Customers have a key role in ensuring their safety online, says tonaton.com

Recent publications in the Ghanaian media has revealed the unscrupulous activities of some individuals that is bent on reversing the successes chalked by online classified platforms like Tonaton.com. One such publication appeared in the Daily Graphic of 23rd February 2015, news websites and also given airplay by some popular radio stations in Accra.

The criminal, whose identity is known to the police, has now started to use online sites for defrauding people. A careful look at the manner in which this unfortunate incident happened in addition to previously reported cases of online fraud points to a lack of due diligence on the part of buyers and sellers.

Responding to this phenomenon and how it is affecting their business, Estelle Westling, Head of Tonaton.com says “Buying and Selling safely on Tonaton.com is so important that we have put up this information on the home page. We all love to make great deals but we shouldn’t forget our common sense; if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You simply do not pay for something you have not seen and checked as pertains to normal offline transactions at Makola and the Accra Mall”.

“We also manually review all ads that are published on Tonaton.com here in Accra in order to delete items that are suspected to be fraudulent and/or scams. We are also urging users that have been defrauded to report and share information with us – this will help us in our fight to eliminate all fraudsters and take them down, once and for all” she concludes.

Tonaton.com, Ghana’s Largest Marketplace has over 130,000 ads listed for sale on the website. It also has over 1 million unique visitors to its website monthly and it is currently one of the most visited local websites in Ghana.

Below are the highlights on the steps Tonaton.com is recommending to users to ensure one’s experience is as safe as possible on the website. You can read more by visiting Tonaton.com

General safety advice

• Keep things local. Meet the seller in person, check the item and make sure you are satisfied with it before you make a payment.



• Exchange item and payment at the same time. Buyers – don’t make any payments before receiving an item. Sellers – don’t send an item before receiving payment.



• Use common sense. Avoid anything that appears too good to be true, such as unrealistically low prices and promises of quick money.

• Fake payment services. Tonaton.com  is not involved in the financial transaction between buyers and sellers.



• Fake information requests. Tonaton.com never sends emails requesting your personal details. If you receive an email asking you to provide your personal details to us, do not open any links. Please report the email and delete it.



• Fake fee requests. Avoid anyone that ask for extra fees to buy or sell an item or service. Tonaton.com never requests payments for its basic services, and doesn't allow items that are not located in Ghana, so import and brokerage fees should never be required



• Requests to use money transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These services are not meant for transactions between strangers and many scams are run through them. Avoid requests to use these services.