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1. Staying safe at Afrosphere
2. Safety tips for buying and selling
3. Common scams
4. What precaution should i take when buying a good or service?
5. I have sent the seller my money but the seller has not sent the goods - what should i do?
6. The seller wants me to send cash up front for an item - what should I do?
7. I have been a victim of fraud or I suspect a fraud what should I do?
8. I have received an email that I think may be a scam. How can I tell if it is a scam or not?
9. I have been a victim of abuse and harrassment what should I do?
10. I have never posted a listing on Afrosphere but i am receiving phone calls / emails regarding a listing?
11. Someone has posted a listing on Afrosphere with my details what do i do?
12. I have received a spam email with regards to my listing on Afrosphere - what should i do?
At Afrosphere we take every incident of fraud, abuse or spam very seriously and do our best to protect our customers and make your visit to Afrosphere safe and enjoyable. Customers are encouraged to be on guard at all times when dealing with others on Afrosphere and so, to help you stay safe, we have gathered together some useful advice here on how to stay safe at Afrosphere.
The Afrosphere Black Classified Directory "Offered" and "Wanted" category is intended to encourage face-to-face local trading. Likewise in certain cases the Afrosphere Black Business Directory category also requires face-to-face local trading.
When buying or selling, you should meet in-person to see the item and exchange money wherever practical.
For personal safety, always ensure you take someone with you. If you're answering a home service advert,
always ask the advertiser to produce their identity and proof of qualification before inviting them into your
home.
Never send or wire money to unverifiable sellers or buyers. Never mail a cheque or use payment
services like Western Union, Bidpay or Money Gram to pay for items on the site. These methods of funds
transfer are favoured by fraudsters. Fake cashier cheques and postal (money) orders are common too.
Never send your item before receiving the money. This is a common form of fraud whereby the fraudster
makes away with an item they never pay for.
Never give out your personal or banking details to others on the site. For example bank account details,
or credit card details.
Take special care when buying tickets for events. You should be aware that some tickets may have terms printed on them that
restrict the ability of the original buyer to re-sell them to someone else. Some event tickets, may also feature a
photograph of the original buyer which may mean that anyone other than the original buyer may be refused entry to the event.
Afrosphere does not offer any third party transactions. This includes buyer protection, seller
certification, payment services, transaction guarantee, or offer escrow services, Any communications you receive
that suggest we offer such services are fraudulent, even if they may have the
Afrosphere logo. If you receive any
communications promoting these services, by a advertiser on Afrosphere, then please return to the advertisers information page
and click on the Report Listing link to contact us about the particular advertiser. Otherwise, please
click here to report it to us.
How to notify us of any problems: If you suspect any attempted fraud or suspicious emails, adverts, or other illegal activity please return to the advertisers information page
and click on the Report Listing link to contact us about the particular advertiser. Otherwise, if by a community member, please
click here to report it to us.
If you should fall victim to fraud or other illegal activity, we also recommend that you report the matter to your local Police.
Afrosphere recommends that you make yourself aware of common fraud and scams. Please follow the advice in the following section on common scams.
3. Common scams
The following details some common scams and fraud online to watch out for:
Cheque overpayment scams: A buyer or seller sends you a cheque of greater amount than the value of the item(s) and then ask for the surplus money to be
repayed to them or a third party, for example, "for shipping cost". The cheque will clear into your bank, only to be stopped or refused weeks later.
Furthermore, the Banks or Building Societies will debit the full cheque amount from your account. As a result, not only will you have lost the goods, you will also
have lost your money too - for the amount of the cheque and the amount you repayed as the difference.
Fake charge for brokerage or importing: A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties, or other fees due to recieve a item(s)
you bought for delivery to your country. Do not pay such fees, as you will most often never recieve the item(s) you bought and will have lost any money you paid.
Fake escrow sites: A buyer or seller suggests using an escrow service to complete a transaction. Often these escrow sites which often look
legitimate are run by fraudsters and they will make away with your money and never send you the item you ordered.
Partial payment scams: A buyer or seller suggest a partial payment upfront, in return for the shipment of an item(s). This is usually a
fraudulent attempt to get you to send the item(s) upfront in the case of the buyer at a fraction of the original cost or pay money upfront for goods you
most likely will not receive in the case of the seller.
Pet shipping scams: A seller claims to have a pet for sale and will offer to ship them from abroad, or even get you to book
seats on a plane for the pet. The pet(s) typically don't exist and the scammers simply attempt to get you to pay money upfront. Be particularly wary of overseas sellers.
Work from home scams: Many of these tend to be "pyramid schemes" on which your income is dependent on your ability to recruit others.
For example, an advert may state that you can make $50 an hour by stuffing envelopes. However, to make that level of income, you will need to sell the system to other people.
