This Fraud Prevention Policy explains the fraud patterns most likely to appear on AYE Market, the structural measures AYE Tech Hub takes to reduce fraud, where responsibility sits between the platform and the individual user, and how to report suspected fraud. It works alongside the more general safety guidance in our Safety Center.
1. Common scam patterns
Almost every scam on a marketplace app follows one of a small number of patterns. Learn to recognize these:
- Payment before inspection — being asked to send money, a deposit, or a "reservation fee" before you've seen the item in person. This is the single most common pattern and the one to be most wary of.
- Pressure tactics — urgency designed to short-circuit your judgment: "someone else is about to buy it," "the price is only good for the next hour," or refusing to let you take time to decide.
- Fake delivery/courier scams — a "seller" or "buyer" who insists on using a specific courier or delivery agent you didn't choose, often requiring payment to the courier before you receive or verify the item.
- Phishing links in chat — a message containing a link to a fake login page, fake payment page, or fake "verification" page designed to steal your credentials or payment details. AYE Market never asks you to log in or pay through a link sent in chat.
- OTP-sharing requests — anyone asking you to read out or forward a one-time passcode (OTP) sent to your phone is attempting to take over an account, not complete a legitimate transaction. No legitimate counterparty, and no AYE Market staff member, will ever ask for your OTP.
- Fake payment confirmations — a buyer showing a screenshot claiming payment was sent, which turns out to be fabricated or never actually arrives in the seller's account.
2. The "AYE Market escrow agent" scam
3. What AYE Market does structurally
Fraud prevention on AYE Market isn't a single feature — it's a combination of design choices that make scams harder to run and easier to catch:
- ID verification badges — sellers who choose to verify submit a government-issued document (Fayda ID, Kebele Residence ID, Driver's License, Business License, or Passport), reviewed by a human on our verification team before a badge is shown. This raises the cost of running a scam under a verified identity.
- Review and rating history — buyers can see how a seller has behaved in past transactions before dealing with them.
- Report and block tools — available on every listing, chat, and profile, so a bad actor can be flagged and cut off from contacting you again.
- Human moderation — every report is reviewed by a person, not resolved purely by an algorithm or report count.
- No in-app payment processing — because AYE Market doesn't process buyer-seller payments in-app, there's no payment flow within the app itself for a scammer to spoof or intercept. All payment happens directly between buyer and seller, outside the app, by whatever method they agree on.
4. Your own responsibility
AYE Market is a venue that connects buyers, sellers, employers, and candidates — it is not a guarantor of any individual transaction. Verification, ratings, and moderation reduce risk; they don't eliminate it. You're always responsible for exercising your own judgment: inspecting an item before paying, confirming who you're actually dealing with, and walking away from anything that feels off. See our Safety Center for practical, step-by-step guidance on safe meetups and payments.
5. Reporting suspected fraud
If you suspect fraud, report it immediately:
- Tap Report on the listing, chat, or profile involved, and choose the reason that matches the behavior you experienced.
- Do not send further payments or personal information while you investigate.
- If you're in physical danger or the situation has escalated beyond the app, follow the emergency guidance in our Safety Center and contact local emergency services first.
- For anything not resolved through in-app reporting, email ayetechub@gmail.com.
6. Enforcement
Confirmed fraud results in immediate listing or content removal and account suspension, typically permanent on a first confirmed instance given the harm involved. Accounts impersonating AYE Market staff or an "escrow agent" are banned immediately upon confirmation. All enforcement actions are logged.
7. Applicable law
This policy is governed by the laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Fraud is a criminal matter independent of any platform-level action — victims of fraud are encouraged to file a police report, and we will preserve relevant records to support that process where requested.
8. Contact
Questions about this policy: ayetechub@gmail.com.