Scams On The Darknet Markets
This is a guide to both buyer sand vendors on the various cams that occur on the markets. I've been a small time vendor, mostly digital and artsy products, on Silk Road, a brief stint on 2.0, BMR, TMP, SMP, and I've also ran my own vendor site as well.
I've also had experience with several markets as a buyer, more so than I have as a vendor.
So, here is my personal list of the various approaches to scamming, what to spot, and how to prevent it.
Scammer | Scam Field | Scam Description | How To Spot It | How To Prevent/Fix It |
---|---|---|---|---|
Vendor | Feedback | Vendor pay a user to purchase item never delivered and leave feedback to prevent being tracked back to vendor. | Multiple feedback that have similar qualities & spelling. | Check the forums, reddit, and any vendor review threads for the vendor. |
Vendor | Feedback | Vendor uses an alt/puppet account and vote on their own product. | Multiple feedback that have similar qualities & spelling similar to vendor profile. | Check the forums, reddit, and any vendor review threads for the vendor. |
Vendor | Feedback | Vendors blackmail clients to leave positive feedback. | Multiple feedback that have short, hostile, or confusing reviews. Reported on forums. | Check the forums, reddit, and any vendor review threads for the vendor. |
Vendor | Escrow | Send an empty package to buyers ZIP code, give tracking to admins, and win 100% resolution. | Feedback indicating package never arrived, vendor reviews | Verify the vendor is legitimate and feedback supports all claims. Always ask for tracking. |
Vendor | Escrow | Send empty box to the customer as tracking also indicates it arrives. Photo evidence is not supported as buyer could remove item and take photo. | Feedback indicating package never arrived, vendor reviews, vendor rating. | Verify the vendor is legitimate and feedback supports all claims. Always ask for tracking. |
Vendor | Escrow | Not send any item and receive 50% to 100%, of which all is profit. | Feedback indicating nothing was sent. False/Non-responsive tracking numbers issued. | Verify the vendor is legitimate and feedback supports all claims. Always ask for tracking. |
Vendor | Finalize Early | Not send any item and receive 100%, of which all is profit. | Feedback indicating nothing was sent. False/Non-responsive tracking numbers issued. | Verify the vendor is legitimate and feedback supports all claims. Always ask for tracking. |
Buyer | Feedback | Extort vendor for more items/refund on terms of feedback manipulation. | Hostile buyer, demanding products | Make sure you know your buyers before you sell to them, and limit firs time sales to small items. |
Buyer | Feedback | Leave negative/bad feedback even when order was successful | Buyer messages that seem confused, or buyers that seem unaware of how to fully use the market. | Make sure your buyer is intelligent enough and understands that markets native language of the market. Start with small orders. |
Buyer | Feedback | Finalizes Early | Buyer makes assertions that they will FE, or that FE will be done as a complement. | Simply inform buyers that FE is not required, and state it on your profile several times. |
Buyer | Escrow | Finalizes Early, some markets do not support this. | Buyer makes assertions that they will FE, or that FE will be done as a complement. | Simply inform buyers that FE is not required, and state it on your profile several times. |
Buyer | Escrow | Buyer claims item did not arrive when tracking indicates it did. | Resolution or PM indicating the order did not arrive. | Send the tracking number. If it is valid, it can be used to obtain 100% resolution. |
Buyer | Escrow | Buyer claims item did not arrive, no tracking avaiable. | Resolution or PM indicating the order did not arrive. | Bring it to resolution, and use tracking in the future. |
Buyer | PM | Buyer makes threats over order instead of sending it to resolution | Hostile or otherwise self-centered buyer messages. | Do not respond in anything less than a professional manner, do not antagonize the or over explain things, and report them immediately to the admins. |
This list will be updated as I write more.
If you have any to add, just comment here and I'll add it to the list.
I'll also be modifying it later to include relevant markets, as some markets do not have the features to support some of these scams.
If you have any questions, PM me here
You can add fake love letters from customs