Electronic (non-cash) payments are risky. These include PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Meta Pay, Google Pay, Zelle, and money sent via Western Union. If a buyer or seller requests transactions through any of these payment methods, it could be a scam. PLEASE NOTE: This excludes secure ad upgrade purchases made directly on BisManOnline.
You should NEVER have to create an account to send or receive payment for an item, under any circumstance. BisManOnline DOES NOT participate in buyer/seller transactions.
Sending electronic payment DOES NOT guarantee you will get an item in return
If a buyer says they will pay you more than the asking price, they are likely attempting to scam you.
ACCOUNT INFORMATION
BisManOnline will NEVER contact you to request that you create an account and then send them the login information for that account. DO NOT EVER comply with a request from a third-party to do so.
NEVER give out your BisManOnline password, or use a password suggested by a third-party.
BisManOnline will NEVER send you a message requesting account information, such as your email address, password, etc.
NEVER provide your mobile activation code to anyone, EVER. It is a major security risk, which may result in a scammer registering an account under your phone number.
DO NOT include your phone number or email address in the description of your ad. Doing so allows unregistered, unverified individuals to view your contact information and initiate a scam.
BisManOnline will NEVER ask for credit card information during account creation. If you think you are creating an account on BisManOnline, and the form asks for credit card information, you are NOT on our website.
There is NO third-party security and fraud division that is in any way associated with BisManOnline. Any individual who claims this, and is requesting account information, should be ignored, or reported to Bismanonline Support.
USER COMMUNICATION
BisManOnline staff email address will ALWAYS end in ‘@bismanonline.com’. Phishing emails will try to confuse you by using email addresses that look real (e.g., ‘bismansupport@gmail.com’). BisManOnline staff will NEVER contact users from a Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, or other such email provider.
Scammers can generate phishing emails for other companies, such as an email pretending to be PayPal (e.g., confirming they have paid you, when in fact they have not).
You will ALMOST NEVER be contacted by a BisManOnline employee unless you have contacted us first via the website ‘Contact Us’ form, or via phone call.
Scammers use common excuses – such as being hard of hearing, being deployed overseas, or having a broken phone speaker – as reasons for why they cannot speak with you over the phone. DO NOT fall for these. We always recommend speaking to the buyer or seller over the phone before sending payment, shipping an item, etc., especially if they are from out-of-state.
OTHER INFORMATION
Scammers can pose as buyers and sellers.
If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.
If you ever feel uncomfortable with a buyer or seller, it is usually best to cease communication with them.
Before completing the purchase, always verify that cell phones are unlocked. Visit any phone carrier store, and they will look up the serial number for you to ensure that the phone is not stolen or locked.
You can report a suspected scammer to our Support Team via the Contact Us page.
COMMON SCAMS
The buyer will offer to arrange a shipping company to pick up the item for them after the payment has been completed. They will suggest that the payment be completed via PayPal. They will ask you to create an account on our website using the password they provide, claiming that our website is the shipping company’s website. Consequence: The scammer is now able to log into our website as you, and can initate a scam with our users.
The buyer offer to send you a check for more than the asking price. They will ask you to deposit the check, keep your portion for the cost of the item, and write them a check for the excess to be mailed to a shipping company to cover shipping costs. They may also pretend that the extra amount was an oversight, and request that you quickly return the extra money by mailing them a check or gift cards. Consequence: You may end up sending the scammer legitimate money before it is realized that the deposited check is fake.
The buyer will claim that they are sending a transport company to pick up the item for them. They will suggest that the payment be completed via PayPal. You will receive an email from a “PayPal representative” that will contain some, or all, of the following information (PLEASE NOTE: This information is completely FALSE):
The charge for your item
The transport company fee
A transaction ID
An outline of their new, mandatory escrow policy
Instructions for completing the transaction for the transport company fee via PayPal
A name and email address for the transport company’s PayPal
The email will ask you to pay the fee for the transport company up front, after which they will reimburse you for the fee, and pay you the cost of your item. Consequence: You send the scammer legitimate money, and they do not reimburse you for the transport fee, nor pay you for your item.
A scammer will advertise a job opportunity and claim to be hiring people to work from home. You may be asked to cover the cost of account activation, or for startup materials that they will send you (e.g., laptop computer or tablet), for which you will be reimbursed. Consequence: You send the scammer legitimate money, and will not be reimbursed, nor will you receive any startup materials.
A scammer will advertise a gun, or gun accessory, and list if for half of the market value (Note: If the price is too good to be true, it probably is). They will offer to ship the item to you, and suggest that you pay via PayPal Friends and Family in order to be discreet due to PayPal’s policies related to taxes and the sale of firearms. They may offer to send you a tracking number when the item is shipped. Consequence: You send the scammer legitimate money, they do not provide a tracking number, nor do they ship the item. Because you paid with Friends and Family, you are not covered by PayPal’s Purchase Protection, which means you cannot file a dispute.
