Listing signals
- Price far below the usual range for the category and condition
- Stock or catalogue photos instead of photos of the actual item
- The same photos used in other listings or by other sellers
- Contact details, external links or payment instructions in the text or the images
- Brand names with misspellings, or wording that avoids the brand name
- Restricted items listed in an unrelated category
Seller signals
- New account with many high value listings at once
- Account details that match previously banned sellers
- Sudden change of behaviour on an old account, which can mean takeover
- Many listings in categories the seller never used before
- Location that does not match the item, the shipping or the language
Message signals
- Requests to continue on another messaging app
- Payment links, fake checkout pages or fake shipping notices
- Overpayment stories with a request to refund the difference
- Pressure to pay a deposit before viewing, common in rentals and vehicles
Payment and review signals
- Many failed payment attempts or disputes linked to the same account
- Reviews from new accounts in a short window
- Review swaps between sellers who never transacted
Act on the pattern
When signals combine, act on the account and every listing that shares its signals, not only the reported item. Record the pattern in your guidelines as a new example, so the next reviewer recognises it faster.
Keep the evidence
For every fraud decision, keep what the reviewer saw: listing snapshots, messages, linked accounts and the policy section applied. Your payment partner, users and sometimes law enforcement will ask for it.
Who should do this work
Fraud review needs reviewers who know your categories and see the whole case at once. Read about our marketplace moderation service and the moderation software that groups reports into cases.