Catch scams and off-platform deals in buyer-seller messages

Fields

• The message about to be delivered
• Sender's role in this chat (buyer or seller)
• Title of the listing the chat is about
• Earlier messages in this chat, oldest first (empty if none)

Questions

1. Does the message pretend to be a notice from the platform, a courier or a payment service, or send a link to confirm or receive a payment? Yes / No

   Count copied or invented notices ("Loopway Payments: funds on hold"), claims that the platform needs the other user to verify something, and any link or form offered to confirm, release or receive a payment. Yes: The message presents itself as, or passes on, a notice from the platform, a courier or a payment service, or offers such a link. No: No such notice or link appears.

2. Does the message ask the other user for card details, login details, a one-time code or an identity document? Yes / No

   Count a request in any words, including one made through a link or a form the message sends. Yes: The message asks for card details, a login, a password, a one-time code, or a photo of an identity document. No: No such request appears.

3. Does the message ask to pay or be paid outside the platform checkout? Yes / No

   Count bank transfer, payment apps, "friends and family" payments, crypto, gift cards and payment links, however they are written. Cash handed over at an in-person collection is allowed and is No. A link that claims to release a platform payment is a fake notice, marked by that question, and is not counted here. Yes: The message asks for, or offers, payment outside checkout. No: No payment outside checkout is asked for or offered.

4. Does the message try to move the conversation or the delivery off the platform? Yes / No

   Count a phone number, an email address or another app in any disguise: spelled-out digits, "the green app", "search my name on", or a username on another service. Count a buyer's own courier or any shipping outside the platform. Agreeing a time and place to collect in person is No. Yes: The message tries to move the contact or the delivery elsewhere. No: No such move appears.

5. Which scam pattern, if any, does the message match? Choice

   Read the message with the earlier messages. When more than one pattern fits, pick the one that would cost the recipient most.

   • No scam pattern Normal conversation about the item, the price or the handover.
   • Fake payment release Claims a payment was made and pushes the recipient to a link, form or code to receive or release it.
   • Overpayment Claims to have paid too much and asks for the difference back.
   • Own courier Arranges the sender's own courier or sends a delivery link, with no payment release claim.
   • Advance fee Asks for a deposit, insurance or another fee before the deal or the delivery.
   • Account takeover Asks for login details or a code to "verify" the account, with no payment story.
   • Bait and switch Offers a different item, a copy or a replica in place of the one listed.
   • Fee avoidance only Moves the deal or the payment off the platform to save fees, with no other scam sign.

6. Is the message abusive, threatening or sexually harassing towards the other user? Yes / No

   Blunt haggling or a firm refusal is not harassment. Yes: The message insults, threatens or sexually harasses the other user. No: The message does none of these. Pressure or urgency with no insult or threat, as in a scam, is No; other questions record it.

7. What should happen to this message before the other user sees it? Choice

   Judge the message against the rules in the context as a whole. This is a suggestion for code and a reviewer; nothing is deleted.

   • Deliver Nothing in the message breaks a rule or puts the recipient at risk.
   • Deliver with a warning Breaks a rule without a direct threat to the recipient's money or account, such as payment outside checkout or a phone number; the recipient sees a safety warning with it.
   • Hold for review Could cost the recipient money or their account, such as a fake notice or a request for card details or codes, or harasses them; a person checks it before it is delivered.

8. Is there enough text in the message to judge it? Yes / No

   Answer No when the message is only an image placeholder, a bare link, or a few words whose meaning depends on messages not included. Yes: A careful reader could judge the message from the text given. No: The text depends on something not included.

Lens columns

fake_platform_notice, fake_platform_notice_probability, asks_for_codes, asks_for_codes_probability, payment_outside, payment_outside_probability, off_platform_contact, off_platform_contact_probability, scam_pattern, scam_pattern_probability, harassment, harassment_probability, suggested_handling, suggested_handling_probability, text_judgeable, text_judgeable_probability