classifieds suggestion

Some people do not have digital cameras (if you can believe that) so adding photos of their own is not easy. Often, they grab photos off other places (even when the item is theirs).

It is a nice suggestion, and anyone doing it will be "that much more legit" but I would not make it a cast-in-stone rule.

Another nice option is not allowing folks with less than a certain number of posts to post something for sale (say 100 posts minimum); but that's touchy, too - as you wouldn't have been able to post something with 86 (your post count as I write this).

So it's a tough call. Thankfully most of our users are sharp enough not to fall for scams, and those that do fall for them - well, I don't know if much can be done for them. There are ample warnings and suggestions all over the net regarding fraud, but it still happens.

I would close by saying to any "newbie" or one who has never bought online before: ASK someone for help (preferably someone you know and/or near by).

-myrkat

While those suggestions are nice... I doubt anything will happen.

If somebody wants to see the other's feedback, ask, thats it.

Like nut581, I think it'd be good if there were some sort of steps taken to at least inform others of additional ways to protect themselves against scams/scammers.

Sure it is up to the buyer to be wary, but if they don't know about Heatware or to stay away from Western Union-only payments or to request/demand using escrow, then I think that it's a disservice to them. Laptops/notebooks are not cheap, so the potential for trouble is very high. I think it was Lubomir that had a problem with a trade and I'm not sure it even was resolved satisfactorily. Perhaps that could've been avoided if escrow had been used. I know Heatware would be of limited value given that most of the people on here trade very little.

For an example of what Heatware is like, you can check out mine. Over at Anandtech (where I do most of my dealing), eBay feedback isn't considered a legitimate source of information by many due to the ability to post fake evaluations, but I still think it's worth checking out at least if one's going to deal with someone they don't know.

Maybe if we just had a sticky mentioning ways to limit scams/trolls, it might help someone from being suckered. There was a thread recently with an $87 laptop on a page that looked like it was from CDW. I couldn't believe how many people were taken by that and didn't stop to check their brains before believing. Maybe if we could list things to look for, it might help someone like that before they head into a car-crash of a deal.

Another site that could be helpful would be the Trollhunters. They generally help out w/ the tech sites and hunt down trolls (scam artists). If a mod contacted them, they might even have a few suggestions on how to help make this forum a little more scam/troll-proof.