Breaking Scam News

There is a great (but sad) investigative article in the New York Times this week about the latest job scams. It's worth a read.

Link.

We have recently noticed in our customer support queue that scammers are offering to send a "Bill of Sale" through Oodle, using very simplistic techniques to pretend that a user is receiving an email from Oodle. We don't offer any such services, because we don't facilitate the details of the actual transactions - that's between the buyer and the seller. Don't fall for anyone claiming otherwise!

How exactly does this work? The scammer offers to confirm the transaction and send a "Bill of Sale" and then asks you to send them the money. They pretend this bill comes from Oodle using simple and easy to see through methods, such as changing the name of the sender to something with "Oodle" in it, and changing the reply-to address to Oodle. It's easy to see through this but you have to pay attention. Always check what the actual email address (not a name) you got the message from is.

Email us at safety-support@oodle.com if you have any questions or if this happened to you.

We've recently been made aware of a few sites who are using Oodle's logo, colors and layout to "phish" for Oodle users' personal information, including their credit card and Social Security number.

Please make sure to always look at the URL in your browser to confirm that you are on Oodle.com. Furthermore, Oodle will never ask for personal information such as your credit card or Social Security number.

Given the state of the economy, the number of scammers has been on the rise. We're doing our best to rid Oodle of such fraud, but it's always good to make sure you're shopping safely!

In the last two weeks, we have seen an upsurge of cases where people report losing money. When we see even one it upsets us. We are working hard to keep scammers off of our site, but even with community assistance, we miss some scam ads.

Due to the economic downturn, and especially at this time of year as the holidays approach, many people are stretched for money and want to get nice gifts for friends and family. As a result, some are more likely to make unwise choices. Please be wary. Visit our Safety Center pages and be cautious when using classifieds to buy gifts.

We have seen a drastic increase in job postings claiming to be offering "work at home" jobs. The actual responsibilities vary, but most of the listings promise flexible hours and a generous income.

While these listings are not "scams" in the sense that your identity or other sensitive information could be at risk, they are not legitimate jobs. If you respond to the person who posted the ad, you will receive an email asking you to pay for a book, brochure or other form of literature. Once you receive this literature, it will simply explain how to do exactly what the job poster was doing - selling the piece of literature online.

If you see one of these listings, please report it to us.

We have just launched a new page in our Safety Center: payment methods.

In these pages you will find detailed information about each method, their pros and cons, and the steps to take to prevent fraud.

Check it out!

We've seen a huge jump in the number of scams caught by our anti-scam technology in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, the number more than tripled from our average weekly counts. Last week, that new number nearly doubled in size. So far this week, we've continued to see an upward trend in removed scams.

While there is no apparent cause to the increase, the fact of the matter is it's happening all across the web. Here at Oodle, we've seen a handful of users who are very dedicated to marking fraudulent listings as scams. These users have helped improve our the algorithm that our technology relies on to remove scams and keep our users safe. So a big thank you to all the users who have been working to make Oodle a better, safer place. Keep up the great work!

Keep your eyes peeled for a brand new scam targeting apartment seekers. The listings we've seen all have the same story: the current tenant has to move to another country immediately, and wants the apartment seeker to pay them a deposit without seeing the apartment first.

As with all classifieds, it is always best for you to see what you are paying for before you pay. If, however, you are moving to a new area and cannot see an apartment in person before moving, a safe bet is to use a rental agency.

We've been seeing an increasing number of laptop scams across the Internet. These scams, like the motorcycle scams, feature a "brand new" laptop (most frequently Sony, HP or Toshiba), selling at a fraction of their retail price. The reason for their low price? Most often, the sellers is "moving to Africa" very soon and needs to sell his or her belongings quickly.

If you see a listing like this, report it as fraud and let us know. The more information we receive about scammers, the better our technology gets and the quicker we can remove fraudulent listings. It's your help that makes Oodle the safest online classifieds site around.

Recent stories about people getting scammed on Craigslist have helped to bring the issue about classifieds safety to the public eye. With the number of scams increasing exponentially month by month, community moderation of fraudulent listings simply isn't enough to keep users safe anymore. To successfully fight scams, there needs to be a three tiered approach: anti-scam technology, community moderation and education for buyers and sellers about how to stay safe when shopping online.

If most sites only use community moderation, why continue to shop there when you can't shop safely?