“While most individuals who use BuySell have success with buying, selling, renting and connecting with others, from time to time we do receive reports of people attempting to scam or defraud our users. We have found that one of the best ways to address this problem is to ensure that all transactions take place locally and in-person.
When buying and selling online one should be vigilant in conducting their own research whenever they choose to purchase or sell an item.
Precautions for Safe Online buying and selling: 1. Conduct transactions in-person – Meet in a public place with many people around. This allows you to see the product and exchange funds.
2. Cash only – Never send or wire money to sellers or buyers. This includes never mailing a cheque or using payment services to pay for items found on BuySell.
3. BuySell and Trader Corporation do not offer any type of protection programs or secure payment systems for items sold on BuySell. Any emails or web sites that talk about such systems are scams, even if they may have the BuySell logo. If you receive any emails promoting these services, please forward the message to us.
4. Do not deal with buyers who propose that BuySell.com (or any other company) will guarantee the transaction – all transactions are strictly between buyer & seller and BuySell.com does not offer any transaction services or guarantee transactions.
5. Never give out any personal financial information – fraudulent buyers will often ask (early on in the buying process) for your mailing address, bank account info, SIN etc.
6. You can report suspected ads and users to the BuySell.com team by clicking on the "Report Abuse" link found on the detail page of every ad. We will investigate the ad and remove it if necessary.
7. If you believe you are a victim of fraud please inform your local police department and advise the BuySell.com Customer Service department. Additionally, you can contact the following services:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Reporting Economic Crime Online at 1-888-495-8501.
Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501
Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS
The Competition Bureau at 1-800-348-5358
8. To learn more about how you can spot and avoid fraud, please see our BuySell Blog.
Please use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. “