I have noticed few things that I think people could avoid & prevent themselves from falling into any scams. Just my thought and if I am wrong correct me. Many people are posting scams that they were promised $$$$ but didn't receive even a penny. When some one promises to pay you such a huge amount, definitely such a huge businessman should have a verified PayPal account or an old website or a telephone number you can ring up and verify. All I ask is, do verify their details as much as possible. When someone states that they are the owner of a website (As in Domain selling section) the first thing you should do is mail to and verify it. Ring up to their landline number and talk to them incase of huge deals. Never accept for full payment after work.If its a service, then definitely do not accept without full pre-payment or atleast a moderate advance amount. If its tangible goods or digital contents like a template or articles, then always split up the content and let them pay you in parts. Because if you have given them the entire content, then there is higher risk of getting scammed. And also there is higher probability of they whining and complaining about the work. Incase of post full payment, ask them to transfer a small amount initially both via their verified PayPal account and also via bank transfer. Because a lot of people have their paypal verified by VCC. Try to keep all your dealing within DP but also have an E-Mail contact with them so that you have their IP and verify the country they state they belong to. ITrader is there for a reason and suddenly a noob pops up saying he has the cheapest deal in whole of the forum; think twice. Most people get scammed only from noobs. And also when a person posts a deal with comparatively big amount like $200 or $300 and above, then take a look at all his ITrader and threads. Whether he/she has done any such huge business before in this forum, since many people, before fleeing away from forum or all this business, try to strike a big scam. Now comes "Too good to be true" sections. I have noticed in BST section, EBooks section, threads like "Earn 2000$ pm - Coaching/Technique only for $20" stuffs. This is a business section, people do business for profit. When they are trying to earn profit in even $20, do you think they can teach you $2000 pm business ? If at all they really have such a technique, they can easily hire others and earn in "millions" The maximum deal amount between strangers in this forum is $200 provided the seller has High ITraders. Don't get lured easily by new & cheap deals. Also I have seen people buying single logo for $4 & $5 but the very same person holding $80 logo contest. Contest are very easy way to scam many people and above that discourage them by saying that they haven't won. But there are new members who want to do fair trade. In that case try to use Escrow for any deal where you find the amount involved is large and/or the person is a newbie. For any big deals or service or guarantee's, always ask for proof or sample and VERIFY it. If someone says they can get you into top page of google, get a proof and verify it. And, if 10 people from a country claim individually that they can do a piece of work usually charged at $50 at only $10, then it may either mean that due to cost of living of that country, they provide cheap work OR "All of them are faking and cheating" A premium member does not mean a verified member or a trust worthy member. He/She has just paid to get a priority over others, that's it. Always prefer a person with High ITraders, owns an established website, whose deals are "REASONABLE" etc THERE IS NOTHING CHEAP IN THIS WORLD. If you are getting a deal worth $100 for just $20, it does not only mean they work for cheap but it could also mean you are provided sth with 1/5th of quality. NEVER TRUST SCREENSHOT proof of LICENSE or EARNINGS. FOR SELLERS: To be frank, sellers are also in whole lot of trouble. Prime problem is paypal's policy to support buyers and Credit card Chargeback facility. So be careful with the persons you are dealing with. Once in a week someone pops up and threatens me, & ask me to provide them with free work or else they would spoil my reputation in forum. That they will create multiple fake accounts and will post negative ITraders & reviews, since its "unmoderated" region for mods/admins. Do explain to your clients exactly what you are selling and what would be the possible output. 99% people get scammed because of their own mistake or carelessness, failure to verify or trying to get cheapest deal. I am happy if this helped anyone.
If you actually get PMs threatening you, then use the report PM option there and the other user will be banned for iTrader abuse. We do not moderate iTrader left by those in deals. Threats and fraud are grounds for a ban.
I have reported 3 such PMs myself & still I find those 3 members active in forum One of them was like "I have 50 ITrader's & I will post negative reviews & ITrader on all your threads" He was asking me to do free service for him And other one for whom I provided directory submission service was like "There are 450 confirmation mails out of 1000 package I ordered. You made mistakes in submission, that's why the directories are asking for mail confirmations" He said he would leave negative ITrader from a fake account Recently few days back I reported one where he was forcing me to give him REP & only then he would reciprocate the ITrader. Neither I gave him REP & nor he reciprocated ITrader. Anyway this doesn't affect me but being a seller & because ITrader is unmoderated section, I have to bear a lot of such things. And seriously its a very tough job to moderate this forum. But for all others, never hesitate, report PM's if you get any such threats.
you don't know whats going on behind the scenes here. all reported posts are viewed and appropriate action taken. what action we take is between us and them and what goes around comes around and eventually everyone gets theirs.