[paxys]

It's so easy to spot marketplace scams that I'm baffled people still fall for them.

Are you going to show up with cash on my doorstep (or another agreed upon location)? If yes, we can continue talking. If not, you are blocked and reported. End of story.

[yojo]

The article mentioned it was a listing specifically for a large item.

I get why someone might not show up on my doorstep if they’re buying a piano - they probably need to hire somebody and are themselves not going to contribute anything to the piano moving process.

But fully agreed that once you’re an inch off the “show up with money” path, everything is suspect.

[paxys]

That's even more of an indicator that it's a scam. You put a listing for something big/bulky/expensive on the internet and some person sees a couple pictures, thinks "good enough" and immediately wants to wire you hundreds of dollars? Without actually seeing it or making sure they aren't getting scammed? Nope, does not happen.

[sfjailbird]

This is common. I've done it myself and had no problems. I want to buy some bulky item from another part of the country, I trust the seller, so I just wire them the money and tell them when my movers are going to show up.

[lazide]

Hey, only a hundred ish for a piano? Even if 1/2 the time it’s a scam, that’s still a pretty good deal.

This is how overall marketplace trust dies and the overall industry collapses though.

[lazide]

The ‘beauty’ of the Internet is how scalable it is. Both for good, and for evil.

Even if you get .01% success rate, if it costs so little to reach 1M people, you’ll do well.

[seb1204]

This is how I do it as well, gumtree or marketplace. I Still have to deal with the spammers messages and reporting

[meiraleal]

> It's so easy to spot marketplace scams that I'm baffled people still fall for them.

That's survival bias. There are some you can't spot.

[alangibson]

You missed their point. It's cash on the barrel head or counterparty is presumed to be a scammer. If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed.

[meiraleal]

> If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed.

until you get robbed, kidnapped or forced to do a bank transfer.

[dylan604]

you just named multiple things that are not a scam

[meiraleal]

How not? The robber never intended to finish the deal.

[dylan604]

Because like everything else in law, the lower charge becomes irrelevant in light of a worse offense. Breaking into someones home is burglary, but do it when someone is home and it becomes home invasion. Do it with a weapon and it becomes an aggravated charge.

At that point, nobody cares if you were trying to steal the silverware.

[ClassyJacket]

None of those things are a scam.