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Safety Guide
How to Avoid Scams When Buying or Selling Online
Most online transactions go fine, but dealing with strangers always carries some risk — for buyers and sellers alike. None of the steps below are complicated, and together they cover almost every common scam pattern.
Check for verification and reputation signals
A verified badge means the platform has confirmed identifying details about that person — it's not a guarantee, but it meaningfully lowers risk compared to an anonymous, unverified account. Reviews and ratings from previous deals are another useful signal: a seller or buyer with a track record has more to lose by scamming you than a brand-new, unrated account.
Keep communication on the platform
It's tempting to move a conversation to WhatsApp or SMS the moment you connect, but keeping it on-platform until you're confident gives you a record of what was agreed, and keeps the platform's reporting and verification tools available to you if something goes wrong.
Warning sign: someone who insists on moving off-platform immediately, before answering basic questions about the item or service, is a pattern worth being cautious about.
Never pay in full before you've seen the item
This is the single most common scam pattern: a "seller" asks for full or partial payment upfront, often citing urgency or a "too good to be true" price, and disappears once paid. Only pay before inspecting an item if you're using a payment method that gives you real buyer protection, and even then, be skeptical of deals that only work if you pay first.
Meet in safe, public places for local exchanges
Choose a public, well-lit location — a busy café, a shopping center, a police station's public area in some cities even offers this specifically for classifieds meetups. Go during the day where possible, and bring someone with you for higher-value exchanges. Avoid being talked into meeting at a private residence with someone you don't know.
Compare the offer or price against reality
An offer that's dramatically higher than your asking price, or a deal priced far below what an item is actually worth, are both worth a second look — the first is a common precursor to a fake-payment or overpayment scam, and the second is often exactly what it looks like: not real.
Trust the sealed-bid system for pricing, not pressure
Because offers on Inertia Marketplace are sealed, you'll never see a fabricated "other buyers are offering more" message from someone trying to rush you — every real offer is recorded on the platform itself, visible only to you. Any pressure claiming otherwise, outside the platform, is a red flag on its own.
Report anything that feels wrong
If a conversation, listing, or request feels off, report it rather than continuing. It protects you, and it protects the next person that account might target.
Buy and sell with more confidence
Look for verification badges, keep offers sealed and on-platform, and take your time — the best deals aren't the ones you're rushed into.