A mum was left scratching her head after receiving a strange response from a ‘grandma’ who wanted to buy a $10 toy from her on Facebook Marketplace.
Katie, from Calgary, Canada, was getting rid of some things her one-year-old daughter had grown out of and listed an ‘activity centre’ on the online marketplace for $10.
She started talking to a woman claiming to be a grandma buying the toy for her new grandchild but delayed picking it up saying her husband of more than 50 years wanted to file for divorce.
Katie thought she might give the toy to the woman for free out of sympathy but her husband accused the buyer of scamming the mum by making up a sob story to get the item for free.
People online were divided over whether the ‘grandmother’ was scamming Katie and shared suggestions for how to respond.
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Mum Katie (pictured) was trying to sell her daughter’s old toys on Facebook marketplace. A buyer delayed pick up saying her husband suddenly filed for divorce
‘My husband thinks I’m being scammed on Facebook Marketplace,’ Katie said in a TikTok clip.
She explained she is getting rid of a bunch of stuff her young daughter doesn’t need anymore a listed the activity centre on Marketplace for the modest price of $10.
‘I’m pretty sure these retail for hundreds of dollars brand new so I thought it was a steal,’ the mum said.
‘This very lovely woman messages me and she’s like, ‘I’m a grandma and I would love to buy this for my brand new grandbaby’.’
Katie was touched by the ‘nice’ gesture and they both arranged for a time for the grandmother to pick up the item.
‘Then this morning I realised she’s going to come right when my baby’s napping and that is one hour a day that I get to myself so I’m not risking waking the baby up,’ she explained.
‘So I wrote to her and said, ‘Hey look is it cool if we just do a contactless exchange? I will put the thing on the step and you can just leave the money’.’
Katie also left a note on the item in case the woman missed her message before coming to collect but her respond left Katie stunned.
Katie wanted to give the woman the $10 item free but her husband is accusing the buyer of making up a story to scam her out of the price
‘Can we do tomorrow now? My husband just asked for a divorce and I am shocked. I am 66! And we have been together since we were 13 years old,’ the woman has written.
‘Obviously it’s not funny if it’s true and my first thought is this is so sad, I should just give her this thing,’ Katie said.
‘My husband is like no she is totally scamming you, she is trying to get this thing for free and she is working you.’
Katie describes her self as ‘forever an optimist’ and thought there was ‘no way’ someone would try and scam her out of as little as $10.
‘My husband is convinced, because he’s very cynical, that this is her plan and that there is no divorce, he’s like, ‘She’s probably not even a grandma’,’ she said.
‘Is he right? Am I being scammed? Am I falling for it?’
Viewers were quick to share their opinions with many agreeing with Katie’s husband and warned her to proceed with caution.
‘I’m with your husband. I’ve had people give so much extra info when they bail on meeting, then they ask to pay less or never come,’ one woman said.
‘Definitely has my spidey sense tingling. But I’ve been scammed before and don’t trust anyone now,’ another wrote.
‘I literally got scam to the same way. They said they were a grandmother. They wanted to get it for the grandbabies then turned around and sold it high,’ a third added.
Others were not so skeptical and said the woman may be ‘sincere’ but a bit of an ‘over sharer’.
‘As a child of a boomer… people in their sixties and seventies can be notorious for over sharing with strangers,’ one viewer replied.
‘She’s being sincere in my opinion. At most she was likely looking for someone to talk to or give their condolences for her marriage,’ a second commented.
‘Maybe she just has no one to talk to. Don’t stop being a good person just because others might not be. Give it to her,’ someone else chimed in.
Some gave suggestions for how Katie should reply to further suss out the buyer’s situation.
‘I would just respond ‘I’m so sorry. Whenever you’re ready just reach out and we can do the exchange.’ See where it goes from there,’ one woman suggested.
‘I always snooping the other person’s profile to see if they are real. if it’s a brand new blank account I’d be skeptical,’ warned another.