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We want you to have a positive experience using the hereUare classifieds, so we've put together some helpful tips to keep you safe and make your transaction a success. It is important to remember that hereUare is a local classifieds site and listings are not reviewed before they go live on the site. Thus, we encourage you to carry out transactions locally and in-person to avoid scams and fraud.
Also, we appreciate your help notifying us of suspicious postings, so we can remove them from our website.
Things to keep in mind:
- Use your head. If an ad, offer, etc. seems too good to be true, it probably is. So, pass it up. It's better to be safe than sorry.
- Get informed. Learn about common scams and fraud (we've provided some information below).
Be suspicious of people promising you large sums of money for your assistance with a task.
- Keep it confidential. Keep your personal and banking information (i.e. your social security number, your credit card numbers, your hereUare password, etc.)
private. hereUare will never contact you by email and ask for this information either, so don't respond to any attempts to obtain your private information.
- Protect your money. Don't send a check or wire money as a buyer or a seller. Pay in-person instead.
- hereUare does not offer a secure payment system for buyers and sellers to exchange funds or any type of buyer protection system.
Should you see any sites or emails using our logo and claiming to offer these systems, they are scams. Please forward the message and/or link to classifieds@hereyouare.com.
- Keep it local. hereUare was established as a local classifieds site, so you can meet in-person to examine the product up for sale and exchange funds.
We encourage you to meet in a public place and it wouldn't hurt to take a family member or friend with you; safety in numbers.
- Work with us. Alert hereUare of any attempted fraud, suspicious listings or emails and any other activity that concerns you regarding other hereUare community members.
You can flag suspicious postings. File a police report and contact us if fraud occurs. (Below you'll find more information on reporting scams and fraud.)
- Pet considerations.
It is important to keep certain things in mind when selling or buying a pet. Please refer to the Humane Society of the United States website for tips.
Link: http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_adoption_information
You can learn more about staying safe online at the following website:
http://getsafeonline.org
- Overpayment: A buyer or seller sends you a check and then asks for some of the money to be returned to them.
Often times the check will bounce and the money you sent to the other party will be gone forever.
- Payment for brokerage/importing: A seller can ask you to cover brokerage fees, import duties or other fees to get a product into the United States.
You should not pay these fees, as it is very unlikely that you'll ever see the product and the money you paid will be gone.
Remember hereUare is meant to be a local marketplace so buyers and sellers can eventually meet to exchange products and money in-person.
- Work from home: Offers to work from home can be "pyramid schemes" that will require you to recruit other members in order to get paid.
For example, the ad could say that you will make $150 an hour to enter data. However, you won't get paid that money unless you sell the system to others.
- Fraudulent escrow sites: A buyer or seller could suggest using an escrow service, which turns out to be a scam.
The seller has no product to sell and ends up running off with your money.
- Brand name spoofing/phishing: You receive an email that is supposedly from hereUare, Western Union or another company offering you buyer protection or an online payment system.
They'll ask you to send money via the site or provide your personal information. In most cases, the money you send via these sites will likely go to fraudsters.
Remember hereUare and most other companies will never ask you for this kind of information in an email.
- 419 Scams: You receive an email asking you to help take money out of a country and promising you a commission for your assistance.
Then you are asked to pay a certain amount to help them take the large amount of money out of the country. Once you pay, they will stop communicating with you.
- If you come across an ad on the hereUare site that you believe is Spam, illegal or violates any of hereUare's policies,
please click on the "Report Listing" link located above the ad's title on the listing's page.
Doing this brings the ad to our attention so we can review it and take it down in a timely manner if necessary.
- If you contact someone about a posted ad and that person emails you a strange request
(i.e. asks you to pay for the item through a payment service), please forward the email to classifieds@hereyouare.com and stop communicating with that individual.
- Please notify hereUare and your local police department (using the non-emergency number) if you are the victim of a scam or fraud.
You can also utilize the resources below and contact the respective parties:
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