I had read a lot of con cases lately and it seems all of them happen quite often mainly due to people who are too trusting when dealing with newbie members.So now I have some few simple FAQ that people can follow to at least minimise the amount of people falling prey to this conman

1. Never ever deal with Newbie members or 0 count post members who had just joined a few months ago.Possible conman.If you still wish to deal with that particular forumer,deal only through COD and request that he do it.If he give you stupid reason like no time,then by all means cancel the deal and stop the dealing eventhough the item price is too good to be true.Only deal with people with more than 100 post but sometimes,its still good to be cautious.I am not trying to prevent new members from dealing,I was also once a newbie member and dealed a lot of times through COD,then only I start to build up my reputation in lowyat so other buyer will have confidence to deal with me through postage.


2. Request that the person give you his Name together with the IC number if possible,say its for verification purposes,then try to crosscheck with the name of the bank account holder to see whether he is telling the truth about his identity.Conman will always try to misled you by giving false name and IC.Once you get the name from bank account,try to google it to see if the name has been reported before in lowyat or other forum.

3. If you cannot dig anything out with google,do a search in the semakan pilihan raya to see if he is a registered voter.Google it to find the website

4. Possible conman will always try to rush you to bank in to them telling or threatening you that he will sell it to other forumer or he got a better offer.Don't give in to them cause if he really got intention to deal with you,he will have reserved the item to you

5. Don't be dumbfounded when you come across very very cheap item like mobile phone,always exercise caution with this kind of deal as sometimes things like this are too good to be true.If the person accepts COD,then by all means go ahead

6. Always try to delay the bank-in if you are suspicious about the seller.If its a possible conman,he will mostly rush you to bank in quick cause they wanted the deal to go as fast as possible.

7. Always make sure that the bank account really belongs to the seller by crosschecking the name given by him and the name of the bank account holder.Sometimes,it may turn out that the account is someone else and is being used by seller to con more victims

8. Make it a habit of pming past buyers who have bought before from this seller and ask for their feedback.If a previous buyer had complaints on him like delay delivery,then stop dealing and approach him.

9. Also please try to spent some time checking trade dispute thread and cross check the name of seller and IC number given to see if the seller is a conman that conned previous victims.

10. Request that he send you the photo of the item he is selling.To prevent him from taking other sellers photo,ask him to take picture of particular parts like inside of item,the back of the item and etc.

11. The very minute a seller gives you reason to avoid COD deal like example "at the moment I cannot COD cause I am busy with my work and no time,I can only post with skynet" its confirmed conman.A genuine seller will always find the time to COD if requested and the place is near to him.

12. Lastly,always exercise extreme caution and be wary of something amiss to prevent conman from doing their useless job.

13. Remember to check their sucessful tradelist if they have one,then pm their pass buyers for feedback.

14.Sometimes,use common sense when dealing cause if the item is damn cheap,why not he go trade in to shop if its a handphone and why bother selling it here.

15. To prevent victims from falling for possible identity fraud,always be cautious of sms or calls purportedly by a very senior member or safetrader offering you a very good deal.You must ask him to pm you back in lowyat saying its for verification purposes.If he give you reason like no time to pm,then stop the deal and report his number here.Its possible that fellow is up to no good.

More to come........

This post has been edited by 779364: Jan 8 2008, 10:04 AM

Its just to safeguard buyers from being misled cause sometimes conman will try to sell item that they don't really have and they get away with by taking photos of the item already posted by other forumer mostly from old thread.

At first I also find it hard to deal in lowyat but after several COD deals,I build up my reputation and now buyers also deal with me through postage

By asking them to take photo at specific point,you will be able to verify that he indeed has that item.

This post has been edited by 779364: Jan 8 2008, 10:05 AM

Thanks,I didn't say that we should not deal with newbie but must practice safe trading by only accepting COD method and no to postage.Once you get enough buyers and reputation then only deal through postage