Is a buyer who asks me to read back a verification code a scam?
How to spot it: Right after "is this still available?" they say they need to make sure
you are real, and a six-digit code shows up on your phone. Often it mentions Google
Voice. They ask you to read it back or text it to them.
What to do: Never read a code to anyone. That code confirms your number to Google or
another service, and once they have it they open a phone number in your name to scam other
people with. Stop replying. Nothing about a real sale requires you to be verified.
A buyer offered more than my asking price. Is that a scam?
How to spot it: They will pay above the asking price, or a check arrives for more
than agreed "by mistake", and they ask you to refund the difference, often to a mover or
shipper.
What to do: Never refund an overpayment. The original payment is fake or will bounce
days later, and the difference you sent came from your own money. Ask for the exact
amount, and confirm it in your own bank app before anything moves.
The buyer says they already paid and sent a screenshot. Is that real?
How to spot it: "Payment has been made", a screenshot of a transfer, or an email that
looks like it came from PayPal or Zelle. Often the money is "pending until you ship" or
"released once you send a tracking number".
What to do: Only trust your own bank or payment app, opened by you, showing the money
as available. Screenshots and emails are easy to fake. Never ship or hand over an item on
the strength of a picture.
Is it a scam when a buyer insists on one payment app or "friends and family"?
How to spot it: They only use one app and refuse every other way, they ask you to
send or accept the payment as "friends and family", or they send you a link to "receive"
your money.
What to do: You choose how you get paid. "Friends and family" removes every
protection, and a payment link from a stranger can be a phishing page for your bank login.
Never click it. Open your app yourself and check the balance.
Is a cashier's check, certified check or money order from a buyer a scam?
How to spot it: The buyer wants to mail a cashier's check, certified check or money
order, usually paired with a story about why they cannot come, and a mover who will collect
the item once "the check clears".
What to do: Refuse checks and money orders from strangers. Counterfeits look real and
your bank can show the money as available for days before it bounces. When it does, the
bank takes the money back from you.
The buyer's shipper or mover will pick it up and I pay them. Scam?
How to spot it: A shipping agent, mover or courier will come for the item. The
shipping fee is "included in the payment" and you are to pay the mover, or you will be
reimbursed.
What to do: Never pay a third party for a buyer, and never forward part of a payment
anywhere. The mover is the scammer and the payment you received is not real. A genuine
buyer books and pays their own shipping.
The buyer is out of town, deployed or on an oil rig. Is that a red flag?
How to spot it: They cannot meet, call or see the item because they are deployed,
offshore, traveling, buying it as a surprise for a relative, or hearing impaired. Payment
therefore has to be remote.
What to do: Treat the story as the setup it is. On its own it proves nothing, but it
almost always comes just before the fake check, the shipper or the overpayment. Sell to
people who can meet you, or who pay through a channel where the money is confirmed before
you hand anything over.
A buyer wants to pay full price without seeing the item. Is that a scam?
How to spot it: "I'll take it", "consider it sold", "no need to see it", full asking
price, no questions and no haggling, from someone who has never asked a single thing about
the item.
What to do: Slow down. Real buyers ask questions, want to look, and try to knock
something off the price. Ask them to come and see it. If every reply steers back to paying
remotely, walk away.
Is it a scam when a buyer asks for my bank details or email to send the money?
How to spot it: To "send the payment" they need your routing and account numbers,
your bank login, your full name and address, your date of birth, or your PayPal email.
What to do: Nobody needs your bank login, your full account number or your ID to pay
you. That information is what they are after. Share nothing beyond what your own payment
app shows a payer.
Is a buyer offering to pay in gift cards or crypto a scam?
How to spot it: They want to pay with gift card codes, prepaid cards, Bitcoin, USDT
or another coin, sometimes for a bit more than you asked.
What to do: Refuse. Gift card codes and crypto move instantly, cannot be reversed
and cannot be traced to a person. Take cash in person, or a payment your own bank or app
confirms.
The buyer says "need it today", "final offer", "my last message". Scam?
How to spot it: Deadlines and ultimatums: they need it today, this is their final
offer, this is their last message, decide now or the deal is off.
What to do: Refuse to be rushed. Pressure exists so you skip the moment where you
would have checked the money. Anyone who really wants the item can wait for the payment to
be confirmed.
Is a buyer who wants to move to email or WhatsApp right away a scam?
How to spot it: Their first message hands you an email address or a WhatsApp number
and asks you to continue there, often with "I don't check this app much".
What to do: Keep the conversation where the listing is until you meet. Off the
platform there is no record, no report button and no block, and it lets one person run a
script on hundreds of sellers from a throwaway address.