Safe shopping Tips

Mike Labbe

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Attention Members,

We would like to remind everyone to be cautious and vigilant when buying or selling items. It is important to keep in mind that there are individuals who may use for sale forums to perpetrate scams and fraudulent activities.

To avoid falling victim to a classified ad scam, it is crucial to watch out for the following signs:

  1. Unreasonable deals – be wary of ads that offer items for much less than their actual value.
  2. Payment requests – if someone asks you to pay via a method that seems unsecured or non-standard, it could be a red flag. This includes payment types like PayPal Family and Friends, which have fraud protection removed, and scammers may request partial payment up front.
  3. Shipping – if you are buying an item online, double-check the shipping fees and terms to make sure it aligns with common practices.
  4. Overpayment - if the seller over pays for an item and asks you to send them some money back to a different account, it could be a sign that they are using a fraudulent account, which has not yet been identified. When identified, it will be charged back.
  5. Lack of communication – if the seller is unresponsive to your queries or only responds sporadically, it may be a sign to back out of the deal.
  6. Insufficient information – beware of ads that lack details about the seller or the item, or those featuring stock images instead of actual photos.
  7. New accounts - if the account is brand new, it should get extra scrutiny. If they have been a member for years, with a post history, they are likely a legitimate member of the industry.
Remember, scammers often use convincing language and top-notch graphics to make their offers appear credible.

Always do your research, trust your gut, and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is!

To keep our community safe and secure, we encourage members to report any suspicious activity to the forum support team immediately.


Stay safe, stay smart!

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Just bumping this as a re-reminder to be vigilant about scams for any online exchanges, especially if they are outside of your country (and legal reach).
 
We banned a new member who just registered and was mass emailing folks from for sale ads, as a suspicious account

jmeegeeh

referencing an account at myyahoo.com

We don't believe this to be a legitimate buyer/seller.

We intercepted and deleted everything before anyone retrieved their spam from this seller, so you may have had a false notification of a new msg on the system. This is why,

Please take notice.
 
Buttercuppearl was just banned as suspected scammer. Please do not email them or send money.
 
was that the bloke that posted stuff for sale in 6 or more threads this morning?
Yes. Thanks to someone reporting it, we were made aware and took it all down.
 
I was wondering about it. It almost appeared OK with a phone # and email, but doing so many was iffy. If they had been less greedy maybe someone would have bitten. I thought about reporting it but wasn't sure. Thought I would watch it a bit.
 
Nelsonn Matt was just banned as suspected scammer. Please do not email them or send money.

They mass DM'ed several people asking for money, within the past 10 minutes, but I believe we blocked the account/erased msgs BEFORE any of those messages were retrieved.

If you received notice of a new msg but cannot find it, this is the reason you can not find it.
 
The same party tried twice more today, but they were rejected. We have temporarily put a ban on all of Nigeria, until they get the message to stop this nonsense.
 
The same party tried twice more today, but they were rejected. We have temporarily put a ban on all of Nigeria, until they get the message to stop this nonsense.
Might as well make it permanent. Nigeria's main source of foreign exchange is this type of scam.
 
Another one intercepted and banned today: BOCOCK
 
Yet another intercepted and banned today. (christhayer)

If you received notice of a direct message, and it wasn't here when you came to retrieve it; this is why.
 
GrahamKyle banned. (Attempted for sale phishing scammer)
 
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