Has the Digital Point Forums become a hotbed for scammers?
July 20, 2008 by Shop Network
I’m an active member on the Digital Point Forums. On that site, I use the handle “Nite.”
The Digital Point Forums advertises itself as a “Search Engine Optimization and Marketing forum.” It is one of many such websites where webmasters go to learn new techniques about raising the visibility level of their personal websites to the search engines. There are a combination of new members and experienced members who market their information and services to those wishing to learn about search engine optimization. In addition, the forum is divided into areas where on-topic discussions and financial transactions take place.
There have been several other blog posts made about Digital Point:
- Is Digital Point Forum a Spammers Haven?
- Make Money Online With Digital Point Forums
- Digital Point Forums Review
I have only one serious complaint about this forum. Rather, my complaint is not directed toward the forum itself, nor toward its fundamental mission of making information available. My complaint is directed to numerous members of this website who attempt to scam and to defraud other members.
Most scams on the digital point forum will take advantage of those seeking to purchase services with the hope that the result of the purchase will be an increased search engine presence of their website. Indeed, most scams have taken place in the services section of the forum. Most scammers will have a low post count on the forum as well as a low itrader. In addition, most scammers accept Paypal as a form of payment for their services. However, Paypal does not issue refunds for the failure to deliver services or for failure to deliver digital products.
According to Paypal’s Extended Buyer Protection Policy:
Item Qualification Requirements. The item sold must be a tangible, physical item or good which can be shipped. All other items are ineligible for coverage under Extended Buyer Protection with PayPal Credit, including but not limited to intangible goods, services, quasi-cash, gift certificates, and downloadable or streaming content. Motor vehicles (including cars, boats, and planes), and Live Auctions will not be covered. In addition, items prohibited in the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy are ineligible for coverage. If an item does not meet the above requirements, it is ineligible for coverage under Extended Buyer Protection with PayPal Credit.
Therefore, a well executed scam will promise the delivery of some kind of service to be accomplished immediately or in a few days, weeks, or months. And the scam will use paypal as the method of payment. The promised goods and services, and their results, will not be delivered, and paypal will not issue a refund. The scammer will usually have a low post count as well as a low itrader count.
Since it appears that there are those who are all too eager to accept payment before services are rendered, it would make better sense if a percentage of the final cost were accepted in order to begin performing services. However, I believe that it would be even better if payment was surrendered only after completion and verification of the services performed. But upon further reflection, the tables of fraud would be reversed — rather than the seller frauding the buyer, the buyer will be frauding the seller. And while this would give fraudulent buyers a taste of their own medicine, the problem of fraud would still exist.
How else could the issue of fraud be combated?
[...] Many people are complaining about the scammers that proliferate forums like Digital Point. [...]
Following the model of Scriptlance appears to be the most obvious solution. On Scriptlance, money is transfered into an escrow account from the buyer to the programmer. The buyer is the only one who can release the funds, and the seller is the only one who can cancel the project. Projects do not begin until money is in the escrow account. In this manner, final payment from the escrow account is completed when services are rendered.