A sophisticated scam targeting Colorado’s agricultural community is making the rounds in Adams County, and unlike many online marketplace scams, this one can leave both the hay producer and the person who purchased the hay believing they completed a legitimate transaction.

The scheme uses a form of “man-in-the-middle” fraud involving real hay, a real producer, an unsuspecting buyer—and a scammer positioned between them.

With hay routinely bought and sold through Facebook Marketplace, community groups and other online platforms, it’s an important scam for horse owners, farmers, ranchers and hay producers across Colorado to recognize.

How the Hay Scam Works

What makes this scheme particularly convincing is that the buyer may actually receive the hay they purchased.

Here’s how it can unfold:

1. The scammer contacts a legitimate hay producer and places an order, paying with a stolen credit card, compromised bank account or other fraudulent form of payment.
2. The scammer creates their own online listing for that same hay, often advertising it on Facebook Marketplace or another platform at an attractive, below-market price.
3. A legitimate buyer responds to the fake listing and sends payment directly to the scammer, potentially through a service such as Zelle.
4. The scammer gives the legitimate producer the buyer’s delivery address. From the producer’s perspective, they have received payment and are simply delivering an order to their customer’s requested location.
5. The farmer delivers the actual hay. The buyer sees a real hay delivery arrive and has little reason to believe anything is wrong.
6. The original fraudulent payment is eventually discovered and reversed. By that point, the scammer has the legitimate buyer’s money and disappears.

The producer may now be out the value of the hay and delivery costs, while the person who received the hay may suddenly find themselves caught in the middle of a fraud they knew nothing about.

The Person Receiving the Hay May Be a Victim, Too

This is an especially important part of the warning.

The person standing in the driveway when the hay truck arrives is not necessarily the scammer.

They may have found what appeared to be a legitimate advertisement, communicated with someone they believed was the seller, paid for the hay in good faith and received exactly what they ordered.

From their perspective, nothing about the transaction may initially appear fraudulent.

That is what makes this type of scam particularly difficult for both producers and buyers to recognize.

Red Flags for Hay Producers

Producers accepting new customers through Facebook, text messages or other online channels should pay particular attention when the person paying for the hay is not the person receiving it.

Other warning signs may include unusual delivery arrangements, an unfamiliar or out-of-area customer placing a significant order, pressure to complete the transaction quickly, or discrepancies between the buyer’s information, payment information and delivery information.

A successful electronic payment also doesn’t necessarily mean the money came from the person you’re communicating with. A transaction funded through a stolen card or compromised account may initially appear legitimate before later being disputed or reversed.

Hay Buyers Should Be Cautious, Too

Horse owners looking for hay online should be especially skeptical of prices that seem substantially lower than the going rate.

A bargain isn’t necessarily a scam, but an unusually inexpensive listing deserves additional verification.

Before sending money to an unfamiliar seller, consider verifying the identity of the farm or producer and confirming that the person receiving your payment is actually authorized to sell the hay.

If someone claims to be reselling, brokering or arranging delivery from another farm, contacting that farm directly before paying could uncover a discrepancy before money changes hands.

Buyers can also compare advertised prices with current market conditions. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes the Colorado Direct Hay Report, which provides reported prices and market information for hay and other forage commodities. ESMIS

How to Protect Yourself

Whether you’re buying or selling hay, a few additional verification steps can make this type of scam much harder to pull off:

• Verify new customers and sellers. Don’t rely solely on a Facebook profile, phone number or email address.
• Match the parties involved. If one person is paying and someone completely different is receiving the hay, find out why.
• Verify unusual orders before delivery. A quick phone call with the person at the delivery location can help confirm everyone understands who is selling the hay and who has been paid.
• Be cautious with irreversible person-to-person payments. Understand the fraud and dispute protections—or lack of them—before using a payment method with someone you don’t know.
• Be wary of significantly below-market prices. Scammers don’t need to make money on the hay itself because they never owned it in the first place.
• Keep records. Save advertisements, messages, invoices, names, phone numbers, delivery addresses and payment confirmations.

For producers dealing with unfamiliar customers or large transactions, an identity-verified invoicing/payment platform or reputable escrow service may provide additional safeguards.

What to Do if You Think You’ve Been Scammed

If you believe you’ve encountered this scheme, preserve everything before accounts, advertisements or conversations disappear.

Screenshot the original listing and seller profile and retain text messages, Facebook messages, emails, payment records, invoices, delivery information and any other documentation connected to the transaction.

Report the incident to local law enforcement and promptly contact the financial institution or payment service involved.

Buyers and sellers can also report suspected online fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and fraud involving consumer transactions to the Federal Trade Commission.

Most importantly, don’t immediately assume the farmer who delivered the hay—or the person who received it—was responsible for the scam. In this particular scheme, both may be victims of the same fraudster.

A Growing Concern for Colorado’s Agricultural Community

Online marketplaces have made it easier than ever for Colorado horse owners to locate hay and for producers to connect directly with customers. Unfortunately, scammers are becoming increasingly creative in exploiting those relationships.

Adams County alone reported more than 11,000 acres devoted to forage, including hay and haylage, in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, underscoring how significant agriculture and hay production remain in the county. Adams County Government

A little extra verification before sending payment—or before a truckload of hay leaves the farm—could prevent a substantial financial loss.

Please share this warning with the horse owners, hay producers, farmers and ranchers in your community. In this case, knowing how the scam works may be the best defense against becoming its next victim.

This article is intended for general informational purposes. Specific fraud cases and financial transactions can vary; anyone who believes they are a victim should contact the appropriate financial institution and law enforcement agency.