Every vendor writes a scam guide. Most are written to make the vendor look good and say nothing falsifiable. This one names the patterns, including two we have lost orders to by refusing to use them.
1. Payment before proof
What it looks like: a friendly chat, a price, a wallet address. No image of your details on a card until after you pay.
Why it works: it is the normal shape of a shop, so it feels correct. It also means the vendor has zero work invested when you pay.
The test: ask for a proof first. A real vendor sends a flattened template image with your name in place in under an hour. A scammer sends a screenshot of somebody else's card and calls it a proof — check whether the name on it is yours.
2. The fake escrow
What it looks like: "we use escrow, it's safer for both of us." You are pointed at a bot with a plausible name.
Why it works: escrow is a real concept, so it buys instant trust. But a bot costs nothing to make, and the vendor and the bot are frequently the same person. You pay the bot, the bot releases to the vendor, the vendor vanishes. The bot was never holding anything.
The test: ask who runs the escrow and whether the bot has an independent public reputation outside this vendor's channel. If the answer is a screenshot of their own channel, it is not independent.
3. Clone handles
What it looks like: a username one character off the real one. @donjuanjoddy for @donjuanjodyy. Same avatar, same bio, copied posts.
Why it works: buyers search instead of clicking, and land on the clone.
The test: open the profile and check the message history exists — a clone is usually days old. Better: always arrive by clicking a link from a site, never by searching the handle fresh.
4. The $25 passport
What it looks like: a price well under everyone else's.
Why it works: it wins the price comparison, and buyers assume the rest are gouging.
The test: ask what the material is. A $25 passport is a folded sheet of A4 in a vinyl cover, not a booklet. Ask for the page count and whether the data page is polycarbonate. If the answers are vague, the price is the whole product.
5. The "verified vendor" badge
What it looks like: a graphic in the channel bio reading VERIFIED, TRUSTED, LEGIT.
Why it works: it borrows the authority of a certification nobody issued.
The test: anyone can make a badge. Ignore it and look at three things instead — how old the channel is, whether posts have dates spread over years, and whether the reviews are screenshots with visible buyer handles rather than a wall of quoted text.
6. Review inflation
What it looks like: 400 five-star reviews in a channel two weeks old.
Why it works: volume reads as proof.
The test: scroll to the bottom and read the earliest posts. If the channel starts with fifty reviews and no build-up, the reviews are manufactured. Real channels start with one order, then two, then a complaint, then a fix.
7. The reshipper's fake tracking
What it looks like: a tracking number arrives, so you pay the balance. The number never resolves, or resolves to a different city and stops.
Why it works: a number is a number. Most people do not check it.
The test: paste it into the carrier's own site before paying anything else. It must show a real acceptance scan, not "label created". Label-created numbers can be generated for free and prove nothing.
8. The upsell at the deposit
What it looks like: you agree $85. At payment you are told there is a $20 "printing fee", a $15 "handling fee", or that $85 was the price for one side only.
Why it works: you are already committed and the increment is small.
The test: ask for the all-in total in writing before you send anything, including shipping. If the number moves between messages, walk.
9. The disappearing complaint
What it looks like: the public channel is spotless. Every review is five stars. Nobody is ever unhappy.
Why it works: a perfect record is reassuring.
The test: no vendor is perfect at volume. A channel with 1,000+ orders and no visible complaints at all is either deleting them or never had that volume. Look for at least one complaint with a visible resolution — that is the healthiest signal there is.
What we do differently, stated plainly
- Proof before payment on every order, no exceptions
- 50/50 split, balance due only after tracking resolves
- All-in price quoted once, including shipping, and held
- Complaints stay in the channel with the resolution under them
- A $35 utility bill exists so you can test us cheaply before a passport
That last one is the real answer to this page. Do not take our word for any of it — spend $35, judge the eleven hours that follow, then decide about the $130.
Quick checklist
| Signal | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Proof with your name before payment | Good |
| Staged 50/50 accepted | Good |
| Channel with dated history over years | Good |
| One complaint, visibly resolved | Good |
| 100% up front, no proof | Walk |
| Third-party escrow bot only | Caution |
| Price far under market | Ask what the material is |
| Fees appear at payment | Walk |