Austin — Imagine paying a good service or online service, receiving what you paid for and told you a debtor.
A local lawyer tells that KXan is more than people who come to him in this situation after losing in the Facebook market.
Lawyer George Lob said everything posted on the site is what appears to be.
“Ads will have a phone number, not the business phone number. It is the mobile phone number for deception.”
George Loop, lawyer
This year, Lub said he had received at least half of a half -scale for people who demonstrate as legitimate companies and then steal thousands. Specifically, he said that ads target Spanish speakers and focus on construction services.
Lub said that someone will be formed as a company in Facebook Marketplace, taking a person’s money and contacting the actual company he puts on regard to the customer who is targeting him.
“After weeks, the company says,” Hey, you did not pay us, “Loop said. So, you will have to sue the deception when the company provides the privilege. “
Lub said that one of his clients rented the loudspeakers at a low price of $ 5,000 via the Facebook market. The advertisement was launched as a well -known company. He obtained waste dots, but the actual company later appeared and told him that he owed them $ 15,000 because they did not receive payment.
“I had many clients who came to me because they either had privileges on their property or that they were threatened with criminal investigation on charges of theft,” Lope said.
Lub said that it is unlikely that the victim will restore all their money, but it helped people restore each other.
“They caught a few and put the payment plans during the observation,” said Loop.
In the end, he stressed the importance of verifying the company’s phone number and the actual location and asking a friend for his ideas about the deal before moving forward with it.
“If it is very good to be correct, it is very good to be correct,” said Loop.
“Many of these issues arise”
Katie Galen said with the Best Business Office (BBB) that these fake ads on the Internet are still a great attention throughout the state.
“These transactions from a person to a person are the place where we see many of these issues,” Gallan said. “Once these funds disappear, this money has expired significantly.”
Galen said it is a red sign if someone asked you to send money to them before receiving a product or service.
“With these people to the sellers, we strongly encourage you to meet in a neutral location,” Gallan said. “See the product personally first, before delivering any kind of money or any deposit.”
When it comes to how to pay it, Galan recommends using an online purchasing credit card.
She said people lost $ 1.5 million due to online fraud like this in Texas. However, Galen said that this number is likely to be much higher because only about 5-10 % of people report crime.