First off, let's be clear.... the vast majority of the members of this site are trustworthy and the vast majority of transactions occur without issue.
However....there are occasional problems. Some buyer/seller/scammer red flags are:
- little or no post history...any existing posts are usually all the same few words
- joined the forum in recent days
- suddenly posting a bunch of classifieds threads in quick succession
- prices WAY too good to be true
- photos of item don’t include their username, or seem fake
- language/communication oddities
- user location is overly general, IE: "europe" or "north america"
- inbox's you directly, no replies in the thread
- post or inbox message requests further contact via email or phone
- requests payment from a non-standard provider
- requests payments through multiple providers, or to other individuals (ie: "my Paypal is screwed up, can you Venmo my girlfriend?")
- Venmo/Paypal email addy has no resemblance to their name/username/account (easy Admin check when reported)
- insists on payment without fees
Also, avoid listing or giving your email or phone number. Don't do it when you list an item, try to avoid doing it when you are in a discussion until you are
sure the other party isn't a scammer. Nothing worse than putting your private into out into the world for scammers to data-mine.
KEEP the transaction discussion IN the forum. DO NOT move it to email or phone messaging.
The key is to protect yourself and your hard earned money. Do your due diligence with any buyer/seller....because if it seems
at all strange or suspicious, it probably is.
If you suspect these types of issues are happening, please
REPORT the user/conversation/post and offer a brief description of your suspicions.. Using the forum Reporting system allow better tracking of problem users and can assist in finding patterns that can help block future scammer registrations entirely.
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The REPORT button is located immediately below every thread and conversation post. That REPORT button gives us the info we need to investigate quickly.
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When in doubt, REPORT. Better to be wrong and have the account checked versus not reporting at all.