Other work from home schemes tend to be jobs that involve you receiving cheques and cashing them. These tend to be fronts for money laundering.
You are strongly advised to verify the authenticity of these jobs before accepting them by carefully verifying the name and full contact details of the
person or company wishing to employ you.
419 scams: This often involves you receiving an email seeking your help to take money out of a country and that you will be paid
a commission for your help. At some point, you will be asked for money to help take the large amount of money out of the country and once paid, you will never hear from them
again.
Brand name spoofing or phishing: In this scenario, you
receive an email that claims to be from Afrosphere, Western Union, or another company and that offers buyer protection or
an online payment system or perhaps a cash prize. These emails will tend to request that you provide some form of personal information or send money. These emails which
combine urgency with some need for money or your personal details should be treated with caution. Sending money through these sites usually means that you
are sending money to the scammers. Again, always carefully verify the name and full contact details of the person or company you are sending money too.
For example, if you receive an email claiming to be from a company offering a product or service, then verify the company's genuine by
visiting the company’s official website if they have one and / or carefully verifying the details of their business name and contact details and the said product or service.
For other good sources of information on common scams and fraud on the Web are:
Get Safe Online - an online safety guide with top 10 safety tips..
You can also learn about current scams from other Afrosphere members in the Afrosphere Forums - coming soon.
4. What precaution should i take when buying a good or service?
At Afrosphere, we do our best to protect our members and make your visit to Afrosphere safe and enjoyable. However we also encourage you to always be on your guard when buying goods or services on our site. Please read our safety tips for buying and selling and see our common scams section to keep up-to-date with these.
5. I have sent the seller my money but the seller has not sent the goods. What do i do?
Afrosphere cannot get involved in the private transactions between a buyer and a seller. However, report this to us by returning to the seller's information page and click on the Report Listing link to contact us about the particular seller and we will keep a record of this complaint.
You may wish to contact your local citizens advice bureau (or similar) or your local Police, who will be able to advise you on the best course of action to take.
6. The seller wants me to send cash up front for an item - what should I do?
Be cautious: We strongly advise that buyers NEVER send cash or cheques through the post, or transfer money directly into a seller's bank account, in advance or in expectation of receiving goods. Unless, you can satisfy one of the following exceptions:
Until you can positively verify that the seller if a company, is
genuine through visiting the companies official website if they have one and
and / or carefully confirming their business name and contact details and the said goods or service.
If a private seller, we do not advise parting with your money / goods until the transfer of goods / cash is completed face to face.
Be cautious of Western Union and Bid Pay - as these types of funds transfer are favoured by scammers. PayPal and other payment processors such as the one used by us at Afrosphere are much more secure.
For more advice on Buying & Selling, see our safety tips for buying and selling above.
7. I have been a victim of fraud or I suspect a fraud what should I do?
We advice that you report it to us. Please return to the advertisers information page and click on the Report Listing link to contact us about the particular advertiser and we will investigate the matter and take appropriate action. We also encourage you to report the incident to your local Police.
8. I have received an email that i think may be a scam. How can i tell if it is a scam or not?
Different types of scam emails exist. We strongly advice that you show caution in all cases. The following is a common example of a scam email:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I found your details on Afrosphere, in which you advertised a fairly new sofa for sale for GBP 300. I wish to purchase this item via a Bankers draft.
Would you kindly supply me with your name, address and telephone number so i can send you payment for this item including the necessary delivery cost of GBP 25.
Waiting patiently for your urgent reply.
Yours faithfully,
Mr A. Atlas.
Please see our common scams section to stay up to date with common scams.
9. I have been a victim of abuse and harassment what should I do?
Afrosphere does not tolerate abuse or harassment of our members and take incidents of this nature very seriously. If you have experienced abuse or harassment at Afrosphere, by a advertiser on Afrosphere, then please return to the advertisers information page and click on the Report Listing link to contact us about the particular advertiser. Otherwise, please click here to contact us and we will investigate the matter and take appropriate action against the abuser.
If you have received an abusive or harassing email you might also want to forward the details of the said email to the sender's email account provider such as Yahoo! and Hotmail.
There are several explanations for this. These include human error whereby a poster mis-types a phone number / email address in their listing.
Please click here to report the problem to us and we will remove it immediately.
11. Someone has posted a listing on Afrosphere with my details what do i do?
There are several explanations for this. These include human error whereby a poster mis-types a phone number / email address in their listing.
Please click here to report the problem to us and we will remove it immediately.
12. I have received a spam email with regards to my listing on Afrosphere - what should i do?
Report the incident to us. If you have received a spam email with regards to your listing on Afrosphere, then please click here to report it to us and we will investigate the matter and take appropriate action to stop this breach of our rules.
If you have received a spam email you might also want to forward the details of the said email to the sender's email account provider such as Yahoo! and Hotmail.
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