Brand Abuse, Sales Abuse

How to Remove Fake Ads on Facebook Marketplace

By Yzadora S. Luz on
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Since its launch on the platform, Facebook Marketplace has been generating enormous traffic and promises to continue to be a strong competitor to sites like eBay. So it’s natural to be concerned that fraudulent or deceptive advertising posted on Facebook might harm your brand.

That’s why we offer a guide for removing those bogus ads and the profiles that host them, to help you protect your image and the quality of your products on that popular network.

 

How can I find illicit advertisements on Marketplace?


The tool is available on the Facebook platform itself, and is easily found.

Such ads can be exposed via searches, using the following filters:


Region

Classified ads are shown by geolocation, so it’s always important to remain vigilant against a wide range of possibilities.


Category

There are too many categories to count! What if someone is trying to hide a certain product in a category other than the real one? We need to check everything!


Prices

Try not to limit your search in this filter, because you might let something slip by.

 

Does Facebook endorse fraud?


First, we must understand the platform’s Community Standards  and Commerce  Policies, which give us the basis for a successful complaint.

But you should know up front that if you uncover an ad that infringes on your trademark or copyright, you are protected by the section’s terms of use, and can take steps to file a complaint.

 

How can I remove infringing classified ads from Marketplace?


The platform has a complaint form for you to report violations infringing on your trademark. In it, you can provide the URLs of the ads or sellers that are in violation.

 

Want to know how it works? Then know which steps to follow:


Right away, you will be informed of the risks in filing an erroneous or false complaint. Once that’s understood, you can continue by providing your data:

  • Who owns the trademark? Clearly state on the form if the trademark belongs to you, your company, your client or to another individual.
  • Your name or that of the company represented
  • Your position
  • Contact data: email, address and phone
  • Trademark holder’s name
  • Official link to your digital presence (site or official page on networks)


A portion of the data collected for the complaint will be forwarded to the offending advertiser. To protect your privacy, always use your brand’s institutional data, such as its legal and commercial contact information.

For the complaint to be substantive, the form will also request trademark information. Therefore, have available:

  • The trademark registration
  • Where the trademark is registered
  • The category of the trademark’s goods or services
  • A direct URL link to the trademark’s registration (if available)
  • Attachments (copy of the trademark’s registration certificate)


If more than one of your trademarks is being infringed, the others may be included on the same form. Just select the box “I have additional brands” and fill in the data. Once you’ve completed the identification process, you will provide information regarding the content that is the subject of the complaint.

Since our goal is to remove bogus classifieds from Marketplace, you may opt to file a complaint about the classified ad or the seller’s profile, which will be among the first options:

  • Photo, video or publication
  • A page, group or an entire profile


Directly below that, you can add additional pertinent details to the complaint.

Last but not least, you will be declaring, under penalties of perjury, that the contact information is true and that you are the holder of the trademark or an agent authorized to file the complaints.

Once the complaint has been filed, Facebook will analyze your arguments and may decide to remove the classified ad or even close the offending account.


To facilitate that process, we at Axur offer an Unauthorized sales solution link that will protect your reputation from pirated products and unauthorized sales. With it, you can define your priorities and receive the detections that our Artificial Intelligence collects for you!

Then you can relax, confident that our AI tools are monitoring classifieds that involve your trademark and promptly providing you with the results.

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ESPECIALISTA CONVIDADO

Eduardo Schultze, Coordenador do CSIRT da Axur, formado em Segurança da Informação pela UNISINOS – Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. Trabalha desde 2010 com fraudes envolvendo o mercado brasileiro, principalmente Phishing e Malware

AUTHOR

Yzadora S. Luz

Multimedia Production student and member of Axur's Brand Protection team, I help to build a safer internet.