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Scams have been around as long as human beings it seems. The term 'pig in a poke' goes back to the middle ages referring to a confidence trick which shows mans inventiveness to trick another out of money.
With the age of the internet comes a whole new world of scams. From the '419 fraud' which promises large amounts of money in return for a 'paltry' sum to the more sinister 'keylogging techniques' taking your passwords and bank details.
Take some time to read below in some tips which may help;
On BootBay, most users have no problems with buying or selling. However, there comes a time when a scammer appears and it can be too late once they have 'cut and run'.
Whilst we check each pitch that goes live for content, we cannot always check the validity of each user.
Postings for items for sale (notably vehicles, electronics, household items) are common targets of fraudsters. Whilst some are har to detect, some fraud attempts can be easier to identify if you know what to look out for.
If you suspect a fraud attempt, please be very careful before accepting any offer to buy or sell. We have presented some information about common scams here.
Please read this information carefully.
Precautions
- When buying or selling, it's ideal if you can meet up with the user to make the transaction.
- Never send or wire money to sellers or buyers. This includes services like Bidpay, Western Union or Money Gram to pay for items.
- BootBay cannot offer any sort of buyer protection programs or secure payment systems - we only hold your address and no financial details. We are a 'classifieds' website similar to your local classifieds paper.
- Never provide your personal or banking information (e.g. social insurance number, credit card number) to others over the Internet.
- Make yourself aware of common scams and fraud (see below). Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your help in any task.
- Inform BootBay of any attempted fraud or suspicious emails, ads, or other activity by community members. In case of fraud, file a police report and contact us. (See below for more details on reporting scams and fraud.)
- Use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
What to look out for:
1. A user offers a (probably fake) cheque in exchange for your item:
- You receive an odd email offering to buy your item without seeing it beforehand.
- The cheque is offered for your sale item.
- The value of the cheque can be higher and they may ask you to wire back the balance.
- Banks will often cash these fake cheques and then hold you responsible when the cheque fails to clear.
- The scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc).
2. A user requests payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:
- The seller often claims that an MTCN or confirmation code is needed before he can withdraw your money - this is false, once you've wired money, it is gone.
- Common items offered include laptops, plasma TVs, cell phones, tickets - but could be almost anything.
- Common countries of origin include Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, Spain, UK, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere.
- Deal often seems too good to be true.
3. A user offers to send you a cheque and then have you wire money:
- This is nearly always a scam - the cheque is probably fake.
- Sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not.
- Scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check.
- Deal often seems too good to be true.
4. A user asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he/she will ship goods:
- Scammer says he/she trusts you with the partial payment.
- Scammer may say he/she has already shipped the goods.
- The deal often sounds too good to be true.
5. "Phishing": Phishing is the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire through deception sensitive personal information such as passwords and credit card details by masquerading in an official-looking email, IM, etc. as someone trustworthy with a real need for such information.
- A bank will NEVER ask you to confirm your either your bank number or access codes. You will recieve it in a letter addressed to your permanent address. If you lose it, or decide to change it for any reason, you will likely incurr a service charge.
- For additional and up-to-date information on phishing, please review the Wikipedia entry located here.
How to protect yourself:
- If possible, do business locally and even face to face if possible.
- Get in contact with the user before paying - ask them as much detail as you can before paying. If paying by PayPal, get them to send an invoice with a verified address (via PayPal).
- Using PayPal or similar can mean you have some protection. Whilst PayPal doesn't fully protect outside of Ebay, they do have a complaints procedure for non-received goods.
- We are now logging the IP addresses of all users - it will be shown on any contact mails. Use a site such as whois to look up the IP address to assist in confirming a users location.
- Do not conduct business with anyone if you are uneasy about the transaction.
- In general, if you can, avoid accepting cheques, especially for high value items.
In addition to this, if you find yourself scammed, check out this website which has been put together to try and combat scammers.
For local police help, call a non-emergency police number.
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