Quote from: actmyname on Today at 09:44:40 AM

Quote from: hilariousetc on Today at 09:38:31 AM

Probably means the autobuy links. Probably at least 95% of them are scams. In these instances that's why I think a landing page with a warning would be helpful. Surprisingly a lot of people get scammed by these. Not sure why people would randomly trust these users but they do.

Any autobuy link should be prefaced with some kind of disclaimer.

I would even just say that all non-bitcointalk URLs in the Marketplace child boards should have the landing page, with particular emphasis on how ranks don't equate to trust. I believe part of the factor is still that Newbies are unaware of two major differences in this forum: scams are not moderated, and rank titles mean nothing. Until this is displayed in bold letters when you sign into the forum or until there's something to lead people towards this realization, I don't think Newbie problems are going to end easily. A slew of new scam accusations popped up as well regarding off-site deals via external messaging channels - though users should know better - concerning that hole in knowledge and I'm sure that it's more prevalent in the cases that aren't publicized.

I'm a newbie and can absolutely confirm this. I got scammed (here's my report https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5300411.msg55837909 ) and although I agree that I should have used escrow to protect myself better, I was kind of shocked how things about scams are handled in this forum. In my case it wasn't an autobuy link but messaging directly with this scammer, found with a Google search and with apparently no negative feedback (but multiple positive ones). Getting in touch with the scammer on Telegram was much more convenient and quick for me, instead of registering on this forum (which I didn't need to do, since his contact details are publicly available).

After he scammed me, I registered to open a scam report, but in my case I registered only AFTER being scammed. So imho any disclaimer you guys are discussing should appear not only when you register but also when browse as a public guest. I feel it's really easy for a newbie to take the same route I took.

Additionally I expected the scammer to get at least be banned quickly and was astonished that despite countless reports and proof (even crisp video proof at one point) no action was going to be taken. In other communities I take part of, scammers like that don't last longer than a day - especially not if they barely provide any conclusive proof in their defense when there is a growing number of reports and unsolved question marks.