Trade Me Reminds Kiwis To Watch Out For Scumbags

Following a slew of scams on unregulated online marketplaces, Trade Me wants to remind Kiwis about the importance of keeping themselves safe online.

Trade Me’s Acting Head of Trust & Safety, Logan Mudge, said he’d seen a scam involving a Facebook Marketplace user copying a Trade Me listing to list a stranger’s car for sale this week.

Mr Mudge said with online scams becoming more and more sophisticated, buying and selling on regulated online marketplaces has never been more crucial.

“This kind of scam simply doesn’t fly on Trade Me, and to be frank, you'd be a mug to try anything dodgy on our site. We have sophisticated systems in place and you leave deep electronic footprints on our site which can be traced.”

Mr Mudge said on unregulated online marketplaces like Facebook, users can create a fake account within seconds and list a high-valued item they don’t own for much less than it’s worth. Once they have a buyer and their money, they disappear. Deleting their account and leaving hard-working Kiwis thousands of dollars out of pocket.

“We don’t want scumbags like this using our site. That’s why we have a dedicated Trust & Safety team of 30 people based in Wellington who monitor the site around the clock for any scams or untoward behaviour.

“With our team based right here in New Zealand, you can trade confidently knowing we're available to contact on the rare occasion something does go wrong.

“While this morning’s example is a relatively straightforward scam, we are only going to see these swindlers become more cunning, mirroring techniques used overseas.”

Tips for buying safely online

If the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

It’s not a good sign when a seller tells you they need a deposit to import the product

Don't provide your contact details until the auction or listing is finished - a number of scammers try to contact you outside of Trade Me with elaborate stories

Don't send money overseas. Ever. Trade Me members are required to have a New Zealand bank account

When selling online, ensure payments have cleared in your bank account before releasing any goods.

Trade Me has your back with our Buyer Protection Policy. If someone purchases an item using Ping (our online payment system) and the goods are faulty, not as described, or don't turn up at all, Buyer Protection kicks in and we will refund them their money.

If anyone sees something that worries them we urge them to get in touch with us. There's a 'Community Watch' button on every listing that can be used to alert us to anything that doesn't seem quite right.

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