How to Spot a Scammer Online

As technology progresses, more and more of our transactions are happening online.

For the sake of convenience and accessibility, it has now became better to purchase things online and while this has some positive benefits, you can't deny that there are downsides to this as well.

One of those are scams.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who stoop so low that they can't manage to generate income honestly and go on deceiving other people for gain.

And while we can't stop them from being who they are, we can however, save our time and root out the legitimate people from those who only mean us harm.

Here are some tips on how to spot a scammer online when you're transacting.

1. Those people are thriving in non-reliable selling platforms. 

When you're transacting with someone through Facebook, there's a greater possibility that that person might be a scammer as compared with someone who is selling their products in Lazada or Carousell.

These popular online trading platforms are optimized for safe, secure, and legitimate transactions.

A seller would need to have legitimate proof of identity and must fill out forms that are personal in nature to validate himself.

A buyer would also need to send personal details to ensure that s/he isn't bogus, for the safety of the seller.

When you're transacting with someone and they're only available on Facebook, you have to make sure to thoroughly look through their profiles.

Check if they have memories stored, a ton of friends, and that their account hasn't been recently created.

2. They can't offer you additional proof.

A lot of us are skeptical by nature.

When you ask them for their IDs or proof of previous transaction and they make up some sort of excuse that you find dodgy, then chances are, they're operating a scam.

Legitimate sellers are always more than willing to provide their buyers with pictures of receipts, previous transactions, proof of identity, etc. because they want to gain the trust of their customer and do business with them.

If you're talking with someone who claims to have something to sell, and they refuse to give out any sort of proof of successful previous transactions with other customers, then you better end the conversation right there.

3. They take a long time to transact.

They usually would win you over several conversations that could last up to days and weeks, rather than having a quick, and organized transaction.

And in the end, they would convince you to send money through less-reliable means rather than what you originally planned.

If someone is taking too long and isn't really answering your questions in a straightforward way, then you better stop.

4. They can't provide you with actual images.

Most of the people who are scamming others online typically steal someone else's image and post them as their own.

To avoid this, always ask for the actual picture of the product that they're selling, especially if it's something that's commercial and tangible.

If they can't do this at once, or if they always keep on giving you excuses as to why they can't provide actual images, then yeah, it's probably a scam.

You can't always stop those people, however, you can try your best to avoid dealing with them if you're just careful and check for any red flags such as the ones listed above.

There are probably a lot more ways to spot an online scammer, but these are the most common ways to weed out the legitimate sellers / buyers from the fake ones.

Just always remember to be careful, and take note that not everyone you meet will be trustworthy.