As online shopping has grown in popularity, so too has online reselling—people taking their old, gently used, or unused items and selling them on the internet in hopes of recouping some of their losses.
Numerous sites have emerged to facilitate these transactions, from global marketplaces like eBay to other sites for local pickup, like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.
While these sites have measures in place to prevent scams, they aren’t always as effective as they should be.
A number of internet users have taken to social media to share their negative stories about these marketplaces. For example, one user claimed that someone contacted her after she posted on Facebook Marketplace in an attempt to involve her in a complicated scam utilizing Venmo. Another revealed their negative experience buying a car on the same platform.
Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after revealing that she had an item stolen from her that she was trying to sell—with a complicated, frightening twist.
A Marketplace scammer story with a scary ending
In a video with over 12,000 views, TikTok user Chelsey (@chelseykristin456) explains that she was trying to resell some shoes via Facebook, utilizing Marketplace and her local area’s “Mom Swap” group.
“I’ve been using Mom Swap since I became a mom 15 years ago, and I have never had an issue,” she explains.
Eventually, she got someone interested in the shoes. In order to sell them, she organized a “porch pickup,” where someone comes by, picks up the shoes, and pays her for the item, all without her being physically present.
While the TikToker acknowledges that, in hindsight, this would make it easy for her to be scammed, she claims to have utilized this resale tactic “often” as it’s “just easier and more convenient than trying to plan to meet up with people.”
The buyer said that he would send a payment once he had confirmed that the shoes were there. Chelsey agreed, knowing that she had a Ring camera that would be able to capture his image if he tried to pull any stunts while picking up the shoes.
This is where the story takes a terrifying turn.
How did this scammer disable her Ring camera?
“As fate would have it, he came to my house, and he stole the shoes,” she states. “I mean, that’s incredibly annoying, yes, because these shoes were not cheap. But that is not what bothers me.”
“What truly bothers me is that he used a Wi-Fi scrambler. If you’ve never heard of that, it’s like a $10 gadget that you can use to disable people’s Ring cameras as well as their security systems if it’s not hardwired,” she continues. “So he used one of those, he scrambled the internet on my entire street. So no one has any footage for like a whole 30-minute window essentially. So we have no way of identifying this person.”
While the devices are often not as cheap as the TikToker says, they are easy to purchase on the internet. Even so, there have been more serious cases of criminals using wifi scramblers to facilitate their criminal acts.
In February, USA Today covered a story in which a group of criminals scrambled a person’s WiFi and cellular data, then broke into their home to steal “$25,000 in cash and valuables worth $100,000” in less than 10 minutes.
“So PSA for you guys: If you have an alarm system, get it hardwired—we’re going to be doing that,” the TikToker concludes. “And if you like to sell things on Mom Swap or Marketplace or any of those, meet in a public place, preferably a police station.”
@chelseykristin456 PSA. #thief #momswap #marketplace #dishonest #fyp #foryou #unfortunate ♬ original sound – chelseykristin456
Commenters share their tips
In the comments section, users shared their methods for ensuring seamless transactions during these interactions.
“That’s why I like Wyze cameras, they record to the SD card even when there is no Wi-Fi signal,” stated a user. “Regardless, I would never do porch pickup for more than $10 items. It’s an invitation to steal the item.”
“I always say will only accept cash and won’t share my phone number,” advised another. “That puts a big stop to that.”
“I always creep on their page and [if] the conversation feels weird, I stop it,” suggested a third. “Too many weirdos out there.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Chelsey via TikTok comment.
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