Trust & safety

High-value hardware attracts scammers everywhere it's traded. Here is how the common tricks work, how to spot them in seconds, and what to do when something feels off.

The one rule that defeats almost every scam

Payment and conversation stay on SiliconExchange. Held payments, carrier tracking, disputes, refunds: every protection we offer exists inside the platform. The moment money or messages move off it, none of that can help you. Anyone who asks you to pay by Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, wire transfer, crypto, gift cards, or PayPal Friends & Family, or to move the chat to another app to close a deal, is someone to report, not negotiate with.

The four patterns to know on sight

The off-platform “deal”

Someone offers a discount if you pay them directly: Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, wire transfer, crypto, gift cards, PayPal Friends & Family. The discount is the bait; the payment method is the scam. Money sent that way has no held funds, no dispute process, and almost no way back.

Phishing

An email or message styled to look like SiliconExchange (or Stripe) asks you to “verify” your password or payment details through a link. We will never ask for your password, and we never take payment through a link in a message. When in doubt, close the message and sign in by typing the address yourself.

The copycat checkout

A conversation starts on the platform, then someone sends a link to “complete the purchase” somewhere else: a look-alike page, an invoice PDF, a payment request. Real SiliconExchange checkout only ever happens on this site, signed in to your account.

The overpayment

A “buyer” sends more than the price, by fake check or doctored screenshot, and asks you to refund the difference. The original payment was never real; the refund you send is. On SiliconExchange, real payments only ever appear on your order page, never as a screenshot.

The ten-second check

Not sure whether a purchase, a refund, or a payment request is real? Open your order history. Every real SiliconExchange transaction appears there. If it isn't in your orders, it didn't happen on SiliconExchange, no matter what an email, invoice, or screenshot claims. The same goes for selling: a real sale shows up on your seller dashboard, never only in a message.

See something? Report it, even if you're not sure

Reports are how a marketplace stays clean, and a false alarm costs nothing. You don't need an account to report.

A listing: use the Report this listing link on the listing page, email report@siliconexchange.io, or use the report form. Counterfeit, stolen, misdescribed, prohibited, all of it.
A message or an off-platform payment request: use the flag on the message itself in Messages. It reaches our team within seconds and keeps a copy of the message even if the sender deletes it.
A whole account: open their profile and use Report, for impersonation, or when it is the account and not one message that is the problem. Signed out, or reporting something else entirely? Email report@siliconexchange.io or use the contact form.
Think you already paid a scammer? Contact your bank or card issuer immediately (speed matters most), then tell us so we can act on the account involved.

Meeting in person

Local pickup orders are paid online like any other order, never in cash. Your payment is held securely until you confirm the pickup (by giving the seller your pickup code or tapping Confirm Pickup). If you don't, it's released automatically 3 days after the scheduled pickup date, unless you've opened a dispute. Meet in a public, well-lit place (many police stations offer designated exchange spots), bring a friend for high-value items, and keep the arrangements in on-platform messages. The full flow is on the buyer protection page.

Keeping your account safe

Use a password you use nowhere else: Most account takeovers reuse a password leaked from some other site. A unique password (or signing in with Google) closes that door.
We will never ask for your password: Not by email, not by message, not by phone. Anyone who does is not us.
Check the address bar: Before signing in or paying, make sure you're on siliconexchange.io. Look-alike domains are the oldest trick in the book.
Sign out on shared machines: Your account can release payments and change listings. Treat it like the payment account it is.

What we're doing on our side

Every seller is identity-verified through Stripe before they can publish a listing.
Every payment is held by the platform while the order is in progress, not sent straight to the seller. Sellers never see your card details, and buyers can't pay outside checkout.
Orders of $750.00 or more require signature confirmation on delivery: labels bought through SiliconExchange add it automatically, and a seller using their own label must add it.
Delivery is confirmed by the carrier's scan, by the buyer or by our team, never by the seller's word alone, and every reported listing and message gets human review.

The off-platform “deal”

Phishing

The copycat checkout

The overpayment

The ten-second check

See something? Report it, even if you're not sure

Reports are how a marketplace stays clean, and a false alarm costs nothing. You don't need an account to report.

A listing: use the Report this listing link on the listing page, email report@siliconexchange.io, or use the report form. Counterfeit, stolen, misdescribed, prohibited, all of it.

A message or an off-platform payment request: use the flag on the message itself in Messages. It reaches our team within seconds and keeps a copy of the message even if the sender deletes it.

A whole account: open their profile and use Report, for impersonation, or when it is the account and not one message that is the problem. Signed out, or reporting something else entirely? Email report@siliconexchange.io or use the contact form.

Think you already paid a scammer? Contact your bank or card issuer immediately (speed matters most), then tell us so we can act on the account involved.

Meeting in person

Keeping your account safe

Use a password you use nowhere else

Most account takeovers reuse a password leaked from some other site. A unique password (or signing in with Google) closes that door.

We will never ask for your password

Not by email, not by message, not by phone. Anyone who does is not us.

Check the address bar

Before signing in or paying, make sure you're on siliconexchange.io. Look-alike domains are the oldest trick in the book.

Sign out on shared machines

Your account can release payments and change listings. Treat it like the payment account it is.

What we're doing on our side

Every seller is identity-verified through Stripe before they can publish a listing.

Every payment is held by the platform while the order is in progress, not sent straight to the seller. Sellers never see your card details, and buyers can't pay outside checkout.

Orders of $750.00 or more require signature confirmation on delivery: labels bought through SiliconExchange add it automatically, and a seller using their own label must add it.

Delivery is confirmed by the carrier's scan, by the buyer or by our team, never by the seller's word alone, and every reported listing and message gets human review.