Buy Now scams
Scammers are using Buy Now to trick sellers into giving away personal information. Find out how to avoid Buy Now scams.
Scammers are using Buy Now to trick sellers into giving away personal information. Find out how to avoid Buy Now scams.
How Buy Now scams work
- A scammer hits 'Buy Now' on an item you’re selling.
- Pretending to be Trade Me, New Zealand Post, or a bank, the scammer emails you, asking you to finalise the sale by confirming your details.
- The fake email usually includes a button or link.
- Clicking this takes you to a fake website that asks for your credit card details, online banking login, Trade Me login, or other private information.
Warning signs of Buy Now scams
A Buy Now scam email might look real at first. Before clicking links or giving any information, watch out for these red flags:
- The email is from another organisation, like NZ Post or a bank. No other organisation will reach out to you when you sell something on Trade Me.
- The email is from a suspicious email address. Emails from Trade Me always end in one of the following:
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- @trademe.co.nz
- @email.trademe.co.nz.
- mail.trademe.co.nz
- transactional.trademe.co.nz
- transactional-admin.trademe.co.nz
- @site.trademe.co.nz
-
- There is a sense of urgency or threat of something bad happening if you don't do what's asked right away.
- It uses overly formal language. It doesn’t sound like other contact you’ve had from the organisation.
- It has bad grammar or spelling mistakes.
- There are low-quality images or logos. The logo or images might be in the wrong place, or might not be there at all.
Our Support Experience team might contact you to confirm your bank account details or identity. However, we will never ask for your Trade Me or online banking passwords.
Stay safe from Buy Now scams
- Review how Buy Now works. After a sale, Trade Me will email you the buyer's information so you can send the item or arrange pickup.
- Remember, Trade Me will never ask for your Trade Me login, credit card details, or banking password.
- Choose the option to 'Allow bids from authenticated members only' when creating your listing. This will stop unauthenticated memberships from buying your listing.
- Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA). This extra security layer protects your account even if someone gets your password.
- Get a second opinion about anything suspicious from a friend or family member you trust.
If you find a listing that looks like a scam, report it through Community Watch.
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