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Selling fraud

The courier will collect it: the fake buyer and the courier trick

A buyer replies fast and barely negotiates, wants to pay cash and sends a courier or "delivery service" to collect the item. Or you are shown a screen where the payment already seems to have succeeded, with a courier said to be on the way. In both cases one thing is arranged before you see anything back: the money. The Dutch Fraud Helpdesk describes the structure literally: "Do not let items be collected by a courier as long as the amount is not in your account" (Fraud Helpdesk, updated 23 September 2026). And the forged confirmation is not an exception: a screenshot of a transfer is not proof, and a transfer shown on a phone can be fake too (Fraud Helpdesk).

The rule that breaks the pattern: nothing leaves until the amount is visibly in your own account, and your ID and payment links stay out of this conversation.

Direct answer: five checks before the courier takes anything

  1. Open your own banking app, not the buyer's screen. Check whether the amount has actually been credited; "I have paid" is a claim, a credit is a fact.
  2. Let nothing be collected while the money is not in your account. Not even with an "envelope of cash" the courier would bring: you are handing over the item against a promise instead of against payment.
  3. Only use a delivery or courier service you choose yourself. A courier sent by the buyer is an unknown third party; if it goes wrong, you have given the item to someone without payment.
  4. Never pay an "insurance", "deposit" or label through a link or gift card. Real carriers do not make the seller pay upfront to receive a parcel; this is where the courier trick aims.
  5. Share no ID and keep the conversation on the platform. A copy of your identity document opens identity fraud, and conversations led off-platform (WhatsApp, email) fall outside the platform's protection and fraud monitoring.

Two variants, one structure

Variant A — "I will have it collected". The buyer avoids shipping and postpones payment with a story (cash in an envelope, "the courier is already on the way"). As soon as you cooperate, the item is gone and the follow-up payment never comes. To judge the forged confirmation itself, see how to spot a fake payment proof; for a call claiming to be your bank, use the five checks on a fake bank call.

Variant B — "the insurance still has to be paid". After the pickup moment comes an email from (or on behalf of) the "courier company": an insurance payment is still required, usually through gift cards or a link. The Fraud Helpdesk describes exactly this courier trick with the envelope of cash and the follow-up payment (Fraud Helpdesk).

What a detector does and does not see

A "paid" screen is an image and can be created, edited or fully generated. You can run such a screen through the image detector as triage, but the score says nothing about the sender or the payment. The source of truth is your own banking environment, not an image.

If the item has already been handed over

Frequently asked questions

Is a buyer who sends a courier always fake?

Not always, but the pattern goes wrong often. The rule is simple: no credit, no handover. Choose a delivery service yourself if collection is on the table, and let nobody else arrange the pickup.

May I click a payment request from the buyer?

No. Marktplaats advises never clicking a payment link a buyer or seller sends; a request to transfer a few cents "to check" or "for the shipping label" is a trick (Marktplaats, payment fraud). Settle the payment through the platform or your own bank.

Does a detector score prove the screen is fake?

No. The score describes patterns in the image and says nothing about the sender or the payment. Use it as triage, never as proof; your own banking environment is the only source of truth.