This fraud detection list should assist you with spotting a fake seller or fake buyer. Remember, always use a common sense!
1. If the price is too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true. Walk away.
2. If someone is asking you to transfer money before showing any evidence of an item, walk away.
3. If someone is pressuring you to transfer money due to "high demand", walk away.
4. If someone has no photos of an item, walk away.
5. If someone has a long story trying to justify any of the items above, walk away.
6. If someone is being rude or irritated when you ask valid questions about an item, walk away.
7. If someone's communication skills feel weird (does not provide direct answers, makes long stories, and makes excuses), walk away.
8. If someone asks for your bank account, asks you to accept messages and click on links, asks you to use financial institutions which are not the norm (or something you are not aware of), asks you to land/borrow money, and asks to write or accept checks, walk away. The transaction must always be simple - at the time of an item inspection and acceptance, pay in cash or use your mobile to transfer money. Never transfer money without seeing and validating an item.
9. If you decide that online and/or via phone and/or via video conference call item validation is sufficient, you could consider transferring a small amount as a deposit. Note, with modern technologies, there must be no issue for a seller to video chat with you while showing the item offered for sale, confirming an address while supporting with video evidence that the item is indeed at the provided address. For a real seller or buyer, there must be no issue getting on a phone/video call and holding a conversation. Remember, do not provide your phone number or address before you get a feel on the buyer or seller via email/online chat exchange.
10. If seller represents a company and asks you to accept a text message and click on a link (to say check a full item description on another site), walk away. All buy and sell transactions should be explainable, demonstrable and provable without the need of following links to other sites.
11. Do not follow or copy/paste any links put in the item's description section. All buy and sell transactions should be explainable, demonstrable and provable without the need of following links to other sites.
At Scubajiji.com, we actively monitor quality of posts and registered users and will constrain or ban any inacceptable profiles or offered items, but sometimes bad apples do fall through. Please exercise common sense and feel free to send us a message if you feel some user profiles and/or their offered items seem suspicious to you.
Team Scubajiji.com