Payment-Before-Release for Online Sales

A growing scam targeting online sellers involves a “buyer” who arranges a purchase through social media, then sends a third party to collect the item without making payment. The seller, expecting the original buyer, hands over the goods to the accomplice assuming payment will follow — it never does. This works because sellers extend goodwill to someone who appears to be acting on the buyer’s behalf, and the original “buyer” becomes unreachable immediately after. The moment you hand over an item before cash is confirmed in your hand, you have no recourse. Payment promises, screenshots, or transfer receipts shown on a phone are easily faked and cannot be trusted until funds are physically received or confirmed by your bank.

Steps to follow:

• Require full cash payment in hand before releasing any item, regardless of what the buyer claims is pending.
• If the buyer sends a representative to collect, insist on speaking directly with the original buyer via video call before the handover.
• Treat any last-minute change — a different person collecting, a request to release now and pay later — as a red flag and cancel the transaction.
• Do not accept mobile payment screenshots as proof of transfer; log into your banking app yourself to verify funds have cleared.
• For high-value items, meet only the person you negotiated with directly, and confirm their identity matches any profile used during the sale.