Scam alert: Samsung Galaxy S9 release

Last week the world’s largest mobile gathering, Mobile World Congress, took place in Barcelona. Mobile providers from all around the globe battled with each other for exposure and to showcase their latest state of the art technology to the industry.

The South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung officially announced one of the most exciting mobile phone releases of the year – the new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. 

Tech and phone enthusiasts from every corner of the World have eagerly awaited this moment and they sure have no reason to be disappointed. The smartphones, built on the blueprint of the Galaxy 8-series, are equipped with extensive artificial intelligence integration, improved camera modules, and all-around multimedia capabilities.  

As buyers are preparing to do anything necessary to get their hands on their very own Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus, scammers are lurking in the waters. Just like a predator in the savanna, scammers are targeting eager, early adapters desperate to get the phone before their peers. By offering phones for pre-order or for sale they lure potential buyers into purchasing a phone that simply does not exist.

How can you prepare for the scam spike following the Galaxy S9 release? 

Doing your homework and staying on top of scam trends is important. Our Trust & Safety team analyses scam patterns on a day-to-day basis, combining this research with our experience, we can predict trends and foresee scam spikes during certain periods of the year.

In order for you and your moderation team to stay on top of the details surrounding the release, we want to share what we know so far: 

Customers who pre-order the phone before March 7th are expected to receive their brand-new Galaxy S9 phone ahead of schedule on March 14th. This means smartphones will be available on the market before the official sales date. Therefore, you may find second-hand phones and resellers on your online marketplace even before smartphones are available to purchase.  

Make sure that your moderation team is well aware of all details surrounding the release and have the tools necessary to handle scams on your site. In order to protect your users, there are some specific release scams you should know about. You can read about them here.

Be prepared and stay cautious during this high scam risk period. You don’t want users to be scammed on your site – it’s definitely not a pleasant experience for them nor is it good for your site’s reputation. 

If you want to learn more about how you can create a safe online marketplace for your users – talk to our content moderation team and we’ll help you with your specific needs. 

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