Maricopa resident Lisa Cruz is warning neighbors after she says she was caught up in a Facebook Marketplace scam while trying to secure tables for a local food bank, according to InMaricopa.
Cruz said she found a post on July 31 advertising 40 tables for $20 each. After messaging the seller, identified in the story as Carly Kaplan, Cruz asked whether the items could be donated to a local food bank. The seller then offered seven tables for $30, and Cruz sent the money before being given an address and pickup time.
When Cruz arrived at the Glennwilde address with her seven children, she saw another vehicle pull up behind her and watched a couple approach the home. She said a man answered the door and shook his head before the couple left, and that was when she realized she had likely been scammed. She later messaged the seller but got no reply, and then could no longer access the profile.
According to Maricopa Police Department, Cruz’s experience matches a common online marketplace scam in which a seller asks for a deposit or holding fee before sending a buyer to an unrelated address. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has also warned consumers about scams that pressure people to send money before seeing the product.
Cruz later saw multiple similar listings under what she believes were fake profiles. Another Cobblestone resident, Shari Marucha Lovelle, said she also tried to buy tables from the same post but refused to send a deposit and planned to purchase them in person. For Cruz, the experience became a warning for others and a lesson for her children about what can happen when a deal seems too good to be true.
