How to report a scammer on OfferUp and report a scammer on Upwork: which side of the off-app line the money was on
Short answer. To report a scammer on OfferUp, open the person's profile or your chat with them, tap the three-dot menu, choose Report, pick a reason and submit. OfferUp never tells the user and shows you no status. To report a scammer on Upwork, click the green "Flag as inappropriate" flag on the profile, job post or message and pick a reason. Neither report returns money: OfferUp sales are final, and Upwork protects only payments made on Upwork.
Most advice on how to report a scammer on OfferUp is out of date. Guides published as late as February 2026 still describe a two-day Purchase Protection claim. OfferUp's own help centre, read on 15 October 2026, says the platform "only supports local, in-person transactions", that shipping was retired in two steps in September and October 2025, and that "all sales are final once payment is made". The report button still works. What sits behind it changed.
Upwork moved the other way. Its 2026 guide lists nine named reasons inside the flag dialog, and its February 2026 transparency report puts the median review time for user reports at 22 minutes. Both platforms draw the same line, though: a report can remove an account, while money comes back only if it never left the platform's own payment system. This guide covers how to report a scammer on Upwork and on OfferUp first, then the related report routes people reach for next, from Craigslist and Cash App to Bluesky, Kik and Chrome extensions. For services not covered here, the wider 18-service scam reporting guide sets out the same split. Nothing here is legal or financial advice.
What decides what a scam report can actually do?
The off-app line decides it. While the chat and the payment stay inside a platform, that platform holds the messages, the payment record and the account, so a report can lead to removal and sometimes a refund. Once a scammer moves the conversation to text, Telegram or WhatsApp, or the money to cash, a payment app or crypto, the platform holds only a profile to remove.
Scammers know where that line is, which is why nearly every scam script on both platforms tries to cross it. OfferUp's help centre lists "they want you to send payments outside of the OfferUp platform" as a reason to report a user. Upwork's support article calls off-platform payment "a common scam technique" and says keeping payments in its system is how a freelancer stays "eligible for our payment protection services". The scammer's first request is usually the move, not the money.
Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to fraud in 2025 said it began on social media, with $2.1 billion lost through that first contact.Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel data cited September 2026
The practical rule follows from that. Report on the platform where the scammer has an account, because only that platform can remove the account. Report to whoever moved the money, because only that party can reverse a payment. File a government report as well when the loss is real, because banks, exchanges and police often ask for the reference number. The sections below give each route in that order. Where one scam crossed several apps before the money moved, the guide to reporting a scam across apps sets out which report to file first.
How do you report a scammer on OfferUp in 2026?
To report a scammer on OfferUp, open a listing the person posted, tap their profile picture, tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Report, choose a reason, add an optional note and tap Submit Report. The same Report option sits in the three-dot menu of any Inbox conversation. On OfferUp.com, a report flag icon sits under the profile picture instead.
OfferUp's "Report a user" article, updated on 8 October 2026, lists the situations it wants reported: a suspected scam, a request for a phone number, email, password or verification code, suspicious links to third-party websites, requests to pay outside OfferUp, items that may be fake or stolen, a no-show at a meetup, and harassing messages. The report form carries an optional "Block This User?" toggle, so reporting and blocking happen in one step.
Save the evidence first
Screenshot the listing, the profile and the whole Inbox thread, including any phone number or link the scammer sent. A blocked or removed account can take the thread with it.
Report the user from the profile or the chat
Profile or conversation, three-dot menu, Report, reason, note, Submit Report. The note is optional, but OfferUp says it "directly affects how quickly and accurately we can act".
Report the listing separately
On the listing page, scroll past the Description, select Report, choose a reason and tap Submit Report, then Done. A listing report covers fake, stolen or prohibited items; a user report covers behaviour.
Go to the police for anything that happened at a meetup
OfferUp's "Report a crime" article puts law enforcement first and OfferUp second, and asks victims to have the investigating officer contact OfferUp, which then shares account information with the police.
Two details matter to anyone who has tried to report a scammer on OfferUp and is waiting for a result. OfferUp's help page says "We don't tell users when they get reported", and it also says "you won't see a status update in the app". A report on OfferUp is therefore a one-way message. The only visible sign that it worked is the profile disappearing, and even then OfferUp will not confirm why.
What happened to OfferUp Purchase Protection?
OfferUp Purchase Protection was tied to shipped orders paid in the app, and shipped orders no longer exist on OfferUp. The help article "Nationwide shipping ending" gives the timeline: from 23 September 2025 new listings had to be local pickup only, and by 21 October 2025 shipping was removed from existing listings. OfferUp's payment page now says "When meeting a local seller, bring cash", and its refund page says sellers "aren't obligated to offer a refund or exchange for any reason".
