Holmes County residents warned of Marketplace overpayment scam

Holmes County residents selling on Facebook Marketplace and similar sites are being warned about a scam that starts with an apparently easy sale and ends with money gone. A buyer sends more than the asking price, then pressures the seller to send back the difference, turning a normal neighborhood transaction into a loss.

The Federal Trade Commission says Marketplace-style sites attract both real buyers and scammers, and the playbook is familiar: fake payment notifications, bogus refund requests and counterfeit checks. The FTC warns that banks often make check deposits available within about two days, even though it can take weeks to find out a check is fake. That delay can leave a seller thinking the sale is finished when the money never really existed.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office has issued similar warnings. Its consumer guidance says scammers may send look-alike payment notices, claim they accidentally paid twice, or ask for a refund after sending a false confirmation. The office also says never share verification codes with strangers and be cautious about mobile payments from people you do not know.

That advice matters in Holmes County, where many people use social media to clear out furniture, household items and other extras by selling to neighbors and nearby communities. Trust can make the process feel safe, but the Ohio Attorney General’s Office says online marketplace scams are common on social-media platforms, especially when a buyer pushes a seller to communicate or pay outside the platform. The office also flags extreme deals, such as a deeply discounted hard-to-find item posted on an unfamiliar social-media-based site, as a warning sign.

The Better Business Bureau says overpayment scams remain a recurring problem in online-used-item sales, including on Facebook Marketplace. Its advice is simple: do not ship or hand over an item until legitimate payment has cleared, and do not send money back because a buyer says they overpaid.

Holmes County law enforcement is also a local point of contact. The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office says it employs about 56 people and has full police jurisdiction across the county’s municipalities, villages and townships, giving residents a place to report suspected fraud or related crimes.

The stakes are not theoretical. In February 2024, a 68-year-old Holmes County man reportedly lost $1.3 million in a Facebook-linked cryptocurrency scam, a reminder that a message that begins with a marketplace post can quickly turn into a major financial loss if the buyer’s instructions become rushed, confusing or unusual.