace posts, but he's yet to read it lol.
I use reebelo australia for my kids used phones, Great prices on refurbished phones AND come with 12 month warranty
https://reebelo.com.au/
$1250 for a used Google Pixel 7 Pro… vs. $1299 for a brand new one at full retail price.
$1366 for a used blue iPhone 14 Plus… $1379 on sale at JB…
Great prices, my arse.
BOING!
Don't buy used phones off marketplaces. They're rife with scams and are not worth the hassle and risk. Especially if the pricing seems too good to be true.
In case you're not convinced: https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/255280/105525/dexter.p…
Not only are the listings all over the place, but he's got a magical $1,000 off deal on a brand new iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB that retails for $2,419…