A young woman trying to sell an old television on Facebook Marketplace has told of the terrifying encounter she had when a “creepy” stranger rocked up to her home.
Tania, from Melbourne, gave her address to a man after he made an apparently genuine inquiry about buying the secondhand item from her.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Aussie’s terrifying Facebook Marketplace ordeal.
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But when he arrived at her doorstep, he appeared to show no interest in the TV.
Instead, he began making unwanted advances to Tania and her female housemate — leaving them fearing for their safety.
“I was so terrified after this experience I deleted everything from Facebook Marketplace and gave the TV to a friend who really needed it,” Tania tells 7Life.
“I was so traumatised… I even moved house as I thought I saw that man’s car outside our home a few times after… it really scared me.”
The ordeal began at the start of March, when Tania listed the item for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
Retelling her story on social media, Tania explains how she received a message from the potential buyer who she thought seemed keen about buying the TV.
“I said to him, ‘Cool, please come over and have a look’. He sounded like he was really keen… he was pretty much coming to pick it up,” Tania says in the video.
“Thankfully I was home with my housemate so we took the TV outside so that way he’s not coming in.”
When the man showed up at her Reservoir home, Tania says she instantly realised he was showing little interest in the TV.
“He kind of just looked at the TV a few times… And he’s like, ‘Cool, cool yep…’, and then he switches to us and he starts saying, ‘So do you girls smoke?’” Tania recalls.
Confused, the housemates awkwardly looked at each other.
“We’re like to him, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘You know, do you guys smoke? Do you guys want to go inside and hang out for a little bit?’”
Feeling “weird” about the situation, Tania bluntly told the man: “Sorry I need to sell this TV, we’re not really open for discussing anything else.”
Despite asking the man multiple times to leave, he began asking inappropriate questions.
“He’s just like, ‘Well are you girls open to trying new things?’” Tania recalls.
“My housemate and I just stared at each other, we’re communicating with our eyes, and we’re thinking, ‘Okay this person is f****** weird. Goodbye’.”
The quick-thinking housemates pretended their “partners” were coming over in five minutes in the hope he would leave.
The man was taken aback when he was told about their partners, but wasn’t convinced.
“He was like, ‘Is someone really coming over or are you just trying to get rid of me?’” Tania says, as she was lost for words.
“Then he goes, ‘Alright, are you girls sure you don’t want to fool around tonight?’
“How f****** creepy is that?”
Tania says they had to be “really convincing” about their “partners” just so he could leave them alone.
“My housemate got pretty loud and started raising her voice. She goes, ‘I think you should go mate if you’re not interested in buying the TV because we’ve got plans for tonight’. She was stern and assertive,” Tania explains.
“He wasn’t interested in the TV, he just wanted to do other things, clearly.
“It was super creepy, it was pretty scary, especially because it was cold and dark outside and a random old man comes to your door and keeps trying to ask you to smoke with him and fool around with him, insinuating going into your house — so creepy.”
By speaking out, Tania wants to warn Aussies to be careful when giving out home addresses to strangers on Facebook Marketplace.
“I hope no one will have to experience anything like this… It was pretty scary stuff, honestly,” she tells 7Life.
“If you absolutely need someone to come to your house to pick up whatever it is you’re selling, please do not be home alone.
“Please don’t ever give anyone your address. It’s best to meet in public places if people choose to buy or sell from there.
“It’s a scary time out there — just be safe.”
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