Safety Tips
We have drafted the following document to help prevent users who use Classifieds Depo LTD. from being scammed / ripped off.
The no# 1 rule is to ensure that all transactions take place locally (if possible) and in-person. If its electronics or any other medium device test it before any money transactions have taken place.
You should take the following precautions:
- When buying or selling, you should (if possible) meet in-person to see the product and exchange payment.
- Never send or wire money to sellers or buyers. This includes never mailing a cheque or using payment services like Bidpay, Western Union or Money Gram to pay for items found on Classifieds Depo LTD.
- Classifieds Depo does not offer any sort of buyer protection programs or secure payment systems. Any emails or web sites that talk about such systems are scams, even if they may have the Classifieds Depo logo. If you receive any emails promoting these services, please contact us.
- Never provide your personal or banking information (e.g. social insurance number (Canadian residents), social security number (US residents), credit card number) to others over the Internet.
- Never give out your Classifieds Depo account password, even if asked to do so in an email supposedly sent by Classifieds Depo employees.
- Make yourself aware of common scams and fraud (see below).
- Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your help in any task.
- Inform Classifieds Depo of any attempted fraud or suspicious emails, ads, or other activity by community members.
- In case of fraud, file a police report and contact us.
- See below for more details on reporting scams and fraud
- Use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Common scams and fraud:
Brand name spoofing/phishing:
You get an email that claims to be from Classifieds Depo, Western Union, or another company and offers buyer protection or an online payment system. These emails will typically request that you send money via this site or provide personal information.
Classifieds Depo and most other companies will never send out such emails of this nature. If you send money via these sites you are likely sending money to the scam artisit who just stole your hard earn money.
Over payment / bounce check:
A buyer or seller will send you a cheque and then ask for money to be returned to them. Often the cheque will bounce 7 to 14 days after you deposited as banks hold all out of city checks for this period of time to ensure that they clear and they get their money however, they bounce and you have just lost all the money you sent to the other party.
Payment for brokerage/importing:
A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties, or other such fees required to get an item. Do not pay such fees, as you will most often never get the product and will have lost any money you had paid.
Fake escrow sites:
A buyer or seller suggests using an escrow service to complete the transaction. Often these escrow web sites are run by the scam artist (even though they may look "official") and they will take your money and never send you the product.
419 Scams:
You get an email saying that your help is needed to help take money out of a country and that you will be paid a commission for your help. Eventually they will ask you for money to help them take the large amount of money out of the country and once you pay you will never hear from them again.
How to report scams and fraud:
If you see an ad on the Classifieds Depo web site that you suspect is Spam, illegal, or otherwise violates Classifieds Depo's policies, please contact us.
If you reply to an ad and the person who posted the ad emails you with a suspicious request (eg. asks for money to be sent to them via a payment service), please forward us the email and stop all communications with that person immediatley.
If you are the victim of fraud, inform Classifieds Depo and your local police service right away
If you have any other security questions that aren't answered above, then please contact us.
Other resources for Reporting Scams & Fraud Actions
Canadian Departments
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Reporting Economic Crime Online Phone 1-888-495-8501.
Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501
US Departments
National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch or 1-800-876-7060