Accounts can be new, stolen or imitated
A long history can help, but it does not prove that the present user controls the account legitimately.
Life events and high-stakes decisions
Is this marketplace buyer or seller genuine?
A profile, listing, conversation, payment and delivery arrangement can each appear convincing while another part of the transaction has been changed. Check them separately and keep the exchange inside the platform where possible.
Page S-013Guidance pageReviewed 29 August 2026
Key Guidance
Do not decide from the profile or conversation alone. Check the item, account history, platform messages, actual payment balance and delivery route independently. Do not follow a buyer's payment link, accept a screenshot as proof, send a verification fee or move off-platform merely because the other person says it is necessary.
Start with Key Guidance for the short answer. Then read the sections that match what happened and what you need to do.
Understand the issue
Why this matters to you
Marketplaces contain genuine strangers as well as deceptive accounts. Trust must therefore come from a verifiable transaction process rather than familiarity with the person.
The item can carry separate risk
Copied photographs, unrealistic scarcity, counterfeit goods and descriptions that avoid inspection can misrepresent what exists.
Payment evidence can be fabricated
Emails, screenshots and pending-payment stories may imitate a platform or bank while no money has reached the seller.
Leaving the platform changes protection
Moving to direct messaging, bank transfer or an external courier page can remove records, dispute routes and payment safeguards.
Consequences and movement
What may happen next
Assess the side of the transaction you occupy, then verify every change to the expected platform process.
I am buying
Check the listing and seller history, use the platform's payment route and do not transfer directly because of urgency, scarcity or a promised discount.
I am selling
Confirm cleared funds inside your own account before releasing goods and do not pay a courier, insurance or account-upgrade fee requested by the buyer.
The conversation moved elsewhere
Return to the platform record. Treat new links, numbers, addresses and payment instructions as unconfirmed changes.
Something has already gone wrong
Preserve the listing and conversation, contact the platform and payment provider, and report fraud or theft through the appropriate route.
Practical response
What you should do
Keep evidence and protection attached to the transaction. A plausible person should not be allowed to substitute an unconfirmed payment or delivery route.
- Inspect the complete listingCompare photographs, price, description, location and availability. Search distinctive wording or images when copying is suspected.
- Review the account in contextLook for consistent history and behaviour, but treat reviews and age as supporting information rather than identity proof.
- Stay inside the platformUse its messaging, checkout, collection and dispute processes. Record any request to bypass them.
- Verify payment at the destinationOpen your own bank, wallet or platform balance. Do not rely on a confirmation sent by the other party.
- Control delivery and collectionUse a route you understand, keep tracking or collection evidence and do not release an item because a stranger presents a courier link.
- Act quickly after lossTell the payment provider and platform, preserve the account, listing, messages and transaction, then use the relevant fraud-reporting route.
Look more closely
Check the person and the transaction separately
A plausible profile does not prove that a listing, payment, collection or delivery arrangement is safe. Keep the exchange inside the platform and confirm payment from the actual account balance rather than screenshots or messages.
A listing, offer or buyer response starts the exchange.
Price, scarcity, convenience or a quick sale creates motivation.
A profile and fluent conversation create apparent identity.
Messaging, payment or delivery moves to a chosen route.
Funds or goods are released before independent confirmation.
Selected history
Historical cases and lasting lessons
Buyers and sellers can both be targeted
Official guidance describes non-delivery, misrepresentation, counterfeit goods, false offers and payment-related deception across auctions and online shopping.
Lasting lesson: Marketplace risk is two-sided. The protected process matters more than which role first made contact.
Payment route affects protection
Official cyber guidance recommends checking legitimacy, limiting information disclosed and using payment methods with stronger purchase protections.
Lasting lesson: A request to change payment method is a material change to the transaction, not an administrative detail.
Transferable understanding
Patterns over time
Urgency prevents comparison
The item will supposedly disappear or the buyer will withdraw unless the transaction moves at once.
A small fee unlocks the deal
A seller may be asked for courier, insurance or account-upgrade money before receiving a payment that does not exist.
Proof comes from the interested party
The person who benefits from release of money or goods supplies the screenshot, email or tracking page used as evidence.
Protection is traded for convenience
A discount, faster payment or easier collection is offered in exchange for leaving the platform's controlled route.
Plain-language answers
Common questions
Does an old profile prove the user is genuine?
No. It is useful context, but accounts can be taken over or repurposed. Check the current transaction and route.
Can I trust a payment screenshot?
No. Confirm cleared funds directly in the account that should receive them before releasing goods.
Is every request to move off-platform a scam?
No, but it removes useful evidence and may change protection. There should be no need to accept a riskier route under pressure.
What if the item is collection only?
Agree the method in advance, use a safe location, confirm payment independently and keep a record of collection. Personal safety remains separate from payment verification.
Verify the transaction, not only the stranger
Keep communication and payment within the platform, confirm money at its real destination and preserve the complete record if the exchange fails.
Scamology Insights
Follow where the transaction leaves its protected route
These learning resources can help you separate the apparent buyer or seller from the contact, payment and delivery arrangements that decide what happens next. Links are intentionally withheld in this production version.
Continue understanding
Explore related guidance
Evidence and currency