Is a Facebook Marketplace car seller asking for a holding deposit a scam?

Scammers post car listings at attractive prices and claim the car is stored elsewhere — often with a relative or in a compound. They ask for a small 'holding deposit' via bank transfer to reserve it before you come to view. Once the money is sent, the seller becomes unavailable, the listing disappears, and there is no car. Legitimate private sellers rarely require a deposit before you have inspected the vehicle in person; dealers who do take deposits have a physical address, a written receipt, and a cancellation policy. Always insist on viewing the car at its current location before paying anything.

These listings are usually built from photographs stolen from genuine adverts, sometimes with the plates blurred or edited. The 'stored elsewhere' story — a relative's farm, a compound, a port — exists to explain why you cannot simply drive over and look at it, and the below-market price supplies the urgency. Some operations run dozens of near-identical listings across regions at once, changing only the location text.

A genuine private seller loses nothing by letting you view before any money moves, and a genuine bargain survives a day of checks. Reverse image search the photos, ask for the registration and run a history check, and treat any resistance to an in-person viewing as the end of the conversation.