How do I protect myself from buyer and seller scams?

We are not directly involved in your transaction; therefore we can not guarantee the ability of a seller to complete the transaction or the quality of the items. However, we are trying to do everything possible to stop potential scams. If you think that you may be the victim of a scam, click HERE and choose Security and Abuse as the topic. We have an account at RECOL (Reporting Economic Crime Online), an initiative that involves an integrated partnership between International, Federal and Provincial Law Enforcement agencies. RECOL will recommend the appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency and/or private commercial organization for potential investigation of a scam.

We want to provide you with a positive experience and make sure you get the most out of your buying and selling experience. Some of the things that you should watch for when dealing with other buyers or sellers are listed below.

Be aware if the Buyer:
  • requests to provide partial payment and pay for the rest afterward.
  • “mistakenly” overpays you with a cashier’s cheque and asks you to reimburse the “overpayment”.
  • if the buyer backs out of a deal and asks you to repay them with a personal cheque, after they paid you with a fake a cashier’s cheque or money order.
Banks will cash a cashier's cheque on demand, whether they are counterfeit or not, but they have 30 days to determine if it is legitimate. You should always wait before you ship your item or use the cash until you have verified that the cheque or money order is legitimate.

Click here to see an example of a buyer scam email.

We make every effort to verify the identity of everyone that advertises on our site, however, fraudulent sellers sometimes may appear. There are several things to watch out for to avoid seller scams.

Be aware if the Seller:
  • advertises an item with price that is too low. If the price seems too good to be true, chances are it is.
  • has a phone number that appears to be out of service.
  • is unwilling to show you proof of ownership.
  • requests payment through a non-traceable format.
  • requests payment to a third party.
  • requests payment overseas.

If you see these types of behaviors from buyers or sellers please proceed with extreme caution and exercise proper judgement and common sense on whether or not you want to deal with them.

Here are are some helpful links to Fraud Related Sites: