The Most Dangerous Way to Shop in America? Peer-to-Peer on Facebook Marketplace

Move over, Craiglist. A new classifieds platform is in the hunt to earn the dubious distinction as the most crime-ridden meetup space in America. Facebook’s Marketplace is now directly linked to at least 13 homicides since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ProPublica, and police have tracked hundreds of robberies back to phony interest in used consumer products.Three years after Meta launched aggressive features to compete with Craigslist and OfferUp, analysts say Marketplace’s algorithmic approach to prioritizing engagement and transaction volume over safety is exposing users to greater risks.The platform’s recommendation engine actively surfaces listings based on proximity and user interest, prompting buyers and sellers to meet quickly before items are sold to others. The platform, cyber researchers say, creates artificial scarcity and time pressure that override people’s natural caution.“Unlike dedicated marketplaces, Facebook Marketplace is layered onto a social network that wasn’t built for transactional risk. At the same time, the platform emphasizes convenience, nearby listings, fast replies, quick meetups, without equal emphasis on pre-transaction safeguards,” the director of threat intelligence at Binary Defense, JP Castellanos, tells The New York Sun. Law enforcement officials report that criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in exploiting the system. Many create elaborate fake profiles, complete with years of seemingly authentic activity, family photos, and positive seller reviews from small, legitimate transactions.“Criminals use fake or stolen profiles for their activities. There is no real verification of users on Facebook,” explains the advisory solutions director at consulting company TrustedSec, Alex Hamerstone. “Anyone can create a profile using any name and photo and sell items on the platform. It isn’t so much that users are exploiting verification systems so much as the fact that there aren’t really any verification systems.”But as the body count rises, Mr. Hamerstone is also tamping down concerns by noting that it is a numbers game. Facebook Marketplace has a massive user base — more than 1 billion people globally — which means based on the crime-to-successful- transaction ratio, the site is not inherently more dangerous than its predecessors. “Marketplace has a much higher volume, so it will naturally have more crime,” Mr. Hamerstone tells the New York Sun. “I am old enough to remember all the media stories about Craigslist crime. In short, very few people use Craigslist to sell things versus Marketplace.”Mr. Hamerstone also warns that patterns reveal that certain types of products are targeted in many of the transactions gone wrong. “Certain products seem to be involved in Marketplace crimes more than others. Vehicles and consumer electronics listings are often involved in these crimes,” he said.In January, four teenagers in Columbia, Missouri, allegedly participated in a string of iPhone thefts arranged through the platform that culminated in the fatal shooting of a 42-year-old Marine veteran, Michael Ryan Burke. Burke had listed his iPhone 15 Pro on Facebook Marketplace and arranged for the buyer to come to his home for the exchange.Court documents revealed the group arrested for Burke’s murder — Alexis Baumann, Kobe Aust, Joseph Crane, and an unnamed juvenile — had allegedly robbed at least two other victims in the days before his death. One victim reported that suspects pointed a gun at her and threatened, “If you touch me, I’ll shoot you.”In New York City, Facebook Marketplace-related robberies jumped from 58 incidents to 90 in the first months of 2024, according to NYPD chief Jason Savino.“We’re seeing an increase in these Facebook Marketplace robberies trending,” Chief Savino told CBS News. “Minimal information, just to lure somebody to an undisclosed area and commit robberies.”Police identified suspects using weapons ranging from guns and knives to metal bats and even a stick with nails. In at least two incidents, suspects stole more than $10,000 in cash from victims.In Chicago, a single block in the Englewood neighborhood became so notorious for Facebook Marketplace robberies that police issued a community alert in March 2024 after six armed robberies occurred there within three weeks. The suspect used the same pattern in each incident: meeting victims on the 6300 block of South Morgan to buy or sell phones, then pulling a handgun and demanding cash and devices.Houston police, meanwhile, are searching for two teenagers said to be responsible for at least 15 robberies after using fake Facebook Marketplace profiles to pose as sellers. Authorities said the crimes escalated from simple theft to armed robbery with a deadly weapon.When Deals Turn DeadlyThe human cost of Meta’s growth-first approach continues to mount. In November 2024, 66-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf drove from his home in Sachse, Texas, to an Oak Cliff gas station to sell an iPhone through Facebook Marketplace. He was murdered in broad daylight. Two teenage girls, Amaya Medrano and Annika Aleman, were convicted of the staged robbery. Medrano, identified as the shooter, received 55 years in prison. Aleman, who set up the transaction, received 37 years.In another case earlier this year, 30-year-old Eliza Morales, five months pregnant with her second child, was stabbed 70 times at her Downers Grove, Illinois, apartment. Nedas Revuckas, 19, had purchased a pickup truck from Morales’s husband through Facebook Marketplace yet became upset about the vehicle’s condition.