Human trafficking warning on Facebook Marketplace following Canberra trials

The photographer’s stubbornness on the Facebook Marketplace may well have saved her from being kidnapped by strangers and sold just meters away from her work.

Mallie Taylor was unloading some free fall and winter decorations using a platform when a prospective buyer began to annoy her.

Despite the fact that the woman indicated in her ad that the product was “only pickup”, the customer, who stated that she was the mother of two small children, insistently asked to meet her in a more convenient place.

Screenshots of the exchange shared with news.com.au show that the buyer originally asked for the décor to be delivered, arguing that “I don’t have a car.” [and] it’s only an eight minute drive.”

Ms Taylor from Canberra reminded her that it was “only pickup” and her annoyance grew even more when the woman offered to pay $5 for free shipping.

ONLY TO PICK UP, Miss Taylor reminded her again.

However, the woman still refused to pick up the items from the pickup point and asked if Taylor would meet her at the bus stop.

“I’ll come, please stay for me,” she pleaded in another message, before asking Ms. Taylor to “please send me a number.”

Literally 15 minutes later, she changed her mind and told her: “I won’t come.”

However, about two hours later, she changed her mind again, saying “Hi honey, I’ll be right over” and asking for Ms. Taylor’s number because she claimed she didn’t have internet.

She stated that she could not wait because she planned to bring her two children on the bus.

“Bus time shows me 24 minutes away,” she wrote.

Mrs. Taylor was not in the least convinced by the woman’s story, telling her firmly that she would not go to the bus.

“I won’t meet you at the bus stop. I already left. This is a business,” Taylor wrote.

The woman was still confused for some reason, asking her if the meeting place was a home or a business.

When the second time they said it was a store, she asked, “How can I get there?”

Ms. Taylor, remaining firm in her position, told her that if she needed goods, there would be other people in the store until 4:30 pm.

The woman continued to defend her position, telling Taylor that she had a two-year-old and six-month-old child, and “here’s why.”

“Darling, I will come, please wait for me, ok, I’m at the bus stop, ok,” she wrote, before changing her story again and saying that she won’t come because her baby is crying.

Ms. Taylor shared her experience with other Marketplace users and was quickly informed that the woman’s behavior was consistent with normal human trafficking tactics.

“As soon as several people pointed out to me that this was a known method of human trafficking, my stomach ached,” she told news.com.au.

“I was so glad I stuck to my guns, making things pick up just because my colleagues were there.

“Coming so close to such a dangerous situation makes you wonder how safe you really are.”

Miss Taylor was relieved when her stubbornness came out when she needed it the most.

She added that it was “ridiculous” how strongly the woman insisted on meeting at the bus stop, and she was lucky that her boss was pleased that she “refused to make an exception.”

“Thank God I can be as stubborn as I am,” she said.

Since this ordeal, Ms. Taylor has been especially careful about who she deals with on the Marketplace.

“Now I am careful about posting anything on the Marketplace, and if I were to encounter this again, I would immediately understand that it is not worth entertaining those who are on the other end of the messages,” she said.

Originally published as Human trafficking photographer’s horrific ordeal sparks alert on Facebook Marketplace