Scams faced in person-to-person marketplaces and how to avoid them

On a daily basis, when buying or selling a phone users interact with scammers. Before building vendi we have had our experience facing a variety of them. We wanted to share this with our users and with anyone that buys or sells phones online to avoid being scammed. Scams can occur during the online process, during the interaction face to face, or after the transaction has occurred (hardest to get!), both as a buyer or as a seller.

Have you been scammed? Please share your experience in the comments section!

I. Purely Online Scams — Buyer and Seller Don’t meet face to face

(Online) As a seller

Scenario: A buyer is willing to pay upfront with PayPal or bank transfer. A very common scam or fraud occurs when a potential buyer is willing to pay upfront using PayPal or a bank account. The buyer protection of PayPal is so secure that buyers use this to send the money to the seller, the seller thinks the money will reach their account and send the phone. Then, the buyer days later says they have not received anything and request a refund from PayPal. In these cases the seller is left without a phone and with PayPal taking all their money. These scenarios generally involve the buyer saying they will also pay for the shipment costs and add a story about how a relative is in another country so they want the item sent to them. Also, this seller generally never has ratings. Furthermore, as a seller you get charged a big commission in PayPal!

Solution: Never accept a buyer wanting to pay upfront when they come desperate knocking on the door. Meet face to face in a secure location (coffee shop or any closed area with cameras).

What vendi does: We have integrated with stripe so a buyer pays upfront. The money is blocked by stripe until vendi receives and verifies the item form the seller. Once this is done we pay you, the seller. This way you will always get your money via our verification process.

(Online) As a buyer

Scenario: If the price is too good, in general it is a scam. A seller says they are not living in that same city as you so they don’t want to meet. They generally don’t have any history to check past transactions or their account is very recent.

Solution: Don’t get fooled by the price. If it is too good to be true, avoid it. Ask the seller to meet with you face to face to avoid such disappointments.

What vendi does: All items are verified by vendi, so as a buyer you can’t get scammed!

II. Face to Face scams — Buyer and seller meet face to face*

*Any time that you meet face to face, please do so in a public space like a coffee shop or restaurant where the location is closed, with cameras and has a difficult escape. If you do not have enough information from the seller/buyer do not meet on the street, even if there are cameras. Furthermore, sign a document with the buyers/sellers details to confirm the transaction has happened — this is particularly important in case the seller later down the road declares the device lost/stolen/unpaid bill and the phone is blacklisted.

On a general basis, the recommended thing to do is to know your buyer and seller and their history to show that they don’t seem like a scammer. When they don’t want to start sharing information, meet you in a coffee shop, or sign a document — do not sell/buy the device.

(F2F) As a seller (1)

Scenario: The buyer meets with you and when he is inspecting the item, runs away with the device (can include robbery with violence). Solution: Meet in a closed coffee shop, not just an open area with cameras. Closed coffee shops reduce considerably this type of scam from happening.

What vendi does: As a buyer, you need to pay upfront! We can also offer doing the logistics so you don’t need to meet the buyer or seller. In London you can even use our logistics partner, Peyk, to get the phone picked up or delivered instantaneously.

(F2F) As a seller (2)

Scenario: The buyer gives you fake bills (more common with £20 notes).

Solution: If there is no alternative than paying with cash, go to a bank to do the transaction. This way you can verify the money is not fake. Otherwise, use bank transfers like Revolut or a regular bank. What vendi does: On vendi you pay in-app safely! No cash.

(F2F) As a buyer

Scenario: The seller gives you a fake phone (example: iPhone X from China with a similar version of iOS installed but it is on android). Solution: Always check the IMEI number of the phone. Use websites like hardreset24 to check that the details correspond to the phone. In addition, if the phone seems very light compared to a regular model, be aware.

What vendi does: All items are verified by the vendi network to avoid these scams

III. Buyer and Seller have already met or item has been received.

(Post transaction) As a buyer

Scenario: After some time, the seller claims insurance by declaring the phone lost, stolen, or stopped paying their contract.

Solution: When you meet with the seller, make sure you both sign a document and show IDs to leave a record that this transaction took place. Bank transfer will show the monetary track (one of the reasons online payments are better) and the document will prove that the transaction took place.

What vendi does: We verify and check our sellers and they accept a legally binding document where this kind of act is not allowed. We are building a community of safe sellers to avoid this.

On a general basis, the recommended thing to do is to know your buyer and seller and their history to show that they don’t seem like a scammer. When they start to avoid sharing information, meeting you in a coffee, or don’t want to sign a document — do not sell/buy the device. We remove all these hassle on vendi, making p2p scam-free and safer than ever.

Tell us about your story and we can add it to the list!

Disclaimer: The advice for these scams is related to buying and selling of phones. This is just our advice and not a must. Furthermore, the use of PayPal is recommended as long as you know the buyer or seller’s history to know they are not going to scam you.