Facebook Marketplace scam: Fake buyer 'armed with a knife' threatens Aussie - ... trends now

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An Australian man has been left so shaken by a Facebook Marketplace deal-gone-wrong that he has packed up and left his home for good - after the alleged perpetrator warned: 'I have your address.'

Julian Rivers-Smith, 33, was confronted by an armed gang after he invited a would-be buyer to pick up a laptop from his Ascot Vale home in inner-city Melbourne. 

He became suspicious when the 'buyer' showed up wearing a face mask and tried to use a fake bank website to pay for the laptop during the incident on March 25.

In CCTV of the subsequent confrontation, Mr Rivers-Smith and a friend were seen running inside his home to safety before slamming the door. 

The scammer, who was allegedly armed with a knife, told him: 'I have your address, bro. Remember your car is right here.'

His accomplice then smashed the windows of Mr Rivers-Smith's car with a metal baton before they fled in an allegedly stolen Ford Falcon.