Ways to Avoid Being Scammed
You should create some Red lines - rules that you should NEVER break when buying online- These Red Lines should help you to be more cautious and avoid the dreaded scammers.
Remember though - if you to fall victim , seek help as soon as possible - the faster you get help the less damage there is likely to be.
1. FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE - can be a great place to pick up things you need and give at a good price, excellent for the planet in terms of recycling and sustainability however NEVER EVER buy anything or send money to anyone from Facebook marketplace without physically seeing the person and the item. If they are requesting an online payment from you before you have met them or seen the item then walk away!
2. PAYPAL FRIENDS - You should never pay a stranger through PayPal friends and family (This does not have the same protection as a standard PayPal transaction and you will have no recourse through PayPal's buyer protection scheme if they fail to produce the goods)
3. BACS or BANK TRANSFER - NEVER EVER pay a stranger for goods through a BACS payment. While banks do have some protections in place for scam victims who lose money through a bank transfer - If you chose to pay someone you don't know the bank will not refund your money!
4. CALLS FROM THE FRAUD DEPARTMENT - If your bank detects a suspicious transaction on your account, they will freeze it - maybe even your whole account while they investigate. NEVER Trust a phone call from a human (Or robot) claiming to be from your banks fraud team. You may get a text from your bank asking you to call them - NEVER use the phone number from this text message. Take a breath , find your banks REAL phone number and call them if you are worried to report what has happened.
5. TEXT FROM LOVED ONE IN DISTRESS - Also may come as a Facebook message or email address. This scam is now infamous, but people are still responding to it and losing money. Your first instinct is to help. NEVER EVER send money until you have actually spoken to the person to check that they sent the message. (This may also alert them to the fact that they have fallen victim to a hack)