I recently ordered gravel from someone on Facebook Marketplace. They didn't have an official company, but that wasn't a red flag right away because I figured it's a guy with a truck who does this sometimes.
I was chatting with someone we'll call Jamie. She gave my number to someone we'll call Ramon, who called me to confirm time and place for delivery.
The delivery arrived on time as promised and all went well. Jamie messaged me the morning of delivery to please send payment upon delivery and gave me an email address.
I responded back asking for more info—please give me a confirmed Venmo or Zelle I can pay you with and send me an invoice made out to my company.
No response, so I didn't pay yet.
Two weeks later, a guy in a pickup truck showed up at my house with a receipt for the gravel and said disputed charge.
It said Ramon Lastname with my address, all the order details, and a price around double of what I was quoted—$600-ish vs. $325. First I thought he was trying to scam me and get double payment or something, but we both realized what had happened.
Ramon placed an order pretending to be me. He paid with a stolen card that got disputed a few weeks after payment.
Thankfully I didn't pay him yet, so I didn't get scammed. I would've otherwise paid Ramon actual money and I would've had to pay the company for the gravel when they came looking for the disputed payment. I guess Ramon walked away and didn't win this one.
The company owner told me this happens to him a few times a year.
I told him, "Let me know how much you want, I'll just pay it—I don't want him to lose out."
He said he'll try to reach out to Ramon, but I don't think he'll get very far.
Lesson learned: buy directly from a legit company and pay them directly.