Man injured in alleged Facebook marketplace scam
A photographer was allegedly thrown to the ground and injured in broad daylight in an elaborate Facebook Marketplace scam over a $1000 camera.
Australian-native Stanley Yee, 27, said he organized to meet with a man at Manly Ferry in Sydney’s Northern Beaches after seeing he had advertised a camera he was interested in buying.
Yee arrived and met a man – who was sitting in his car – who showed him the camera.
The pair agreed on the price and handed over the cash.
Yee says the seller handed over a camera box, but left the $1000 camera in his passenger seat before abruptly driving off.
Speaking to news.com.au, Yee said he chased after the car which made a U-turn.
“I could still see the cash on the dashboard so I tried to reach into the car to grab my cash. I had half my body inside the car when he suddenly decided to speed up,” Yee said, saying that he was then dragged for about 30 feet. .
“He sort of half pushed me, and I hit the ground with my chest and couldn’t move. Then some witnesses came and surrounded me.”
Yee said he was left with injuries to his chest, arms and legs.
A woman called the ambulance with police arriving to take a statement.
Yee said he opened the camera box to find a worthless camera, valued at around $30.
Yee gave police the man’s Facebook and PayPal details – which ended up being his real account.
Police tracked the man down, bringing him to the local police station to refund the money, with Yee returning the worthless camera.
The seller claimed the situation was a “misunderstanding” with police letting him go.
Yee has now brought in a lawyer, hoping to press assault charges against the alleged scammer.
“They basically said they couldn’t lay charges after he refunded me the money as I had no financial loss and I had put my own body in the car,” Yee claimed.
Yee said he is speaking out as he saw the seller had re-listed the same camera again on Facebook Marketplace.
“I’m not sure if this has happened to someone else,” he said.
“I know there are a lot of scammers on Facebook but most aren’t real profiles. But he had a real profile with a link to his Instagram, which was even verified. I can’t believe it happened at Manly Wharf.”
A spokeswoman for New South Wales Police said officers facilitated the exchange of the money and the camera, with no further action to be taken.
