An Auckland man has been arrested after allegedly pocketing over $13,000 through Facebook Marketplace scams he carried out “on a daily basis”.
The man allegedly took payments for items like electronics, fishing reels, sports merchandise, music equipment, Lego, and Pokémon cards.
Police then received “multiple complaints” about a user who had failed to send items to buyers.
Described as a “serial scammer”, police said the man swindled over $13,700 through his scams.
“Enquiries revealed that between February and August of this year, the offender had been defrauding victims through Facebook Marketplace on a daily basis,” Acting Detective Senior Sergeant James Kim said.
“He operated under multiple identities, and his fraudulent activity spanned the North Island.”
The 42-year-old was arrested following a raid at an Arkles Bay address yesterday.
He was charged with 22 counts of obtains by deception; failing to comply with obligations relating to a computer search; possession of cannabis utensils; possession of methamphetamine utensils; injuring with intent to injure; and two counts of contravening a protection order.
He was remanded in custody and was scheduled to reappear in the North Shore District Court in January 2027.
Kim urged users of buy-and-sell platforms like Facebook Marketplace to be careful.
“These sites are a hunting ground for criminals to buy items using a fake bank transfer or sell items that don’t exist,” he said.
“We are urging those who use these platforms to do their due diligence and not exchange any money without first examining the product.
“Police encourage consumers to only purchase items from trusted retailers or, when purchasing off TradeMe, using the PING payment method which provides buyers with some protections.”