Marketplace scam

The Facebook Marketplace PayID scam: the buyer who pays you first

Published 31 August 2026 · 5 min read · Written in Australia

The short answer: if a buyer says their payment is pending until you upgrade, verify or unlock your PayID — it’s a scam, every time. PayID is free, has no account levels, and never sends emails. Money is real only when it appears in your own banking app. A screenshot, an email or a receipt from the buyer is worth nothing.

You list a couch, a bike, a pram. Within minutes a buyer wants it — no haggling, no questions, they’ll send a courier, and they’ll pay right now by PayID. Then the email arrives. It looks like it’s from PayID. The payment is pending, it says, because your account isn’t a business account, or you’ve hit a limit, or the transfer needs to be “unlocked”. There’s a fee. The buyer, ever helpful, has already paid it on your behalf — and would you mind sending it back?

How the message readsPayID Payment Notification — A payment of $650.00 from Jordan M. is on hold. To receive funds above $500, the recipient must upgrade to a PayID Business Account. Upgrade fee: $400 (refunded with your payment). Complete the upgrade to release the funds.

Why it works

Because every piece of it borrows something real. PayID exists. Osko transfers are instant. Banks do have limits. The buyer is friendly, quick and plausibly busy. And the seller is the one person in the exchange who expects to receive money, so a fee that’s “refunded with your payment” feels like paperwork rather than a request. It is the request. There is no payment. The $400 you send to “cover the upgrade” is the entire scam.

Two variants use the same engine. In the overpayment version, the buyer “accidentally” sends too much and asks for the difference back — the original payment was never real. In the courier version, the buyer’s transport company needs an insurance or booking fee from you before collection. Same shape: the seller pays, the buyer vanishes.

The rule that beats every version: nobody pays a fee to receive money. PayID is a free service run through your own bank — it has no accounts, no tiers, no limits of its own, and it never emails or texts anyone. The only proof a payment exists is your own banking app showing the money in your account. Not an email, not a screenshot, not a receipt the buyer sends you.

The tells, in the order you’ll see them

They want it instantly and don’t want to see it. Real buyers ask about condition, pickup, price. Scammers ask for your PayID.
They insist on PayID and a courier they’ll arrange. Both remove the moment where money and goods change hands in front of you.
An email “from PayID”. That alone settles it. PayID sends nothing.
A fee, an upgrade, a limit, a hold. Any word that stands between you and money you’re supposedly owed.
The buyer offers to cover it, if you’ll reimburse. The refund is the request.

What to do

Open your banking app. Is the money there, cleared, in your balance? If not, nothing has been paid, whatever the buyer says. Stop there.
Don’t reply, don’t pay, don’t ship. Block the buyer and report the profile through Marketplace.
If you already sent a fee: ring your bank on the number on your card straight away — PayID transfers are fast, but a quick call sometimes catches them — then report it to Scamwatch.
Next time: cash on collection, or a transfer you watch land in your app while the buyer is standing there. Anything else is a story.

Common questions

Does PayID ever send emails or texts?

No. PayID is a free service that runs inside your bank's app. It has no customer accounts, no business tier, no limits of its own, and it does not email or text anyone. Any message claiming to be from PayID is a scam.

The buyer sent me a screenshot showing the payment. Is that proof?

No. Screenshots, receipts and emails can all be faked in a minute. The only proof of a payment is your own banking app showing the money in your balance. If it isn't there, it hasn't happened.

The buyer overpaid and wants the difference back. What should I do?

Do nothing until the money shows in your own account, cleared. An overpayment that only exists in an email or screenshot is the scam itself: the refund you send is real money, the payment never was.

I paid the upgrade fee. Can I get it back?

Sometimes, if you move fast. Ring your bank on the number on your card immediately and ask them to try to recall the transfer, then report to Scamwatch. Speed matters more than anything else.

What is the safe way to sell on Marketplace?

Meet in person and take cash, or accept a bank transfer only after you have watched it arrive in your own app while the buyer is with you. Never pay any fee to receive money, and never rely on a courier the buyer arranges.

Selling something? Forward the buyer’s message first

Send the “payment pending” email or the buyer’s texts to Is it a scam? and get a plain answer back in seconds. This pattern comes back SCAM with the one rule that matters: nobody pays a fee to receive money. One saved contact, no app.

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