Report a listing or a user
Pakstoor reads every report. We can remove a listing, suspend a user, freeze a deal, or escalate to law enforcement, but we need the basics first.
Active desks
04
Listing · User · Security · Deal
Response SLA
24–72h
Depending on the desk
Triaged by
Humans
No bots, no ticket maze
Identity
Private
Reporter never disclosed
Report a listing
Counterfeit, restricted item, suspicious pattern, or anything that doesn't belong on Pakstoor. Include the listing URL.
abuse@pakstoor.co.za →Report a user
Someone trying to take chat off-platform, share contact details, demand cash, or impersonate another user. Include the username.
abuse@pakstoor.co.za →Report a security issue
You found a security gap, leaked data, or a way to break payment / dispute / payout flow. Good-faith research welcomed.
security@pakstoor.co.za →I have an open deal with a serious issue
Do not email evidence. Go to your deal page and open a Formal Protected Review. Funds remain protected while the case is reviewed.
How Formal Protected Review works →Process · What happens next
Every report follows the same four steps.
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Step 01
Submitted
Your report is timestamped and routed to the correct desk.
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Step 02
Triaged
A real Pakstoor team member reads it and assigns severity.
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Step 03
Investigated
Evidence reviewed; the offending account is questioned.
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Step 04
Resolved
Outcome applied; you're notified by reply email.
Outcomes · What Pakstoor can do
Six real actions, not a "we received your ticket" auto-reply.
Remove a listing within hours of triage.
Suspend or ban an offending account.
Freeze a deal. Funds remain protected.
Trigger a Formal Protected Review.
Escalate to SAPS or law enforcement.
Issue a platform-wide warning when warranted.
Routing · Before you report
If this is what's wrong, there's a faster route.
Damage / loss
Item arrived damaged or missing
Open a Formal Protected Review on the deal page. Don't accept the parcel if the damage is serious. →
Question
General question about a listing
Use the structured question dropdown on the listing. The seller answers directly. →
Account
Can't sign in or account locked
Use the Forgot link, or email support directly. One business-day SLA. →
Your identity is never disclosed
We don't share your name, email, or any identifying detail with the person you reported. Investigation happens on Pakstoor's side; the offending account hears from us, not from you.
Bad-faith reports get flagged
Pakstoor treats reporting tools as part of trust infrastructure. Reports knowingly made in bad faith (to harass a seller or win a dispute through volume) are flagged on the reporter's account.
Reports go to a real person at Pakstoor. We don't share your identity with the person you reported. Reports made in bad faith may be flagged on your account.
Engineered to remove the moments other marketplaces leave to chance.
Five active protections work together every time a Pakstoor deal happens. This is how each one keeps you safe.
Two ways to buy or sell privately
Risky path vs protected path
Off-platform private sales leave no traceable record. Pakstoor moves payment, delivery, and communication onto auditable rails.
| Risky path | Protected path | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Direct EFT | Escrow partner holds funds |
| Delivery | Meetup | Courier-only, tracked |
| Communication | Off-platform chat, messaging apps, or SMS | Pakstoor chat only |
Safety rules
Seven things to keep the protection on
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No meetups
Cash-in-hand swaps have no recourse.
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No direct EFT
EFTs sit outside Pakstoor’s protection.
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No phone numbers in chat
Off-platform contact bypasses the audit trail.
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Courier-only delivery
Every parcel has a tracked waybill.
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Escrow partner protection
Funds are held by the escrow partner during delivery and inspection.
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Report suspicious listings
Use the report flow on the listing page.
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Keep the deal on Pakstoor
The protection only applies to deals completed on-platform.
Money held in trust
Buyers never pay sellers directly. Funds sit with TradeSafe (our regulated payment partner) until delivery and inspection.
- Pay via Ozow, Instant EFT, or SnapScan. All SARS-registered SA gateways.
- TradeSafe holds the money in a regulated trust account.
- The seller can't touch a cent before the parcel is in transit.
- If anything goes wrong, the funds freeze until it's resolved.
Courier only.
No meetups. Ever.
The single biggest safety decision we made, and it isn't negotiable.
"Meet me at the mall at 5pm with cash."
No tracking. No witness. No insurance. The hijack pattern.
Verified courier collects. Live tracking. Insurance.
Listings show only the seller's city and the buyer's suburb. The courier handles addresses — no in-person handover.
Structured chat. No free-text.
Buyer questions come from a catalogue. Seller answers come from a dropdown. Structured communication reduces the uncertainty common in informal marketplaces.
- Phone numbers, email addresses and links are blocked automatically.
- "Meet me at…" / "Pay me directly…" patterns can't be sent.
- Image OCR scans every photo for hidden contact details.
- No off-platform handoff means no impersonation risk.
Sellers are verified before payout
Every seller passes ID + bank-account verification through TradeSafe FICA before they can receive a single Rand. The gold “VERIFIED” pill on a profile means it's done.
- South African ID number checked against Home Affairs.
- Bank account verified by avs.
- Identity locked to the listing. You know who you're buying from.
- Unverified sellers can list, but cannot collect funds.
Inspection window & Protected Transaction Review
After courier-confirmed delivery, you have the applicable inspection window shown on the deal page to confirm everything is correct or open a Protected Review. If a Protected Review is opened within that window, release is paused while Pakstoor reviews the case.
- Opening a Protected Review pauses release and starts evidence review. It is a request for review, not an instruction to release funds.
- Courier damage, transit loss, or parcel compromise is routed into Courier & Insurance Review.
- Return authorization is a separate decision from refund approval. Funds remain protected while the case is reviewed.
- If you confirm receipt early and there is no Formal Review, seller payout releases the same day.
Things we promise to never do
- Email you asking for your password.
- Ask you to pay a seller outside Pakstoor.
- Share your contact details with another user.
- Charge an upfront listing fee.
- Allow firearms, alcohol, tobacco or counterfeits.
- Permit in-person collection.
Want to dig deeper?
The Trust Center has the operational details: security commitments, compliance posture, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Pakstoor Safety Standard
Funds in trust · Courier only · Structured chat · Verified payouts · Reviewable.
Five active protections work together on every Pakstoor deal. They reduce risk; they do not remove it. Read the listing, ask before paying, and stay on-platform.