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Dumpster rental scams on Facebook: how to avoid paying twice
Coastline Disposal · September 3, 2026
If they have no Google profile, they are probably fake. If they want Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App, they are probably fake. If the price is wildly cheaper than everyone else you called, use your head — that is bait, not a bargain.
The can that shows up can still be real. That is the trick. A local company delivered it because someone booked them with a stolen card. You already paid a stranger in a Facebook chat. Then you pay again to get the dumpster off your driveway.
Do this before you pay anyone
This is the whole post, shortened. If a step fails, stop.
- 1Find a real Google Business Profile. Search the company name plus the town. Click the listing. You want years of reviews, photos that match the trucks, and a phone that matches the website. No Google profile — or a listing from last week with two five-star reviews — is probably fake.
- 2Call the number on that Google listing or on the company’s own website. Not the number in the ad. Not Messenger. Ours is (508) 737-6540.
- 3Book on the company’s site, not in the ad. For Coastline that is online booking. You enter the delivery address. Pricing populates there.
- 4Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, a gift card, or “send it to my personal name” is probably fake. Those apps have no buyer protection. Once it is gone, it is gone. A real dumpster rental takes a card or a booking portal.
- 5Call two or three real companies. If one quote is wildly cheaper than the rest — half the others, or “any size same price” — that is not a deal. That is the scam. Use good judgment.
- 6Get the legal name on a confirmation. Ours is Coastline Disposal LLC. A messenger nickname is not a company.
- 7If they will not get on a phone, hang up the chat. Scammers live in text. A real dispatcher will talk to you.
How the original scam works
A listing hits Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, Craigslist, or a Nextdoor comment. The roll-off is cheap, or just cheap enough. The photos are usually stolen from a real company. You message. You pay Zelle or Venmo. They keep your money.
Then they book a real local dumpster company with a stolen credit card. That company drops a can at your house. You think you are done. Days later the real cardholder disputes the charge. The company is unpaid. You already paid the ad. The ad is gone.
Now you owe the company that owns the can, or they pull it and leave the load. Some people pay twice to get it off the driveway.
The 2025–2026 version: they book online as you
This is the part that is new. They do not always put a fake name on the stolen card. They take your real name, email, phone, and delivery address in the Facebook chat — the same information you would give a real company. Then they open a real dumpster company’s online booking, type you in, and pay with a stolen card.
The booking looks clean. Name matches the house. Email is yours. Phone is yours. The real company may text a confirmation. They may call to verify the drop. You answer because it is your number and your job. You think you booked them. You did not. You paid the scammer. The card on the order is stolen.
A call or a text from a real dumpster company does not prove the Facebook seller is that company. It proves someone used your information to place an order.
If you did not book Coastline yourself — on our booking page or at (508) 737-6540 — a confirmation text is a warning, not a receipt. Call that company on the number from Google, not the number in the text. Tell them you did not place the order. Stop paying the Facebook account.
Other versions of the same theft
- Take the money, never drop a can. Same ad, same Zelle. No stolen-card booking. You just sent cash to a stranger.
- Stolen photos. They lift pictures of real roll-offs — rear doors, lettering, even a local truck — and run them as their listing.
- A fake website, or a page that copies a real name. The Google listing, if it exists, does not match the URL they sent you.
- “I’m a broker, I can get you a cheaper can.” They are not a broker. They are collecting Zelle and buying a stolen-card drop.
- Gift cards, crypto, or a wire to a personal name. Same as Zelle: no recovery.
- Pressure: “I have one 20 left if you pay in the next ten minutes.” The rush is so the stolen card is used and your money is gone before anyone checks.
What this looks like here
A roll-off on a Falmouth, Barnstable, or Plymouth driveway does not mean the Facebook account is the company. It means a local operator got an order for your address. Coastline Disposal will never ask you to Zelle a stranger, and we will never book you from a Marketplace inbox.
How Coastline takes the order
You call (508) 737-6540 or you book on our site. You enter the delivery address. That is the only way pricing populates. We do not put a number in a Facebook picture.
Google listing: Coastline Disposal on Google — 4.9 from 133 reviews. Legal name Coastline Disposal LLC.
Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts. Monday–Friday 7am–7pm, Saturday 7am–2pm, Sunday closed. Online booking stays open. If a “Coastline” account DMs you a Cash App tag, it is not us. Hang up and dial the number on this site.
If a can is already in the driveway
Call the number on the can or on Google for that company — not the Facebook account. Tell them you paid a third party. Do not dump the load in the street. Do not ignore the pickup.
If you think you booked Coastline, but the only person you paid was in Messenger, you did not book Coastline. Call (508) 737-6540 yourself.
This is not legal advice. It is how you keep a stolen-card order from becoming a pile and a second invoice.
Dumpster rental scam — FAQ
No Google Business Profile — is that enough to walk away?+
Yes. A dumpster company that cannot be found on Google, or that has a brand-new listing with no real review history, is probably fake. Look at the profile, the phone, the website, and the reviews together.
They want Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App. Is that ever normal?+
For a dumpster rental from a stranger on Facebook, treat it as fake. Those apps do not reverse a scam. A real company has a booking page or takes a card.
The price is way under everyone else I called. Could it still be legit?+
Use good judgment. Wildly cheaper is the bait. Call two other local companies. If one number is insane next to the rest, you found the ad, not a deal.
I got a confirmation text from a dumpster company I did not book. What is that?+
That is the 2025–2026 version. Someone used your name, email, and phone to book a real company online with a stolen card. Call that company on the Google number. Tell them you did not place the order. Stop paying the Facebook seller.
Why does a real dumpster show up if it is a scam?+
Because the scammer paid a real company with a stolen card — sometimes using your real contact info so the order looks like you. The truck is legitimate. The Facebook seller is not.
Will Coastline ever take Venmo from a Facebook ad?+
No. Book at coastlinedisposal.com/booking or call. If a Coastline account texts you a Zelle name, it is not us.