Your safety and security are important to us at OfferUp. You can help us protect you by staying vigilant and identifying some of the common scams outlined below. If someone tries to scam you, please report them to us. If your account is compromised, please contact us immediately.
Protect yourself by looking out for these behaviors:
Avoid messaging outside of the app, weblinks, and verification codes.
Some common examples include:
- Someone asks you to message them outside of the app (for example by asking for your phone number or for your email address). Avoid contacting someone outside the app’s messaging system. We provide messaging for a reason – it’s safe and secure. When you use OfferUp’s messaging system, you never need to give out your email address or phone number to communicate with another person. Giving out personal information is how many common scams begin. Politely decline and encourage the other person to continue messaging in the app.
- Someone asks you for a verification code to verify your post. OfferUp does not ask for verification codes to verify posts.
- The other person sends you a link that requires you to log in - never click on these links.
- Someone sends you a link to a website that looks like an OfferUp website and asks you to log in with your email and password. Never click on these links or try to log in.
- The person or the post tells you about an "investment opportunity" or an "easy way to make money" by sending money – avoid these types of interactions.
Use cash for in-person transactions and the OfferUp app for shipping transactions. Avoid people who request invoices, and offers that appear too good to be true.
Some common examples include:
- The seller asks to be paid outside the OfferUp app. They might ask for a certified check, electronic gift card, or a wire payment through a service like Western Union or MoneyGram to complete the transaction. They might also request payment through a service like CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal. We recommend using cash for in-person transactions, and when shipping an item through OfferUp, sellers get paid through OfferUp’s payment processors.
- The seller makes an offer for an item that seems too good to be true. For example, a seller willing to sell a new iPhone for $10.
- The buyer offers more than the listed price. They usually follow up by asking you to ship to a different address, use a different carrier, or if they can pay through a third party instead of through the app. They may also say the overpayment is for movers who will come and transport the item. Be wary of and try to avoid these types of transactions.
- The seller claims to pay for shipping fees and wants to send you an invoice. They may also claim that the transaction will be facilitated on another platform like eBay. OfferUp does not set up any sellers to operate this way. You’ll always see any fees and payments for any transaction right in the app.
- Note: If someone says OfferUp facilitates non-shipping transactions and they need to validate the transaction or send an invoice, this could be a scam. These scammers try to use fake emails like offerup@safe-and-simple.com.
Protect yourself with a strong password
Scammers are quick to find ways to get into any of your accounts by testing passwords across multiple sites. Try using a strong, complex password or a random password generator tool. For more information, see our Change your password article.