The woman who posted a $30 table on Facebook Marketplace and nearly lost thousands is Sandra Pond from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

She narrowly escaped a sophisticated online scam that attempted to steal $3,000 from her bank account.

Here is what happened:

The Listing and the "Buyer": Sandra listed a table on Facebook Marketplace for $30. She was quickly contacted by a potential buyer who claimed to be out of town but was eager to secure the table by sending an immediate payment via Interac e-transfer (a popular money transfer service in Canada).

The Phishing Attempt: Sandra provided her email address and immediately received a professional-looking email that appeared to be a genuine Interac e-transfer for $30.

Entering Credentials: She clicked on the link, selected her bank, and then signed in with her banking credentials to deposit the money.

Suspicion and Quick Action: After she entered her details, a loading symbol appeared with a note not to refresh the page. When the page failed to load after what she felt was too long, her gut told her something was wrong, and she clicked out of the process.

The Aftermath: She then received an email from her bank asking her to change her password. She called her bank immediately. The bank confirmed suspicious activity, locked her account, and informed her that the scammer had attempted to withdraw $3,000, which was her daily limit. The bank stated that if the scam wasn't caught immediately, the scammer could have attempted to take $3,000 every day.

Sandra Pond was incredibly lucky that her bank's security measures and her own quick-thinking enabled her to catch the fraud attempt before she lost any money. The scammer had used a fake e-transfer link to create a phishing site designed to steal her bank login information. She is now warning others to be extremely cautious when using online marketplaces.