Help your members avoid scams

Every marketplace attracts scammers sooner or later. One bad experience can make a member leave for good and tell their friends why, so trust is worth protecting from day one. You can’t stop every scam, but you can make your site a hard target and teach your members the warning signs.

The scams to know about

Scam	How it works
Fake payment or overpayment	A “buyer” sends a fake payment confirmation, or pays too much and asks for the difference back before their payment bounces.
Advance fee	A “seller” asks for a deposit or shipping fee for an item that doesn’t exist, often priced well below market.
Moving off the site	The scammer asks to continue on WhatsApp or by email straight away, where your site can’t see or stop them.
Fake delivery or payment links	A message with a link to a fake courier or payment page that steals card details or logins.
Fake rentals	A flat that isn’t the scammer’s, offered cheaply to someone who “can’t view it, but can pay a deposit”.
Account takeover	A phishing email that pretends to be from your site to get a member’s password.

Settings that make scams harder

What	Why it helps	Where
Moderation	Fake listings are caught before anyone sees them. Turn it on while your site is young, or whenever scams pick up.	Moderation
Email verification	Members must confirm their email, so throwaway accounts are harder.	Settings › General › Sign-ups › User Must Verify Email
Blocked email domains	Stop sign-ups from disposable email services.	Sign-up and login settings
reCAPTCHA	Stops bots from creating accounts and posting in bulk.	reCAPTCHA
Banned words	Block or replace words often used by scammers (for example “Western Union”, “deposit only”).	Blacklist and banned words
Report button	Members flag suspicious listings for you to review.	Reported listings
On-site messaging	Conversations stay on your site, where you can see reports.	Messaging
Require login to contact	Only signed-in members can contact sellers.	Listings › Settings › Listing details › Require Login to Contact
Verified members	A badge for sellers you’ve checked.	Verified members
Reviews	Members see a seller’s track record.	Reviews and ratings
Escrow	The buyer’s money is held until the item arrives.	Escrow payments
Two-step login	Protects accounts, starting with your own admin account.	Two-step login

See Fight spam for the full set of anti-spam tools.

Publish a safety page

Create a page with safety tips and link it from your menu and footer. Members read it more than you’d think, especially before their first deal. Go to Pages, create a page called “Stay safe” and adapt this text:

See Pages and Menu.

When a member reports a scam

1. Deactivate the listing straight away from Listings › All listings.
2. Look at the seller’s other listings and messages, and mark the account as spam if it’s fraudulent. See Manage users.
3. Add their email address or domain to the blocked list so they can’t simply sign up again.
4. Reply to the member who reported it, and thank them.

If money was lost, tell the member to contact their bank and the police. Keep a record of the listing and messages in case the police ask for it.

Protect yourself, too

Scammers also target marketplace owners:

• Emails pretending to be Yclas that ask for your password or payment details. Yclas support never asks for your password. If in doubt, sign in at yclas.com yourself instead of clicking a link.
• “Developers” offering to fix or upgrade your site who ask for your admin login or payment up front. Hosted Yclas sites are maintained by the Yclas team; you don’t need anyone to install updates. For anything else, ask Yclas support first.
• Fake buyers for your marketplace asking you to pay a “valuation” or “transfer” fee before they buy it.

Related guides

• Fight spam — every anti-spam tool in one place.
• Reported listings — handle reports from members.
• Moderation — approve listings before they go live.