Staying safe when meeting a seller

For goods and vehicles, meet somewhere busy — a café forecourt, a bank car park, a petrol station. For property, a viewing is by definition at the property, so tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

A few minutes of preparation removes most of the risk.

• Keep the arrangement in the Pasaran thread so there is a record.
• Bring someone with you, particularly for a high-value item.
• Do not carry more cash than the agreed amount, and prefer a bank transfer you can make on the spot.
• For a test ride, leave a copy of your identification rather than the original.

Take your time with documents and do not let urgency make the decision for you. A seller who genuinely has another buyer waiting will still be there tomorrow; one who insists you decide now is telling you something.

Photograph the receipt and the documents, and confirm what was agreed back in the message thread. If anything felt wrong, report the account even if you did not lose money — reports are how patterns become visible to us.