Online marketplaces have made buying and selling second-hand goods easier than ever — and created a steady stream of fraud alongside it, from items that never arrive to fake payment confirmations designed to trick sellers.
Items that simply never arrive after payment, from a seller who then blocks contact.
Fake tracking numbers provided to delay a dispute being raised until it's too late to claim protection.
Fake payment confirmation screenshots or emails, with the buyer collecting the item in person before the payment (which never happened) can be verified as failed.
Overpayment scams, where a buyer "accidentally" sends too much and asks for the difference back — before the original payment bounces or is reversed.
Meet in a well-lit public place for in-person exchanges, ideally somewhere with CCTV, such as a designated "safe exchange" point some police stations offer.
Never release an item until a payment has genuinely cleared in your account, not just appeared as a notification or screenshot.
Be wary of any buyer or seller pushing to move the conversation off the platform, away from its protections.
Report the fraudulent listing or user to the platform directly, and to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk if money was lost. Most platforms have a dedicated fraud reporting flow.
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The same personal information exposed on data broker sites is often used to make marketplace scams feel more convincing.
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