When browsing through user’s postings and you do find and posing that is offensive, spam, no longer current, miscategorized, infringing, or illegal please report the ad by clicking “Report this Ad”. Specified links are posted at the bottom right hand side of the Ad’s page. Illegal Ads can be reported as well by selecting the “Illegal Ad” underneath the “Report this Ad” section. Once reported our team will receive a notification to review the Ad and will take appropriate actions.

The main premise of Local Souk is to complete transactions locally. We do offer national postings; however these are more designed for jobs, events and housing where negotiations are finalized face to face. When you are going to complete a transaction it is highly suggested that both parties meet at an agreed location for a face to face transaction. Completing transactions face to face helps Local Souk users avoid mailing expenses, foreign exchange rates, and most of all decreases the risk of scams or fraud.

Any time you receive a suspicious email from a Local Souk user, please forward them to Local Souk support address at support@localsouk.com. If you are not sure what a suspicious email looks like please review “Fraud Examples” in the security center. Always keep in mind that the best way to protect yourself from scams is to buy and sell locally. Always keep in mind if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Please let us know at any time if you have or feel that your transaction with another LS user has been bad, fraudulent, or deceitful. If fitting, you should contact the police to pursue criminal charges. Remember buying and selling locally and completing transactions face to face will reduce the risk of your transaction going bad.

The details of the transactions are between the two parties, at no time does Local Souk get involved in these details. Local Souk is only an online portal that connects buyers and sellers. It is highly suggested to conduct transactions face to face since we do not offer any type of verification of who the person is that you are conduction commerce with. If you are weary or concerned about a transaction please contact the other party. If a situation does arise between the two parties contact the other part and try your best to resolve the situation. If you feel that you have been defrauded contact your local police.

Most scams occur from buyer and sellers that try to conduct business that is not face to face. The best way to avoid scams is to make transactions at a agreed upon location and conduct the transaction face to face.

1. When you are purchasing a product and someone requests a wire service payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:

• This scam involves “bait” such as apartments, laptops, TVs, cell phone, tickets, and overall just about anything.
• The scammers will often state that an MTCN or confirmation code is needed before your money will be withdrawn. This is absolutely false! Once you wire the money it is gone.
• Common countries currently include: Nigeria, Romania, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere
• Another common scam that is used in this situation is an apartment listing will be local however the landlord/owner is “out of town” or “traveling” and they need you to wire them the money abroad.

And remember if a deal seems too good to be true, price is too low, or the rent is below market value, it probably is a scam.

2. Someone states that Local Souk will guarantee a transaction or they are a certified buyer or seller.  In some instances they will claim that Local Souk will handle and/or provide a guarantee for a payment.

• These claims are fraudulent since Local Souk does not offer any mediation or has any involvement in any transaction.
• In other instance a scammer will send an official appearing email that appears to be sent from Local Souk. The scammer will state offer a guarantee, certified buyer or seller, providing payment services, all emails that appear like this are a shame!

3. A distant person will offer a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier’s check. In most cases you will receive an email offering to buy your item, rent your apartment, sight unseen.

• To purchase your product they will offer a cashier’s.
• The total amount of the cashier’s check will far exceed the value of your item that you have posted for sale. The fraudulent person will then state that they “trust you” and will ask you to wire the remaining balance via a money transfer service.
• Banks will unknowingly cash these fraudulent cashier’s checks on your behalf AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR. In some cases this includes criminal charges!
• Most of these scams are distant and not face to face that will involve a third party shipping agent, business associate owing the buyer money ect.

4. Another scam that we see is a distant person will offer to send you a money order and then have you wire money.

• this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE
• sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
• scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check
• deal often seems too good to be true

5. In some scams a distant seller suggest to use an online escrow service

• In our experience most online escrow sites are fraudulent and are operated by scammers
• A good way to find more info on fraudulent escrow sites search Google on fake escrow or escrow fraud.

6. Other cases involve a distant seller that asks for partial or payment upfront before he will ship the goods.

• The scammer will state that they “trust you”
• They will say the product has already been mailed out
• In most cases the deal is too good to be true

7. A foreign company will offer you a job taking payments for customers and then wiring funds.

• In many cases the foreign company will claim that they are unable to accept payments from their customers directly.
• The fraudulent company will more than likely offer you a percentage of payments that you receive or wire.
• Many times these jobs are posted as jobs or they will offer them to you directly through email.