Fraud Prevention

Please Read Careufully

At FurnitureTrader.com, we are serious about fraud prevention. We have implemented new security policies to ban emails that conform to the structures and patterns below. Unfortunately, there are people in the world that will try to scam you, and they are ever changing their ways, but for now they are fairly easy to spot, and we have caught and stopped many of them. Please use common sense and your best judgment to avoid being scammed. The following are some examples of common tricks found on the web. We will list the scams here as we become aware of them:

How do I avoid being defrauded? - The securest way to buy big items like furniture is with an escrow service. You can find Escrow Services that furnituretrader.com has chosen here.

For sellers, the most telltale signs of a scammer are emails that read like this (taken from a real scammers email):

"I am interested in the immediate purchase of your item and I will be responsible for the shipment of the item from your location using my Shipping Company. However, the payment for your item will be inform of US Cashier's Check."

There are 4 red flags in this message:
1.The Individual wishes to purchase the item right away withought asking any questions about it.
2.They wish to use their own shipping company (who owns their own shipping company?)
3.They wish to pay with cashiers check. (we reccomend using paypal)
4.The actual item is never mentioned, this is because the scammers are pasting the message to many people at once.

The most common method of fraud is to use a forged cashier's check for more than the item is worth, and then ask for a refund. If you do feel like your inquiry is an honest one, however receive a check for more than the transaction, it is a sure sign of fraudulent activity. Please report all suspicious activity immeditately to support and/or the authorities, and do not communicate with these unscrupulous people.

Example Emails: (Captured with our new fraud prevention code)

1.Good day, This is a purchase request notification for your the Ikea Wardrobe Armoire Storage Closet placed on furnituretrader, infact i am satisfy with the detailed informations posted with it. However, first of all let me use this opportunity to introduce myself to you,i am Mr Lee Esther, i am a procurement agent,i specializes on the purchases of unit round the globe on behalf of my respective clients especially as it is upon their request. Furthermore, prior to placing an order for it, i would like you to furnish me further with the following enquiries; -How long have you been using it. -Your reason for selling it. -It's picture for closer look. -Your final asking price excluding the shipping cost as this will be handled by my respective local shipper who will come down to your place of location for an immediate pickup immediately payment is received. -It's location for pickup immediately payment is made -If a CERTIFIED CASHIER CHECK or a BANK MONEY ORDER to be drawn from a US BANK is acceptable as means of payment,you can contact me via my email lee.esther6@gmail.com. Looking forward to doing business transaction with you in good faith and trust,God bless. Best Regards.

2.Hi, how are doing today i saw your item place on this site furniture trader, pls i will like you to get back soon if the item is still available for the sale, i will like to purchase the item, get back soon, Regards

the email above was caught by hand. if you get an email where the person is not filling out the phone, city, or state, they are most suredly illegitamate and should be reported immediately.

Foreign Cashier's Checks

Some sellers of high priced goods receive requests from bidders in foreign countries (often in Africa) to accept foreign cashier's checks as payment for their items. Some of the requests offer to "overpay" for an item, and ask the seller to wire the overpayment back to the buyer through services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. We urge all sellers to use extreme caution when accepting foreign cashier's checks for high priced items, as such foreign checks may take weeks or months to clear and may be counterfeit.

Note: Some checks may appear to be from a US bank but, upon closer inspection, include foreign country or city names.

Furthermore, sellers should never accept overpayments from buyers for items where the buyer is asking to be reimbursed for overpayment.

Postal Money Orders

Scammers using counterfeit checks, commercial money orders, and postal money orders to "pay" for items are leaving sellers empty handed. Avoiding this scam is as simple - if sellers apply three basic principles:

Never accept an overpayment for any item. Buyers should be advised to make payment in the correct amount. One of the most common signs of a fraud about to occur is the request to accept an overpayment and provide "change".

Familiarize yourself with the security features offered by various forms of payment. Postal Money Orders offer easy to recognize security features that counterfeiters have been unable to replicate.

Make certain you understand your bank's funds availability policy before you release merchandise to the buyer. Never send merchandise to a buyer BEFORE the check clears the bank. While some checks take only a couple days to clear, others can take several weeks.

If you feel that you are being scammed or have questions, please contact us at support@furnituretrader.com.