The old adage “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is” applies now, more than ever before, as Facebook Marketplace has been flooded with fake listings for high-end products like the Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS R6 Mark II and other high-value products like DSLRs, Mirrorless cameras, Laptops, and gaming devices.
Depending on your location, you may even get results like those shown above, where a search for a Canon EOS R5 will result in 6 listings, all listed by accounts set out to scam you. I’ve been reporting scam listings to Facebook for days now, and yet my marketplace feed is still full of these listings. This doesn’t appear to be a new issue, but seems to re-appear every few years, as Facebook seem unable or unwilling to resolve the issue, as this Reddit post shows this issue was being reported at least 2 years ago.
Once you’ve seen one listing, it should be easy to spot another one, as the images are often re-used on every post, and the text is often the same. When you do view the images full-size you should also be able to see that it’s a very low-quality image, if you’ve viewing it on a computer. On a phone it’s often difficult to see in as much detail.
We have contacted Facebook to get their view on the situation. However, in the meantime, I would say that if you want to buy a new camera, and want to save money, then have a look at our deals posts, and make sure you buy from a reputable retailer, or second-hand retailer, like MPB, WEX, or Park Cameras, rather than risking losing money on Facebook Marketplace. A Canon EOS R5 typically sells for well over $1700/£1500 second-hand, so anything less than this should raise suspicions.
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