Spotting Scammers in Online Marketplaces (Caveat seller, too!)

EDITED 18 June 2022

I'm just a gal who sells stuff online. I'm no expert in the ins-and-outs of fraud. However, as I do sell stuff, I've developed a few safety protocols.

One -- Place a codeword at the end of your description. Many scammers use bots to auto-reply to sales ads. Here's my 'boilerplate':

Please put the word DIRIGIBLE [not the word I use] in the subject line so I’ll know that you have read this disclosure.

Two -- A sure-fire 'tell' is when the potential buyer tells you that they'll send someone -- their spouse / cousin / alpaca to pick up the item.

Scammers are adept at making you think that they've already paid for the item. When someone makes a payment to your account, the account will send a notice to the email you have on file. Scammers will send you an email that looks a lot like the real account. But when you check your account yourself -- and you should never click on a link in an email, but log on to your account separately -- no money has been deposited. (Edited 18 June 2022)

Finally -- Speaking of payment, if you specify that you take only 'cash or PayPal / Venmo / Zelle, and they offer to pay you some other way, don't be tempted to set up a new account just to accommodate them.

I'm sure there are people out there who have other tips to avoid scammers. Please feel free to comment below.

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