Before you ever type your card details or send a bank transfer to anyone, it's worth knowing what a fake listing actually looks like — not because vendor leaves you to fend for yourself, but because catching something early saves you the hassle of a dispute later.
Eight warning signs worth actually checking
• The price is dramatically below everyone else's. A slightly better deal is normal. A phone at half the going rate, with no explanation, rarely is.
• The seller avoids specific questions. A real seller can answer specifics — the exact color, a scratch you ask about, whether it comes with the original box. Vague, repeated non-answers are a real red flag.
• They push you to pay outside the app. This is the single biggest one. If anyone asks you to pay by direct bank transfer "to skip the fee" or "to go faster," stop. The moment a payment happens outside vendor, every protection built into the platform stops applying to it.
• No real photos, or only stock-looking images. A genuine seller with the item in hand can usually show it from more than one angle, in real lighting, on request.
• The account is brand new with no history. Not a dealbreaker on its own — everyone starts somewhere — but worth weighing alongside everything else on this list, not in isolation.
• They rush you. Pressure to decide immediately, or claims that "three other people are interested right now," is a classic tactic to stop you from asking the questions you'd otherwise ask.
• The listing photos don't match the description. A product photographed clearly as "used" but described as "New" is worth questioning directly before you pay.
• They discourage you from using chat. Every legitimate order has chat built in. A seller steering you toward WhatsApp or a phone call instead, specifically to avoid it, is avoiding the one place a record of your conversation actually exists.
Why this still isn't all on you
Here's the part that actually matters most: even if every one of those signs is subtle enough that you miss it, your money isn't released to a seller the moment you pay. It's held — genuinely held, not just a policy promise — until you confirm, inside the app, that you actually received what you ordered.
If something's wrong when it arrives, or nothing arrives at all, don't confirm. Raise a dispute instead — the exact steps for that are covered in What Happens If Your Order Never Arrives.
Before you pay, use the tool you already have
Chat is built into every order for a reason — use it before you commit, not just after something goes wrong. Ask the specific question you're unsure about. A real seller answers it easily. Someone running a scam listing usually can't, or won't.
For the fuller picture of how your payment is protected, see Trust & Safety on vendor.