Chapter 7
Marketplace, ticket, and rental scams
What you'll get from this chapter: The warning signs of a fake buyer, seller, or landlord, and the payment rule that stops most marketplace scams.
In this chapter
- Words in this chapter
- Your steps
A deal on a listing site is not finished until the money is in an account you control, or you are holding the item.
On a marketplace, a buyer sends a screenshot of a payment that is not in your account and asks you to ship, or to pay a courier with gift cards. A seller of tickets, a car, a puppy, or a vacation rental asks you to pay by wire, gift card, or cryptocurrency before you have seen the thing. The price is unusually good, and they want the deal closed today. These are , and they all depend on a payment you cannot undo.
A screenshot is not a payment. Check the payment app yourself. For a rental, be wary of a host who will not meet, will not do a live video walk-through, or pushes you off the listing site to pay. For tickets, buy from the venue or from a seller you pay by credit card, so you can dispute the charge. If the payment method cannot be reversed, treat that as the warning.
That completes Part I. Part II turns to cryptocurrency, where money moves fast and almost never comes back. It starts with fake messages and giveaways.
Words in this chapter
- . A fake buyer or seller on a listing site who uses a payment screenshot, a wire, gift cards, or cryptocurrency so you ship goods or pay before anything is real.