The common scams, and how to steer clear
Thirteen manoeuvres come back on every Swiss marketplace. okazio's messaging recognises them and names them the moment they appear; this page explains what they are after, so you can see them coming elsewhere too.
“Shall we carry on over WhatsApp?”
Leaving the messaging is the first step of nearly every scam: elsewhere there is no detector left, and no record of what was said. The pretext always sounds practical — it's simpler, it's faster, my account isn't working.
What to do — Answer here. An honest person has no reason to refuse: the messaging is free and it works.
The payment link sent “to save time”
okazio handles no payments and holds no money. Nobody can therefore ask you to pay “through okazio”, or send you a payment link in the site's name. Those pages imitate a bank or a familiar service and capture whatever you type into them.
What to do — Don't click. Pay each other at the handover, by the means the two of you agreed on.
The TWINT code to “confirm”
TWINT never sends a code by SMS for you to pass on to someone. A code received by SMS authorises an operation on your own account: passing it on lets the other person carry it out. A TWINT payment is also instant and irreversible.
What to do — Pass on no code, to nobody, whatever reason is given. If you already have, call your bank right away.
The QR or five-digit code “to receive”
A TWINT QR code, like a five-digit TWINT code, is for paying: to receive money, TWINT never asks you to scan or enter anything. And between private individuals TWINT goes by phone number; these codes belong to a shop. Two manoeuvres live off this: the fake buyer sends a QR code or a five-digit code “so you can receive the payment”, and scanning or entering it pays them; the fake seller sends the code of an order they placed themselves with a retailer, and you end up paying for it.
What to do — Never scan a QR code or enter a code to receive money, and don't pay a private person with such a code: TWINT goes by their phone number. If it has already happened, call your bank right away.
The fake courier and the fake parcel notice
The buyer claims to have paid “through the courier”, then an email imitating Swiss Post or a delivery service demands a fee to release the parcel. No courier holds the money of a private sale, and Swiss Post never asks for a fee through a link received by SMS.
What to do — Ignore the email. Check a shipment on the courier's official site, typing the address yourself.
The deposit to “reserve” it
A deposit paid before you have seen the item buys nothing: the listing may be invented, or the item promised to ten people. It is the most frequent manoeuvre on housing and vehicles, where competition creates a sense of urgency.
What to do — Pay nothing before you have seen the item. If the seller cannot show it, there is nothing to reserve.
The overpayment and the refund
The buyer sends more than the price — “typing mistake” — and asks for the difference back. The first transfer is then reversed or turns out to be forged; your refund, meanwhile, is genuinely gone. You lose the difference and the item.
What to do — Never refund an overpayment. Ask the other person to have their own bank reverse the transfer.
The link that looks like okazio
A page copied identically, one letter off in the address, asking you to “confirm your account” or “release your payment”. Whatever you type there goes to somebody else.
What to do — Never enter your credentials from a link you received. Open okazio by typing the address, and read it again before typing anything.
The password, the code, the account access
Nobody at okazio will ask you for your password, or for a code you received by email or SMS. We don't need them: your password is not readable by us, and a code exists to sign you in.
What to do — Give nothing. If you are asked, block the person and report the conversation.
The copy of your identity document
A photo of a passport or driving licence is enough to open accounts in someone's name. A private sale never requires one: not to “verify” the buyer, not to “secure” the shipment.
What to do — Refuse. A hand-to-hand handover asks for no document.
Gift cards and prepaid codes
Settling a second-hand sale in gift cards makes no commercial sense: it is asked for because those codes are anonymous, instant and impossible to reverse. Phone top-ups work the same way.
What to do — No honest sale is settled in codes. End the conversation there.
The voucher code “to check the balance”
On a voucher or gift card, the code on the back is the balance: whoever knows it can spend it online, without the card. A buyer who asks for it before paying — “to check”, “to reserve it”, or announcing a payment that never arrived — no longer has any reason to pay: they spend the balance and disappear. To prove the balance, check it yourself and send a screenshot that doesn't show the code, or check it together at the till.
What to do — Only hand over the code with the voucher, once you have the money. If you already have, call the retailer right away: some can still block the card.
The too-good deal, shipped from abroad
An item far below market price, a seller temporarily “abroad”, a shipment promised against a transfer. The item does not exist, and the photos come from another listing.
What to do — Compare the price with other listings in the same category. A gap that nothing explains is the explanation.
If it has already happened
Report the conversation from okazio: it is read. If money has left, call your bank before anything else — that is the only window in which a transfer can still be stopped. A complaint is filed with your cantonal police.