Some ad sites are now becoming more responsible in warning advertisers about counterfeit check scams and bogus buyers.
Here's the message
http://www.adpost.com sends to new advertisers.
http://www.linkedads.com also alerts against scams.
Let's support these sites when we need to place ads!
===============================================
1. Protecting Yourself against Cyberspace Scams
===============================================
You can protect yourself by learning how to spot the danger signs of scams. Common scam techniques are given below.
If a buyer promises a cashiers check/money order/Western Union that overpays you, and then requests that you wire the difference to them after keeping some for yourself, beware! Scamsters who adopt this method typically use forged or bogus checks, and it's not difficult to realize who's overpaying who.
If you receive an reply from someone in Africa/Nigeria/Abidjan who claims to have millions of dollars from a dead husband/father/brother and wants you to help get the money out of their country - it just sounds too good to be true! This is commonly known as the Nigerian 419 scam, and is named after the corresponding penal code of Nigeria.
If a seller offers his goods at an unbelievably low price, you should ascertain if he's credible. Some scamsters take your money and run, leaving you with nothing but a lighter wallet. Pay by credit card where possible. In most cases, you can dispute credit card charges for non-delivery of goods.
You can also use an intermediary service such as escrow. For a small fee, an escrow service holds the payment, forwarding it to the seller only when the buyer has received the goods in working order. An escrow service will also act as a mediator in times of dispute.
If you do use an escrow service, please note that there are scamsters who set up fake escrow sites to facilitate their scams. If someone suggests using an escrow service other escrow.com then it is probably fake.
Adpost.com Classifieds provides a primarily free service. With postings that run into the hundreds of thousands daily, we can't monitor every single Ad or Reply. It is our whole community that comes together to fend off the scamsters and those who abuse our service. If you do come across any dubious people, please let us know and we'll remove them.