The Greencastle Police Department is warning the community of a new scam making its way around town after they have fielded numerous reports recently. 
According to the police department, there are individuals on Facebook claiming to have a large amount of high dollar merchandise that must be sold quickly and cheap. The items need to be sold because the individual has an ongoing family issue or needs to relocate due to a job and they have photographs of the items for sale. 

"A lot of times, these are folks from your friend list who have had their pages hijacked so that you feel safe contacting them," the Greencastle Police said in a Facebook post. 

Once the contact is made, the seller will reply with a price for the items and ask for the funds to be placed on VISA gift cards as a down payment hold for the merchandise. However, once questions are asked by the buyer, the seller will proceed to block the person. 

"Beware of anyone that asks you for payments via gift cards, visa cards or down payments for Facebook purchases. Only accept in person transactions and please make sure that you do your homework. Always choose a neutral/public location for transactions for safety," the police department said. 

Officials with the police department said the scams have filtered through several local yard sale sites as well as Facebook Marketplace where these are occurring. 

"These scammers are from overseas and cannot be tracked/prosecuted by local authorities and any monies that are given are lost forever," the post said.

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