Purchase scams are deceptively simple: a buyer pays for goods — concert tickets, a phone, a puppy, a car deposit — that never arrive. They are the most common APP fraud by volume because they are easy to run at scale and prey on the desire for a good deal.
The off-platform push
Many scams start on a legitimate marketplace, then move the buyer to a direct bank transfer 'to save fees' or 'because the item will sell fast'. That bank transfer usually lands in a mule account whose name has nothing to do with the seller's profile.
A bank transfer with no buyer protection
Once a buyer is pushed to a direct transfer, marketplace protections fall away. A Verification of Payee name check is one of the few signals left before the money goes.
Where VoP intervenes
- 1 Run Verification of Payee when the buyer pays a new payee.
- 2 Surface a clear warning if the account name does not match the seller.
- 3 Pair the warning with advice to keep payments on protected channels.
- 4 Use repeated mismatches to flag mule accounts behind multiple scams.
Protecting everyday payments
RoxPay's Verification of Payee gives PSPs a real-time name check for exactly these everyday transfers, helping buyers spot a fake seller before the money leaves their account.