Scam Types Observed on Carousell in 2025 – Carousell Help Centre

Scam Types Observed on Carousell in 2025

At Carousell, we care about keeping your online transactions safe. Learn about the tactics swindlers use in 2025 and how to avoid them.

While over 99% of deals on Carousell go smoothly, being familiar with the methods used by different types of cybercriminals is key to avoiding them.

Below are the scam types we’ve observed in 2025.

E-commerce Scams

This is the most prevalent scam type. It typically involves fake sellers or fraudulent listings offering attractive deals. Common variants include:

1. Deposit and pre-order scams

Scammers advertise high-demand or limited items and request a deposit or full payment upfront.

Common targets include Pokémon cards, K-pop merchandise, event tickets, toys and games, and audio products like AirPods.

After payment, scammers may repeatedly delay shipping with excuses, provide you with fake shipping updates, fail to provide you with any tracking number, or deliver you an item that is defective or significantly different from what was listed. Eventually, the scammer becomes unresponsive or blocks you.

Infographic for e-commerce scams across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan. The section on deposit and pre-order scams (specific to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan) features a mockup of a rare collectible card listing to demonstrate how scammers lure buyers into making upfront payments for limited items. The infographic also mentions that common targets are Pokémon cards, K-pop merchandise, event tickets, toys and games, and audio products.

Learn more on how to stay safe from pre-order scams here.

2. Misrepresentation and non-delivery scams

Scammers offer trendy or high-quality items at unusually low prices and appear friendly.

Common targets include men’s and women’s fashion, as well as furniture and home living items.

After payment, scammers may provide you with fake shipping updates, fail to provide you with any tracking number, or deliver you an item that is defective or significantly different from what was listed. Eventually, the scammer becomes unresponsive or blocks you.

Infographic for e-commerce scams across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan. The section on misrepresentation and non-delivery scams (specific to Malaysia and the Philippines) features a mockup of a sofa listing priced at PHP 300 to illustrate how scammers lure buyers with unusually low prices for high-quality items. The infographic also mentions that common targets are men’s and women’s fashion, as well as furniture and home living items.

To stay safe:

Be cautious of prices that are too good to be true
Check the seller’s profile, ratings, reviews, and past transactions
Opt for a physical meet-up where possible to verify before payment

Off-platform Scams

Scammers often pretend to be buyers and move you to a fake site to steal your money. Common variants include:

1. Phishing links

Scammers may ask for your email address and send fake links disguised as “payment confirmation”.

After engaging with such links, you might share your personal details unknowingly, get tricked into entering login credentials, transact on fake sites, and approve fake payment requests.

Mockup of a phishing email using Carousell branding with a fake payment confirmation link for a seller’s listed item, leading to a fraudulent site to steal the seller’s personal information and funds.

2. Phishing messages

Scammers may encourage you to continue the conversation on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, or LINE. They may even use images or obfuscated text to bypass our system detection.

After engaging with such messages, you might share your personal details unknowingly, get tricked into entering login credentials, transact on fake sites, and approve fake payment requests.

A user on their phone sees a “Scam alert” warning next to a suspicious Carousell message asking to move the conversation to WhatsApp. The message obscures the phone number using spaces and periods to evade Carousell’s detection tools.

Learn more on how to stay safe from phishing scams here.

3. Email impersonation

Scammers may guess your email address based on your Carousell username and send emails referencing actual listing titles to appear legitimate.

After engaging with such emails, you might share your personal details unknowingly, get tricked into entering login credentials, transact on fake sites, and approve fake payment requests.

Side-by-side illustration of email impersonation showing a Carousell listing for a 14-inch laptop by “user456” on the left, and a phishing email sent to “user456@gmail.com” with the subject “Laptop 14-inch” on the right, demonstrating how scammers can guess a user’s email address based on their public username to make their inquiry seem legitimate.

Learn more on how to stay safe from email impersonation here.

Digital Goods and Gaming Scams

Scammers often target buyers of digital assets, where transactions are difficult to reverse and items are difficult to verify before payment.

Common targets include gaming gift cards, in-game items, and gaming accounts.

After payment, scammers may send you invalid, used, or wrong region codes, claim there are “system delays” before disappearing, or simply vanish without giving you account access.

Infographic about digital goods and gaming scams in Hong Kong and Singapore. It features two mockups: one showing an in-game supercar skin bundle listing and another showing a high-level game account listing, illustrating how scammers target digital assets that are difficult to verify before payment. The infographic also mentions common targets are gaming gift cards, in-game items, and gaming accounts.

To stay safe:

Check the seller’s profile, ratings, reviews, and past transactions
Be cautious of prices that are too good to be true
Avoid direct bank transfers or off-platform payment apps
Request recent screenshots or screen recordings to verify account details
After receiving access, immediately update password, email, and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) settings
Remove all linked third-party accounts such as Google and Facebook
Opt for a physical meet-up where possible to verify before payment

Scams Spotted in Certain Markets

Some other scam types are prevalent in specific markets:

1. Philippines: “Commission and pa-abono rider” scam

Scammers may pose as buyers purchasing on behalf of someone else and ask you to include a “commission” in the price. They arrange delivery through a rider who advances the payment (“abono”), then pressure you to send the “commission” before delivery is completed.

Infographic showing the 4 steps of the Philippines-specific “Commission and Pa-Abono Rider” scam: (1) scammer asks a seller to mark up the listing price as a commission; (2) scammer arranges for a delivery rider to pay the advanced price (‘abono’) to the seller, then rushes the seller to transfer the commission fee; (3) the rider finds the delivery address is invalid and returns to the seller for a refund; (4) scammer disappears, leaving the seller out of pocket.

Learn more on how to stay safe from “Commission and Pa-Abono Rider” scam here.

2. Taiwan: Refund scam

Scammers may deliver you defective or misrepresented items and promise a refund, but never follow through.

Common targets include electronic items.

Infographic showing the 2 steps of the Taiwan-specific “refund” scam: (1) Scammer delivers a defective item, like a cracked laptop, that differs from the listing; (2) When the buyer asks for a refund, the scammer repeatedly delays with excuses, such as being busy with exams, before eventually blocking the buyer and disappearing.