How To Spot Malicious Accounts Impersonating Moderators In Trade Chats On Noones
Our top priority is the safety of our Noones community
It’s an unfortunate truth that though most of us view the freedom granted by peer to peer marketplaces such as ours as a way to make their lives better, there are malicious opportunists out there who see all platforms in this space as an opportunity to steal from the very people who need peer to peer the most. One way #NoOnesBetter is our dedication to safety: Our security team is constantly monitoring for any suspicious activity taking place on Noones so we can do our best to put a stop to it and inform our users so they can avoid falling into the elaborate traps of bad actors.
Will the real Noones moderators please stand up
Thanks to our security team and those incredible members of the Noones community who help keep our platform safe through reporting suspicious activity, we have become aware of an increase in attempts to impersonate Noones moderators in trade chats. In this post we’ll show you how to differentiate between real moderators and impersonators. The screenshots included are taken from the website version of our site, but the in app experience is largely the same and the things you’ll want to take note of are going to be the same as well.
1. Automated Announcement
Before a real moderator enters the trade chat an automated message appears that will look like this, below. The background of this message is in green and the signature does not include any username.
As you can see above, this automated message has no signature – only a date and time. This means it came from us. If scammers are mimicking this message there is a signature of the counterparty in the trade next to the date and time.
Here is an example of what an impersonated message will look like:
2. “Moderator Available” Indicator
To confirm the presence of a real Noones moderator, please pay attention to the specific visual indicator that says “Moderator Available” on the top of the screen. Here is an example of what an Active indicator looks like.
3. “Noones Moderator” Signature
Once our moderators enter your trade chat they have a signature that confirms their identity. You’ll see a automated message in a green background (never a gray background!) with a NOONES MODERATOR signature next to the date and time. Together, it will look like this:
4. Noticeable Sound Alert
When a real Noones moderator joins your trade chat you will hear a noticeable sound to notify you that they have joined. An impersonator will not be able to replicate this, so please make sure to keep your sound on and your volume set to a level where you will hear this sound.
Please stay safe and alert when interacting in trade chats and report and suspicious activity. For example, if a user requests you contact them outside of Noones to complete a trade. Reporting bad actors will not only help to protect yourself but every member of the Noones community. This also helps us understand how malicious actors might be causing harm on Noones so we can take a stand against them.
As always, your safety is our top priority!