Marketplace sale goes wrong: Auckland mum terrified after sexual advances and toes fixation in her home

• An Auckland mother has been left traumatised after a Facebook Marketplace sale went horribly wrong.
• The man purchasing her item made sexual advances on her, asking to “suck her toes” before refusing to leave her house.
• Police are urging caution to anyone buying or selling on platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

An Auckland woman has been left terrified after a man posing as a buyer on Facebook Marketplace asked to suck her toes before refusing to leave her house.

The mother of three, who wishes to remain anonymous, was selling items on Facebook Marketplace when the incident occurred.

On Monday, January 27, she listed a wooden boat for sale, and a profile named “Shannon” offered to purchase it.

“They messaged me to see if they could drop by in the afternoon to pick up the wooden boat and so I sent through my address,” she said.

That afternoon, an older man, who appeared to be in his late 50s, arrived at her house.

“My mother-in-law was leaving at the time, so I assumed everything was fine, and didn’t think much of it when I invited him inside to look at the item,” she said.

Once he was inside, the woman showed him the wooden boat and some crystals she was also selling.

The victim of a bogus Facebook Marketplace buyer, who says the man refused to leave her house in Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton

That’s when the interaction took a turn for the worse, she said.

“He picked up the crystals and started feeling them, then he grabbed my hand and I had to physically snatch it away,” she said.

She said the man then asked if she had any more crystals and tried to go upstairs to her bedroom.

“He refused to leave, I was like, ‘Look, I have to look after my baby’, who had been on my hip the whole time,” she said.

The man began staring at the woman’s feet and making what the woman described as “sexual noises”.

She said he then asked her: “Would you give me five minutes with your toes, to suck them?”

“I just froze, I felt sick,” she said.

She said the man kept getting closer to her and rubbing his arm against hers. She asked him to leave multiple times.

“He appeared to be aroused by my feet, and he kept staring at my baby’s feet too, it was awful,” she said.

The woman managed to get the man out of the house, but he disappeared before she had a chance to take down his car’s number plate.

In shock, she notified police of the incident.

“This was a report of suspicious behaviour towards a woman following a Marketplace sale set up,” said a police spokesperson.

“In an online environment, it can be difficult to verify the person you are dealing with has good intentions.”

Police urge caution

Police advise anyone buying or selling on platforms like Facebook Marketplace to exercise caution.

They advise users to check social media profiles. If their profile appears new or relatively blank, there’s a chance it could be fake.

“If purchasers are reluctant to meet in person or insist items are dropped off at a location, they may be avoiding being seen or identified.”

They also recommend ensuring you have someone else with you during the sale, or that you meet in a public place away from alleyways or side streets.

Katie Oliver is a Christchurch-based Multimedia Journalist and breaking news reporter.