Scams on 2ememain.be: find out how to avoid them and protect your transactions

Belgium's No. 1 site for classified ads between private individuals, 2ememain.be is also a playground for a number of scammers, who go to great lengths to set up increasingly sophisticated chain scams that do a great deal of damage to their victims, particularly financially.

As we discussed in our article on scams on Leboncoin, classified ad sites are rife with scams. These scammers will prey on both buyers and sellers with the aim of taking their goods or money. It's a shame, especially as classified ads are a great economic engine, making it possible to do good business while doing good for the planet. But don't panic! A few tips and pieces of information will help you avoid scammers while making your transactions more secure, so you can take advantage of the best deals.

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Be careful about the information you give out

It's important to follow certain advice to avoid being on the radar of the first wave of crooks.

Description of your ad

There's no need to give personal information. Just talk about what you're selling, that's all. Your name, address or any other personal information should not be visible in the description. These could be exploited by people with malicious intent.

Your telephone number

It's best not to use your direct line or, if possible, not to leave your number at all. Scammers are specialists in approach SMS messages, which encourage you to contact them by email.

Here are a few examples of fraudulent SMS messages:

To find out more, read our article on detecting fake SMS messages.

Your email address

You can leave it, but here too the scammers will write to you directly. In all cases, you should choose one of the two options on 2ememain.be: email or instant messaging. The best option is probably instant messaging, which is more restrictive for scammers insofar as they are obliged to create an account that can be moderated if it turns out to be reported as a fraudulent account.

For buyers responding to advertisements

Scammers also target buyers, not just sellers. Take the time to read our various articles on the different types of scam and learn how to recognise a fake classified ad.

Your discussions help you to identify fraudsters

One essential piece of advice: always be very careful. Even if the person you are talking to is honest, they are still a complete stranger. So don't start by including personal or banking information in your discussions.

Communication mode

If the seller always finds excuses and other pretexts for never contacting you directly on the phone, don't bother. It's most likely a scam, potentially operating from abroad.

Quality of exchanges

Mistakes you don't know what to do with? Badly copied and pasted texts? Strange turns of phrase, mixing strong language and questionable syntax? Needless to say, you can forget about this transaction. Scammers try to cast their net as widely as possible and pay little attention to the quality of what they write or send to their potential victims. The quality of exchanges is an indicator that should not be overlooked in detecting potential scammers.

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The method of payment requested

Scammers will demand a particular payment method, often PayPal, PCS (Mastercard, Neosurf, Toneo...), MoneyGram, Western Union or DHL. These are, of course, bogus payment interfaces designed to rob you of your money and your bank details.

Behaviour

Even if the approach is rather gentle, con artists want to exert pressure on their victims to make them give in to their demands. They can be pushy, annoyed and, in some cases, aggressive. Don't let yourself be taken in, and if the exchanges lead to this type of behaviour, put an end to them immediately.

Securing your transaction on 2ememain.be

We have written a number of articles on the different types of scam on classified ad sites, which you can find in our Avoid scams section. DHL, PayPal, PCS, Western Union... Our experts analyse them and give you all the information you need to avoid them.

To guarantee you a secure transaction between private individuals and help you avoid any scams, by hand delivery or by delivery, we have developed Obvy, the first universal payment method dedicated to classified ads between private individuals. Secure messaging, real-time negotiation, anti-scam video evidence, identity verification, the ability to leave ratings and reviews, transaction history... Obvy has an incredible number of innovative features to protect buyers and sellers and let them enjoy the bargains with complete peace of mind.

Obvy holds the money until the transaction is finalised, guaranteeing the solvency of the buyer to the reassured seller, and allowing the buyer to deposit their money in a secure account without having to pay in advance.

Good to know: Obvy users can carry out transactions with each other between France, Belgium and Luxembourg at no extra cost!