⚠️ Please be careful when trading - some basic checks you should do

[ChrisSilver]

Today we took a precautionary measure and banned an account that we believed could pose a risk to members. However, this does not mean that we will spot any suspicious accounts in the future. So please be careful when trading. 

Members are reminded of their responsibility to do their own due diligence and the risk of trading. Please check section 7.4. Risk of trading of the forum’s rules.

 

You may wish to take note of the following when doing your due diligence and trading:

- How long has the member been active on the forum for? There is likely less risk when trading with long standing members who have been on the forum for many years. (Anything less than 3+ years they are still relatively new)

- How much trading feedback do they have, and is the trading feedback selling feedback? How long have they been selling on the forum for?

- Their community reputation, is it high, have they been engaging in a lot of topics with a lot of posts?

- The optional attached piece of paper with their forum username on, does it look authentic, please zoom in. For sellers it is also best to include 'The Silver Forum' on the piece of paper, so that it is an original written note for a sale on TSF and therefore not the same photos used from elsewhere on the internet. Although please bare in mind that it is also relatively easy to photoshop or forge onto a photo. 

- Do they have Premium Membership? If a member has Premium Membership it means that the forum should have the name and and address of the member*, or at least of the card owner. This gives us vital information to pass onto the police should it be a scam member and we are requested to pass on information. *Note that for some Premium Members TSF may not hold an address of, such an example may include but may not be limited to a situation where: a gift membership was purchased for a member and they have not reached the renewal date or added an address to their account. For every member who has purchased Premium Membership themselves with a card or renewed; we should hold an address of the member, or at least of the card owner.

- Be wary of someone asking you to send the payment to a 3rd party. Having several successful deals with a member who then subsequently asks you to send money elsewhere to a different bank account (such as a bank account of a friend) this time should be seen as a red flag. If a member is selling on behalf of a 3rd party make sure they have the items in hand, and you are sending to the bank account of the member who listed these items for sale on TSF. 

- Be extra careful when dealing in large amounts of money, several previous successful trades is no indication that a future deal with the same member will be 100% without problems. 

- If anything does not feel right, or there is anything that causes doubt, do not go through with a trade.  
 

Some members exclusively only buy from and sell to, long standing Premium Members.

We also suggest for members to use tracked shipping, or ideally a form of insured shipping, this is useful for members of both sides of the trade.

Also, please be polite to new members listing items for sale. Everyone was a new member at one stage, and new members may need some time to build up a trading history on the forum. Note that statistically a new member listing an item for sale is more likely a genuine member than not. But please be careful when trading and report any suspicious activity immediately by using the report feature.

 

Disclaimer: The suggestions if implemented do not change the Forum's Term’s & Conditions in regards to member's risk of trading. Please check section 7.4. Risk of trading of the forum’s rules.

Edited October 24, 2023 by ChrisSilver
Changed from "(Anything less than 2-3 years they are still relatively new)" to "(Anything less than 3+ years they are still relatively new)"

[ChrisSilver]

Updated the above.

[ChrisSilver]

On 06/10/2020 at 21:13, ChrisSilver said:

You may wish to take note of the following when doing your due diligence and trading:

- How long has the member been active on the forum for? There is likely less risk when trading with long standing members who have been on the forum for many years. (Anything less than 2-3 years they are still relatively new)

- How much trading feedback do they have, and is the trading feedback selling feedback? How long have they been selling on the forum for?

- Their community reputation, is it high, have they been engaging in a lot of topics with a lot of posts?

- The optional attached piece of paper with their forum username on, does it look authentic, please zoom in. For sellers it is also best to include 'The Silver Forum' on the piece of paper, so that it is an original written note for a sale on TSF and therefore not the same photos used from elsewhere on the internet. Although please bare in mind that it is also relatively easy to photoshop or forge onto a photo. 

- Do they have Premium Membership? If a member has Premium Membership it means that the forum should have the name and and address of the member*, or at least of the card owner. This gives us vital information to pass onto the police should it be a scam member and we are requested to pass on information. *Note that for some Premium Members TSF may not hold an address of, such an example may include but may not be limited to a situation where: a gift membership was purchased for a member and they have not reached the renewal date or added an address to their account. For every member who has purchased Premium Membership themselves with a card or renewed; we should hold an address of the member, or at least of the card owner.

- Be wary of someone asking you to send the payment to a 3rd party. Having several successful deals with a member who then subsequently asks you to send money elsewhere to a different bank account (such as a bank account of a friend) this time should be seen as a red flag. If a member is selling on behalf of a 3rd party make sure they have the items in hand, and you are sending to the bank account of the member who listed these items for sale on TSF. 

- Be extra careful when dealing in large amounts of money, several previous successful trades is no indication that a future deal with the same member will be 100% without problems. 

- If anything does not feel right, or there is anything that causes doubt, do not go through with a trade.  

BUMP.

Three members have contacted me today unfortunately stating that they have received empty boxes and/or packages with miscellaneous items in, instead of the precious metals that were purchased. I am still waiting for these members to report the private message where these trades initiated from but in the mean time have contacted this member ( @SilverSells ) and have asked them to resolve these as a matter of urgency and for these members involved to report this person to the police / bank for fraud if they do not get a reply. 

In the meantime please do take a note of the above points on how you can reduce the risk of trading when trading on the forum, specifically about trading with new members. "How long has the member been active on the forum for? There is likely less risk when trading with long standing members who have been on the forum for many years. (Anything less than 2-3 years they are still relatively new)"

[ChrisSilver]

On 06/10/2020 at 15:13, ChrisSilver said:

- How long has the member been active on the forum for? There is likely less risk when trading with long standing members who have been on the forum for many years. (Anything less than 3+ years they are still relatively new)

Re-bumping this topic (please do read in full). Please also pay attention to this point for extra risk reduction when trading on the forum. 

Unfortunately from time to time scammers have used the forum and it looks like someone may have also used the forum to commit fraud, to scam another member out of pocket of a substantial amount. This account was less than a year old but had good feedback history. 

The member has stated that they will be making a public post shortly to let the community know what has happened. And I can confirm I am also in contact with the Police in regards to the investigation. If all information that I have been provided with is correct and accurate then it looks like a very unsophisticated attempt at fraud which will no doubt get them in a lot of trouble with the police. Luckily in this situation both members held Premium Membership so we have very clear details that we can pass on.