Safety Guide

The safety of all Hallo users is one of our main priorities. We take many precautionary measures to identify and eliminate spam and fraud ads being posted on our website. It is, however, sometimes difficult to identify scam and that is why it is very important that you take your safety very seriously and be careful when dealing with other people.  

We have prepared these safety guides to provide you with some general tips and advice that we encourage you to follow so that you can have an enjoyable and safe Hallo experience.

If you have any suspicions that an ad posted on our website is illicit and/or illegal, please inform us so that we can remove it immediately.

Buying Safely on Hallo

Most online sellers are genuine people who want to sell a car, selling used stuff, selling new items or just selling something that they no longer need. There are, however, scammers, who pretend to be selling items, but are actually trying to cheat other people. These scammers are absolutely not welcome on Hallo and we do take many steps to restrict their access. . It is your responsibility to take all necessary measures to ensure your safety.

Please read carefully and follow our Safety Tips when buying on Hallo.

• Inspect the item before making a payment, if possible
• If, you decide to make a payment for an item that you have not inspected, make sure that you always use secure payment methods like PayPal. 
• Never make any payments/deposits using Western Union or Money Gram as this is one of the most commonly used scam strategies.
• Meet the seller accompanied by someone you trust, if possible in a public place and never go inside the seller’s house.
• If you are meeting a seller, never carry a lot of money with you. If you are planning to buy an expensive item, we would advise you to make payments via PayPal or bank transfer.
• Take all possible steps to ensure that the item you are buying has not been stolen. For example, if you are buying a vehicle, ensure its legitimacy by requesting a proof of purchase, original documents and certificates like V5 documents and MOT certificates. For more information about a vehicle, visit www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
• Arrange viewings during daylight and always be accompanied by someone you trust.
• Be aware of scammers who request payments or deposits in advance of viewings – this is illegal! Never make any payments for deposits to secure a product to someone who claims that they are abroad.
• If you are buying a pet, bear in mind that no payments should be made, before you actually see the pet. Most genuine pet sellers are people who care about animals and they would certainly want to meet a potential buyer and make sure that the animal will be in safe hands. If someone wants to sell you a pet, without offering to meet you before any payment is made, this is a clear sign of scam.

Selling Safely on Hallo

• If you are a seller, make sure that you have received your payment before releasing the item you are selling.
• If you are meeting a buyer, make sure that you have someone you can trust with you.
• Try to arrange to meet potential buyers at public places.
• Never invite people you do not know inside your home.
• Always keep your dispatch notes/receipts safe as this is your only proof that the item has been sent by you to the buyer. Please note that your PayPal Seller Protection will be invalidated if you do not have a dispatch note with a tracing number.
• Always use secure delivery options.
• If selling a ticket, never post a copy of a barcode as this may result in your ticket being cloned.

Safely Renting a Property

• Always arrange viewings of properties during daylight and always be accompanied by someone you trust.
• Be aware of scammers who request payments or deposits in advance of viewings or before signing contracts – this is illegal! Never make any payments for properties you have not seen or to people who claim that they are abroad and unable to meet you in person!
• Before signing a contract, always read the whole document and make sure that you are happy with the conditions.

Please note that these are only general tips for your safety! It is your responsibility to ensure your safety at all times!

Spam Free Messaging

For the privacy of our users and to prevent spam, we have developed a secure anonymous messaging system. E-mail addresses will not be disclosed for any hallo users, regardless of whether they are registered account users or Hallo visitors who are replying to an advert. All email correspondence goes through our secure messaging system, which generates anonymous e-mail addresses and re-directs to the true e-mail address.

For the convenience of our users, all e-mail correspondence is also securely stored for 12 months in their Hallo Mailbox which allows Hallo account holders to receive mails and reply to messages.

We have even gone a step further and have put the following rules in place to prevent spam and to ensure that all Hallo messages are genuine and safe.

When replying to an advert all users should:

• include their name. User name is pre-filled for registered users.
• include a valid e-mail address.
• use at least 10 characters in their message.
• not include e-mail addresses and http links in the text of their message.
• not include any offensive or abusive words.

Please note, that a daily limit of 10 replies to adverts applies to unregistered users. If you would like to reply to more than 10 ads a day, you will need to register or log in to your account.

If, despite all safety measures that we have put in place, you receive a message, which is in breach of our Safety Guide, please let us know. 

If you have any suspicions of scam, fraud or any illegal ads, please contact us by using our spam reporting tool so that we can remove the listing from our website!

Enjoy Hallo safely!

How to recognise a scam?

There are various patterns that may indicate adverts with fraudulent content. Here are some of them:

• Be always suspicious to low cost adverts
• Never agree to transfer money or make payment for deposits.
• Paying on collection of items is always safe way to assure your purchase.
• To make a payment for an item, always use PayPal payment method.
• Requesting deposit or any fees for rentals prior to viewing, should immediately trigger alert for fraud and such advertisers should be reported through our spam reporting tool.
• Genuine advertisers (in most of the categories) would prefer leaving email as well as a telephone number for contact.

How to report any suspicious ads?

We take spam seriously - please use our spam reporting tool to report adverts that may be suspicious of fraud, abuse, identity copyright infringement or spam.

Say Hallo to Safe Online Selling, Buying and Advertising!