So I saw a post on Ring Neighbors for a free stroller in my neighborhood. Since I am a new parent, of course I wanted a free stroller. The post said to contact them via WhatsApp if interested. I didn't think this was out of the ordinary since they included a seemingly legit description and photo of the stroller.
Once I messaged them, they started off by saying why they wanted to give away the stroller for free: they said their child had recently passed from a terminal illness and they never got to use the stroller, and that they want it to go to a family that will use it and not just resell it, since it was a pricey stroller.
Still, this didn't seem too weird to me, so I kept the conversation going and said I'd be happy to take the stroller.
Then they asked where I was located. I first just told them a general area since their original post had their location to be near me as well. This is when it got weird. They then said, "Oh I'm sorry, I'm actually located in *a different state*. I had to move after my child passed and with everything going on I didn't realize I forgot to change it." And then said they would prefer to give the stroller to someone local to them.
So of course I say okay, no worries, definitely give it to someone closer to you, and I thought that was it. But then they started saying, "Well, you're the first person to message me so I really want you to have the stroller. If you can pay for shipping, I'd ship it to you."
So I continued on asking well how much would it be... and I did give my address so she could "check exact shipping costs," which she then says it would be $102. I started trying to convince myself this was all fine since the stroller was an expensive one.
But I do finally start to get uncomfortable with this, so I say I would only pay that once the stroller arrived to me. They then said no, that wouldn't work. And the convo ended there. This all seemed very innocent until money got involved.
Was this a scam? Was the first red flag that they wanted to communicate via WhatsApp? Am I dumb for falling for this? Now I'm worried since I did give my address... what could they do with it?