Buyers on OfferUp get hit when someone poses as the seller, OfferUp Support, or a “payment specialist.” The pitch moves you off the app: pay by wire, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, crypto, or gift cards to “confirm the order,” “release a hold,” or “upgrade shipping.” Real local deals settle with cash at a public meetup. OfferUp ended nationwide shipping in 2025, so remote “complete OfferUp checkout / shipping payment” instructions are obsolete. Off-platform payment usually means no buyer protection.
Meetup and shipping cousins: Fake OfferUp meetup scams and Fake OfferUp shipping scams. Seller-side overpayment theater: Fake OfferUp buyer overpayment scams. eBay parallel: Fake eBay seller impersonation scams. Related: Credit and debt scams.
How the impersonation play works
| What you see | What is actually happening |
|---|---|
| Text or email: “Seller can’t receive OfferUp pay; send Zelle / wire instead” | Scammer, not the seller; do not abandon a real meetup/cash plan for off-app payment |
| Spoofed “offerup.com” lookalike domain or “seller@gmail” invoice | Phishing or social-engineering (Phishing and account takeover) |
| “Pay with Apple / Google Play / Steam cards to unlock shipping” | Irreversible gift-card drain |
| “Partial refund if you pay the rest outside OfferUp to skip fees” | You lose purchase protection; money is gone |
| Caller claiming to be the seller’s “assistant” with a new payment link | Voice spoof; payment truth lives in your OfferUp purchase or chat history |
Hard rules
- Pay with cash at a public meetup for OfferUp deals. Do not follow retired remote shipping-checkout steps. No wire, P2P, crypto, or gift cards to “complete” an OfferUp buy (Zelle and P2P scams).
- Type offerup.com yourself or open the official app. Do not use emailed “pay now” links.
- Seller identity in the listing and in-app chat beats a freemail “invoice.”
- OfferUp will not demand gift cards or crypto to release a package.
Worked example: the $890 “seller can’t take OfferUp pay” wire
Casey wins a laptop Buy It Now–style listing for $890. Minutes later a Gmail message claims to be the seller: OfferUp payments are “down,” so Casey should wire $890 to a personal name at Wells Fargo and attach the OfferUp item number. A second SMS offers a $40 “fee refund” via gift card if Casey pays today.
Casey almost wires from Bank of America. Instead Casey opens OfferUp on a typed URL, checks Messages and listing details, and sees no such request from the real seller. Casey ignores the freemail, reports the phishing, and either schedules a public cash meetup or cancels if the listing smells wrong.
If Casey had wired, the laptop would not arrive, OfferUp buyer protection would not cover an off-platform send, and the wire would be effectively gone.
If you already paid off-platform
- Contact your bank or card issuer’s fraud line the same day; ask about recall or dispute options (wires and gift cards are often hard to reverse).
- Report inside OfferUp and at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; save emails, headers, and receipts.
- Do not send a second “release” or “customs” payment.
- If you shared passwords or codes, change them and review phishing and account takeover steps; consider a credit freeze if identity data moved.
Checklist
- Payment truth lives in OfferUp chat/listing details or cash in hand, not freemail invoices or SMS.
- No gift cards, wires, crypto, or P2P to “finish” an OfferUp purchase.
- Type offerup.com yourself; ignore lookalike domains.
- Verify seller contact only through OfferUp Messages tied to the listing.
- Report impersonation attempts even when you did not pay.
Educational only. Not legal, banking, or platform-policy advice. OfferUp payment tools and buyer-protection windows change; confirm current Help pages before you pay or dispute.