Fraudulent accounts on Marketplace and PayPal

[Sandblaster]

We all deal with scams due to the easy access of Internet around the world.
This is one that is taking place on Market Place and PayPal.
This ad was on Facebook Marketplace.
This was a killer price... Which is the first warning..
But, occasionally, someone gets themselves into a jam and needs money now so I thought I'd look into it.
Everything was good.
She/He (No not that kind) set up the date, time, and a place to meet so that I could make the purchase.
Everything was good.
Then I get a text asking if I would put a deposit on it.
I said that I would but that it had to be by PayPal.
It had to have the Make, Model, and year, with the VIN number, the amount of the sale, ect.
She/he came back to me and said that her son was not available right then.
I said, "No problem, let me think about it."
She/he said, "Take your time."
I went to Google and looked up the address and it was good.
Then I went to the lane county tax assessors website and looked up the owner using the address.
I got the number and called it. No answer but I left a message explaining the situation.
Then I sent a text with all the info and these pics.
The owner said that it was their house but that they did not have a bike for sale and knew nothing about it.
I thanked them and told them that I would never contact them again.

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[Sandblaster]

So this guy who is she/he's Son sent me the request on PayPal with none of the info I asked for.
Huge red flag.
I would have called to verify the VIN with the local police dept if She/he had posted it.
Anyway, here is the name on the PayPal request.

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I hate to say it but this is another Huge red flag...
This is a West African Surname.
There are a lot of scams coming out of Africa.

So I told She/he that the address was good but that the owner of the house knew nothing about the bike.
I asked if she/he gave me the wrong address.

From there it was dead air.
I hoped to waste more of their time but they cut me off and deleted the email chain...

I reported both the profile, the ad, and the request for funds.
But I will never hear anything back and as far as I can tell, nothing will be done... especially with the Marketplace/Facebook end.
For some reason they are not taking any steps to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Lessons to be learned?
You are your own best defense against Scams,
Dig into it.. do some research.. and don't send money...