Category: Trust & Safety

Most online scams rely on urgency and trust. Slow down when a deal feels rushed or a buyer pressures you to act immediately.

For meetups, choose public, well-lit places and bring someone along. For shipping, use trackable couriers and avoid releasing goods before payment clears.

Never share one-time passwords, card numbers, or account credentials. No legitimate buyer or platform will ask for these to “confirm” a sale.

If something feels off, it usually is. Verify the person, check reviews, and when in doubt, walk away. A missed sale is far cheaper than a scam.

The overwhelming majority of in-person sales go fine. A few simple habits make the rest far safer.

Meet in public, in daylight

Busy places with staff and cameras — supermarket car parks, bank forecourts, cafés. Many police stations now offer designated safe exchange zones, which are ideal for higher-value items.

Take someone with you

Two people changes the dynamic of an interaction significantly. If that is not possible, tell someone where you are going, who you are meeting and when you expect to be back.

For items that must be collected from home

• Arrange the meeting for a time when someone else is present
• Keep the transaction at the door or driveway where possible
• Move the item to the garage or front room in advance
• Never leave a stranger unattended inside your home

Handling payment

Cash should be counted before the item changes hands. For bank transfers, confirm the money has actually cleared into your account — a screenshot of a pending transfer is not proof of payment.

Trust the feeling

If a meeting feels wrong when you arrive, leave. No sale is worth overriding that instinct, and no reasonable buyer will hold it against you.

Scams evolve constantly in detail but rarely in structure. Recognising the shape is more durable than memorising specific stories.

The overpayment

A buyer sends more than the asking price and asks you to refund the difference. The original payment is later reversed as fraudulent; your refund is not. Never refund an overpayment — cancel the transaction entirely.

The off-platform move

An early push to continue by private message, email or an unfamiliar app. Once you leave the platform you lose the record of the conversation and any protection attached to it. Legitimate buyers are content to stay put.

Manufactured urgency

• “I am flying out tonight and need it shipped now”
• “Another buyer is on the way, pay to reserve it”
• “My courier is already booked, just send the code”

Urgency exists to stop you checking. Any pressure to skip a normal step is itself the warning.

The verification code request

Someone asks you to read back a code they have just triggered to your phone. That code is authenticating them into an account in your name. There is no legitimate version of this request.

If something feels wrong

Stop, and check independently. Look up the phone number yourself rather than using the one you were sent. Nothing genuine is lost by a ten-minute pause.