Scammer as a Buyer

[mishal_marketer]

Hello, I am new to Fiverr and I have already read the TOS and I read the forum too thoroughly almost after 1 or 2 days so I am aware of people facing scammers, new users facing scammers as a buyers. This forum is a good place to learn everyday.

Today, I came across a buyer. The buyer off course texted me first.

Buyer: Hello

Me: Hi, How can I help you with my services?

Buyer: (He just directly sends his mail address to me)

Me: Sorry, it is against Fiverr TOS, I cannot contact you outside Fiverr. If you need my services, please carry on here only.

Buyer: But, everyone do contact me on mail

Me: No sorry, I’ll prefer working as per Fiverr TOS.

and I blocked him. So, I was asking, is that is the start of scam? or did I just do overthink on that and blocked him early stage?

Am I right or wrong?

[nowrojhaider]

You did not send your mail so it is not problematic for you, and you did the right thing.

[zerlina84]

I think you did the right thing.

You could have, maybe, just waited to hear what the project was, because this could have really been a case of a newbie honestly not knowing the rules (I have so many honest buyers sending me their phone numbers and I simply ignore it and go on with the conversation).

But better safe than sorry.

[mishal_marketer]

I think you did the right thing.

You could have, maybe, just waited to hear what the project was, because this could have really been a case of a newbie honestly not knowing the rules (I have so many honest buyers sending me their phone numbers and I simply ignore it and go on with the conversation).

But better safe than sorry.

I am thinking the same way. Thank you so much for commenting

[mishal_marketer]

You did not send your mail so it is not problematic for you, and you did the right thing.

Thank you 🙂

[kholland65]

I can be, but many people just don’t understand how fiverr works and just prefer to use their personal email since that’s what they are used to doing. In any case, like you did I always inform them about the TOS and why that policy exists. Once I tell them that, they usually have no problem using fiverr to communicate. So usually it’s out of ignorance rather than trying to scam you. If anything, I find it much easier to prevent myself from getting scammed with clients I meet outside of fiverr because I have much more control over the situation and can do things like make people pay me 50% up front as a non-refundable deposit before I even start working so they can’t get free work by trying to scam me.l It also provides me the ability to pull the plug on a bad situation and not have to feel like there is going to be a cancellation rating or review that I have to worry about.

[krheate]

You did the right thing by blocking him! It’s against Fiverr TOS to contact people outside of Fiverr!

[the_mad_duck]

Some buyers have not entirely read the TOS, and try to communicate externally. I’ve even been asked for my Discord (I don’t have one, but apparently it’s popular). If I were you, I would have asked what their project was and stated that it is a requirement in the TOS to keep all communication within fiverr’s website. If they insisted, I would block them as you have.

[ayeshaaa_noor]

you took the right decision. 👍