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Keep safe online
We were gutted to hear today of a West Coast couple who had been scammed into sending money offshore after being outbid on a Trade Me auction.
This type of scam typically involves the crook guessing the email of a person they see bidding, contacting them directly, and convincing the person to send money offshore, normally through an international money transfer service.
We seek to make Trade Me as safe as we can through a combination of 24-hour policing, prevention, investigation and prosecution. We have a formal relationship with Police and work closely with them to actively prosecute those that defraud or scam our members. Every day we try and make our site safer.
However in these sorts of scams, the offenders bypass Trade Me completely and make a direct email approach to someone that has missed out on an item they have bid on. Typically they offer the item at a much cheaper price than market, and they get the victim to send the money offshore.
It’s a volume scam. If they send enough emails then the chances are someone will fall for it. There are three rules of thumb to help people avoid falling into these sorts of scams. Please take a moment to read them.
First, never send money overseas.
Second, beware of anyone approaching you outside the auction process.
Lastly, ensure that your Trade Me user name is not the same as the front half of your email. Scammers try to guess a person’s email address by taking the user name and matching it with the most popular domain names. If your username is very similar to your email you should change it.
Deals that seem too good to be true are normally just that, so you should be on your guard. If you get approached by anyone asking you to send money overseas then please tell us. You can email abuse@trademe.co.nz or check out our safe buying advice.