Facebook Marketplace scam has Allegheny Township police charging Maryland woman

Dan Sevic believed something was off after his business, Sevic Landscaping and Supply in Allegheny Township, took an order for concrete block back in March.

Little did he know that transaction would be linked to an alleged scheme that police say used stolen credit cards to buy the blocks, sell them at half the price on Facebook Marketplace and send those transactions to a Maryland woman, according to police.

In turn, they said, that woman would transfer the money to accomplices in the Dominican Republic.

Allegheny Township Police charged Arlene Yivenssi Hiciano Lara, 22, of Rockville, Md., with receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility. Her attorney, Justin John-Earl Ketchel, didn’t return a TribLive request for comment.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 26 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

The case

On March 12, Sevic talked with Allegheny Township Police Sgt. Charity Hollis and told her he believed he would be the victim of credit card fraud, according to a criminal complaint filed by Hollis against Hiciano.

On March 4, Sevic’s business took an order for a concrete block totaling $3,291 from a man only identified as “John.” The block was delivered to an address in Penn Hills. Sevic Landscape was provided a Discover Card to make the purchase.

On March 11, “John” placed another order, with the same Discover Card, for concrete block totaling $1,789, the complaint said, which was delivered to an address in Butler County.

The person receiving that order of concrete block told Sevic it was being sold on Facebook Marketplace for $900. The person selling the concrete block wanted the money sent through Zelle, the complaint said.

Sevic’s bank notified him that the Discover Bank card, used to purchase both orders of concrete block, was reported as stolen, the complaint said.

“What was going on was, the concrete block was originally advertised on Facebook Marketplace by unknown men from the Dominican Republic, who were selling the block for half the price of its intended value,” said Allegheny Township Police Chief Daniel Uncapher. “In each purchase from Facebook Marketplace, people were advised to make Zelle payments to an account in Maryland.”

Hollis contacted the Penn Hills man who received the first order of concrete block. He told Hollis he responded to an ad on Facebook Marketplace agreeing to purchase concrete block and pay for it upon delivery. The man told Hollis he sent three payments through Zelle, a digital payment network, to an account linked to Hiciano.

The investigation

Sevic said he also reported the incident to the FBI, but was told they wouldn’t take up the case because the monetary amount wasn’t high enough.

“(Hollis) is very intelligent and went above and beyond to solve the crime,” Sevic said. “She did her research, worked hard and solved it.”

On July 8, detectives from the Montgomery County, Md., police department interviewed Hiciano. She told those detectives she would receive the money and send it to a man who lives in the Dominican Republic, the complaint said.

Hiciano first said she was not keeping any of the money, but later admitted to keeping roughly $50 each time totaling about $500, according to her arrest papers.

“Arlene was a middle man, so to speak, where she would facilitate the rest of the U.S. money and forward it on to an unknown actor in the Dominican Republic,” Uncapher said.

According to the criminal complaint, Sevic reported his business lost $1,324 and the Penn Hills man lost about $3,000.

Due diligence

Sevic said similar scams seem to be taking place across the country targeting other landscaping businesses.

That’s backed up by research into online scams.

Last year, cyber security firm F-Secure released a study that found 80% of social media users have encountered scammers. More than 60% of Facebook users reported in the study they encountered scammers at least once a week. The numbers were similar for other popular social media sites, with even 31% of LinkedIn users reporting at least weekly encounters with likely scammers.

Shopping scams were the second most common type of scam reported on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok, according to the study. Fake prizes or contests were the most common scams on social media sites.

Facebook didn’t return multiple TribLive requests for comment for this story.

Uncapher, whose background is in criminal investigations, said investigating cyber scams takes a lot of time and effort.

“A lot of work goes into this,” he said. “It’s tedious work. It’s a lot of digital evidence that has to be retrieved through search warrants.”

The chief’s advice to businesses is to confirm a credit card is valid before completing the sale. For people who purchase products off Facebook Marketplace, it’s “buyer beware.”

“In this situation, it’s one of those instances where if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” Uncapher said.

Uncapher said people should be cautious of what’s posted on online market websites.

“These are so many scams these days,” he said. “People need to confirm the information and validate the information prior to any purchases.”