“He decided to take out his frustration on Eliza,” court documents stated, according to ABC News in Chicago. During the attack, Morales told her assailant that she was pregnant. Revuckas was charged with first-degree murder for both Morales and her unborn child, along with armed robbery, arson, and animal cruelty, after allegedly stabbing the family’s dog and setting the apartment on fire.“Pure evil,” Morales’s mother-in-law, Angelica Silva, told the local news outlet. “None of us get it; she did not deserve this.”Solutions for Safer SalesWhen asked about potential solutions, Mr. Hamerstone suggested that “Marketplace could have a verified seller program similar to how Facebook accounts can get a verified badge by sharing an ID.” However, he acknowledged significant limitations to this approach. “A lot of people sell things on Facebook intermittently and do not make a business of it, and are less likely to go through a verification process,” he says. “I don’t think it is likely that someone would bother to get verified to sell a $25 item one time.”He also stressed that “because Marketplace is tied to Facebook user accounts, any mechanisms that could be implemented would likely be around accounts in general, not just those used to sell on Marketplace.”In a statement to The New York Sun, a Meta spokeswoman underscored the company’s safety features, including its Safety Hub, which provides “quick access to safety tools and education, including entry points for creating meeting plans and accessing safety resources.” “Facebook Marketplace includes in-app safety features: Users receive safety tips and reminders directly within the app, such as prompts to meet in public places, warnings about suspicious activity, and guidance when arranging in-person meetups,” the representative stated.Meta recommends users insist on meeting in public spaces, create meetup plans to share with trusted contacts, keep conversations within Messenger, and check seller profiles for authenticity.Yet these safeguards have proven ineffective, at least in practice, for some. A 2024 investigation by consumer protection organization SafeTradeNow found that 73 percent of Facebook Marketplace users who reported threatening behavior or attempted scams received no response from Meta, while accounts flagged for suspicious activity often remain active for months.Victims attempting to hold Meta accountable through litigation also face steep legal obstacles. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act generally shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content and transactions. Mr. Hamerstone noted that competing platforms have now implemented stronger safety features. “OfferUp has some additional safety features such as designated meeting locations and more robust user ratings, as well as in-app messaging that allows for more monitoring of interactions,” he says. Police departments are also responding by encouraging residents to conduct Facebook Marketplace exchanges at designated “safe trade zones,” typically parking spaces at police stations monitored by security cameras. More than 2,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide offer such spaces, according to the National Sheriffs’ Association.Yet awareness remains limited, and criminals have adapted by refusing to meet at these locations or inventing excuses. In Las Vegas in December 2025, Justin Perea and his 14-year-old son Ryder were robbed at gunpoint after a seller claiming to be too young to meet at a police station directed them to a residential neighborhood. Two masked gunmen ambushed them at a townhome, stealing $1,200 in cash they had brought to purchase an e-bike.As Facebook Marketplace now facilitates transactions for more than 300 million users in the United States each month, pressure is now building — through regulatory intervention, litigation, or public demand — for Meta to implement meaningful safety reforms.Mr. Castellanos says the company could employ a number of practical steps that would not significantly slow down legitimate users, but could improve safety for higher risk categories. They include “optional payment or escrow tools or surfacing contextual safety prompts when conversations follow known risk patterns.” “Even nudging users toward public exchange locations or verified pickup points would raise the cost for criminals while keeping the platform usable for everyone else. You could even employ AI Scam Detection, along with Photo/ID verification with more expensive transactions. Safety scores or ratings of sellers and buyers can also help along with a review or community notes,” he says.

The Most Dangerous Way to Shop in America? Peer-to-Peer on Facebook Marketplace

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