LUCKY TO ESCAPE: A bullet hole in the roof of a ute owned by a South Waikato man who was robbed at gunpoint.

Armed men are using Facebook Buy and Sell pages to lure motorcycle buyers to remote Waikato locations, where they are robbed at gunpoint of thousands of dollars.

Police say the latest victim was lucky to escape after being shot at through his cab window and bashed in the face with a gun barrel.

Police believe at least two men are behind the robberies, which seem to be well-organised and targeting buyers through specific Facebook pages.

Both victims had travelled from out of town to arranged meeting points where they were then lured to isolated outposts and held at gunpoint.

Detective Sergeant Bill Crowe, of Waikato CIB, said the latest incident occurred in Kihikihi on Tuesday afternoon.

A 44-year-old man from South Waikato found a KTM motorcycle he wanted to buy on a motorcycle trading page and contacted the sellers. He then travelled to Te Awamutu, where they arranged the exchange.

After driving around looking for an Oliver St address, the man was contacted by the people claiming to be selling the bike and told he had driven past them. They then arranged to meet him at a property near Kihikihi Domain, said Crowe.

On arrival, the South Waikato man was directed up a secluded driveway about 20 metres where he was confronted by a man armed with a gun.

Crowe said the offender demanded the cash from the man before he hit him in the face with the barrel of his gun.

"His life was threatened."

Jumping into his ute, the man tried to flee from the men, who then fired at him in his cab.

The bullet narrowly grazed the man's face and went through the roof of the ute cab, said Crowe.

"Crashing into a tree, the victim staggered out of his vehicle and fled on foot, raising the alarm at a nearby house."

The incident comes two weeks after another man was robbed at gunpoint during the arranged purchase of a motorbike at a Gordonton Rd property.

On March 9, he arrived at the arranged meeting point at the Five Crossroads shops after driving up from Taranaki, and was told by the "seller" he had to travel to a Gordonton property. When the buyer arrived, a man opened a farmgate to let the car and trailer in, before a second man brandishing a gun confronted the victim, police said.

The pair ordered the victim to lie on the ground and several times threatened to shoot him before they stole the cash and fled in a getaway car driven by a third man.

Crowe said police believed the incidents were linked and involved at least the two of the same men.

The only description of the offenders was that one is European and the other Maori, and police could not say what names or alias they are using online. They are keeping an open mind on the identities of the men, and not ruling out links to gangs.

Crowe said police wanted to warn all traders using any social media to be wary.

Social media "Buy, Sell and Trade" sites have become hugely popular, with Waikato pages attracting more than 20,000 members.

NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said Facebook was not set up to operate as a trading site and people were better protected by trading through local sites such as Trade Me, which had more suitable infrastructure to manage the risks involved.