Scammed with ‘unrecognizable’ cash: B.C. man warns others after Facebook Marketplace sale gone wrong

A Surrey man thought he was making a routine sale on Facebook Marketplace, but what happened after the buyer walked away left him stunned.

A Surrey, B.C., man who believed he was making a routine sale on Facebook Marketplace said a seemingly straightforward transaction has turned into a costly lesson—one he hopes will serve as a warning to others.

Guljinder Dhaliwal posted an ad online to sell his computer late last week, asking for $2,000.

“And this guy approached me,” he told CTV News, adding the would-be buyer offered to pay in cash.

“He said, could you take $1,850?...I said, yeah, no problem.”

As a frequent user of the platform, Dhaliwal said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Dhaliwal, who has several cameras installed outside his home for safety, said they captured the buyer arriving.

“I got three cameras brought to my house, all three catch him.”

Part of the exchange was recorded on video.

The man is seen walking up to Dhaliwal’s home, entering to complete the sale and leaving shortly afterward.

Dhaliwal recalled the moment he looked over the payment, something felt off.

“That’s a lot of money in one person’s hand,” he said.

Shortly after the buyer left, Dhaliwal went to a bank to deposit the cash—and that’s when things took a drastic turn.

“I tried to deposit it, and the ATM shows that all the money is unrecognizable.”

When CTV News accompanied Dhaliwal back to the bank, the results were the same. All 32 bills were deemed unrecognizable by the machine.

The financial hit has been difficult for Dhaliwal to process.

“It’s a lot of money to lose. I was shocked. I thought I was very smart. But, you know, scammers can outsmart anyone, right?” he said.

Dhaliwal reported the incident to the Surrey Police Department.

“It’s a very unfortunate and hard lesson for the victim to learn,” a spokesperson told CTV News.

Police recommend scrutinizing buyer profiles closely as one way to guard against being scammed. This can include being on the lookout for fake-looking photos, checking the person’s history of bought and sold items, and keeping records of conversations

In Dhaliwal’s case, he told CTV News he was blocked from communicating with the person who initiated the exchange after the transaction was complete.

For now, he hopes sharing his story will protect others from falling into the same trap.

“Watch out (for) these scams and scammers,” he said.