Nearly all of them are the same trick
Someone gets you to send money where we can’t see it. Everything below is a version of that.
Deposit
“Send a deposit to hold it for you”
Nothing needs holding. Pay through JapaMarket and the money waits with us until you have the item.
Off-app
“Let's talk on WhatsApp instead”
Moving the conversation off JapaMarket is how someone avoids leaving a record. Keep it here until you've met.
Overpaid
“I've paid you extra by mistake — send it back”
The first payment reverses later. Anything we didn't send you isn't yours, whatever the alert on your phone says.
Courier
“Pay the courier, he's outside”
We have no couriers and never will. Nobody from JapaMarket will ever ask you for money.
Limits
The two safe ways to pay
Through JapaMarket, where we hold it until you confirm — or cash, in person, when the thing is in your hands. There is no third way.
Reporting
How to report a listing
Open the listing and use Report to JapaMarket at the bottom, under the safety note. To report a person rather than a listing, the same link is on their profile and in your chat with them. Two steps, no free text required, and they are never told who reported them.
If it happened inside a group
A listing posted into a group you are both in carries a second link — Report to the group’s admins. That one reaches them as well as us, and they will see your name, because you are neighbours. The first link reaches only us. Reports about the people who run a group always come straight to us, whichever link you use.