Spotting an off-platform payment scam

If someone wants you to pay outside Pasaran, the protections described in our payment articles do not apply. That is the entire mechanism behind almost every payment scam we see, and declining politely costs you nothing.

The stories vary; the shape does not.

• A price well below every comparable listing, with a reason for the urgency.
• A seller who cannot meet or video-call because they are "abroad", offering shipping through an agent.
• A request to move to another messaging app immediately.
• A "deposit to hold it" before any viewing.
• A payment link or QR code sent in chat rather than a checkout on Pasaran.
• An invoice arriving from an email address that is nearly, but not exactly, ours.

A common version advertises a villa the poster does not control, takes a deposit for keys, and disappears. Never pay a deposit before you have seen the property in person or through a live video call in which you can direct what the camera looks at.

We will never ask you to send money to a personal bank account, never ask for your password or a login code, and never contact you from a personal messaging account to chase a payment.

Report the account and stop communicating. Contact your bank immediately — speed matters more than anything else in a transfer recall — and file a police report, which your bank will normally ask for.