That changes what anyone who wants to report a scammer on OfferUp can expect. A down payment sent by Zelle, Cash App or Venmo before seeing a sofa is outside OfferUp's reach, so the money route is the payment app or bank covered further down. Counterfeit cash at a meetup is a police matter. OfferUp's scam article names the patterns it sees most: links that take buyers off OfferUp ("All legitimate OfferUp links will contain 'offerup.com'"), requests for a verification code, which OfferUp says it never sends to verify listings, and sellers who want a deposit before an inspection.
One more OfferUp route is easy to miss. OfferUp also hosts job listings, and its "Common job and employment scams" article tells anyone who has already sent a check or payment to a suspicious employer to contact their bank immediately to stop it. To report a scammer on OfferUp who posted a fake job, use the listing's Report option, as for an item.
How do you report a scammer on Upwork?
To report a scammer on Upwork, find the green flag labelled "Flag as inappropriate" on the freelancer profile, portfolio, job post or Upwork Message Center thread, click it, choose the reason that fits and submit. For a request to take work or payment off the platform, Upwork also asks for a direct message to Customer Support with screenshots or a chat transcript attached.
Upwork's guide "How To Identify Scams on Upwork and Report Them in 2026", published on 3 August 2026, lists the reasons the flag dialog may offer. They vary by the type of content, and include these nine:
- Requests for or offers of payment outside of the Upwork platform
- Requests to purchase access to your Upwork account
- Suspected false or misrepresented identity
- Suspicious links in job posts
- Contact information in job posts, messages, or freelancer profiles and portfolios
- Copyright violations and suspected plagiarism
- Inappropriate content
- Threats and harassment
- Demands for five-star ratings
Anyone who wants to report a scammer on Upwork should pick the precise reason, because the dialog routes a report by its reason. A client who asks for a "background check fee" belongs under payment outside Upwork. A client using a celebrity's photo belongs under false identity. A scam that cannot be described with any of the nine reasons is one for Customer Support, with the transcript attached.
Upwork says the median review time for user reports fell to 22 minutes in 2025, while job offers from bad-actor clients fell by more than 90% year on year.Upwork, 2025 Transparency Report, 26 February 2026
The scams Upwork describes in 2026 all try to start work or payment before a contract exists. Its list includes fake AI-training jobs that charge a fee for a dashboard, "background check" fees, identity theft disguised as onboarding, where a fake client asks for a Social Security number or bank details, and interview traps that move the chat to Telegram, WhatsApp or an outside video call. Upwork staff email only from @upwork.com or @cloud.upwork.com addresses, which settles most "Upwork support" messages at a glance. Where a trap has already moved to Telegram, the guide to Telegram report bots explains why paid mass-report services are not a shortcut there.
What does Upwork Payment Protection cover after a report?
Upwork Payment Protection covers only work done under an Upwork contract and paid through Upwork. The support article "Recognize red flags and avoid scams" tells freelancers on fixed-price contracts not to start until every agreed milestone is funded, and on hourly contracts to log time with the Upwork desktop app. A payment taken by bank transfer or crypto after an off-platform chat falls outside both.
A scammer who takes over an account is a separate case. Upwork's guide says to contact Support "as soon as possible" with the account email and an explanation, then change the password and security question, and warns that Upwork "may put a hold on your account" while it investigates. During a hold the owner cannot change the password either. The Account Health Hub shows enforcement actions and next steps. For a hijacked account on another service, the account recovery service covers the documentation each platform asks for.
How do you report a Craigslist scam, a Depop scammer or an Airbnb scam?
All three platforms take a report on the listing or message, and all three stop protecting money that leaves their checkout. To report Craigslist scam posts, use the "prohibited" flag at the top of the posting. To report Depop scammer accounts, use Report on the profile or listing. To report Airbnb scam messages, report the thread and contact Airbnb straight away.
Craigslist runs the plainest system of the three. Its contact page tells users to "use the 'prohibited' link at the top of each posting to flag fraudulent posts and scams", and its flagging FAQ says a sufficiently flagged ad is removed automatically, with millions removed each month. Craigslist is unusual in that flags from readers can remove an ad without a staff decision. It holds no payments at all, so a Craigslist report never returns money; the money route is always the bank, card issuer or payment app used.
Depop's help centre could not be read for this guide, so the Depop details come from security vendors' guides and are marked as such. Those guides agree that purchases made with the app's Buy button fall under Depop's purchase protection, and that a bank transfer or a PayPal "Friends & Family" payment arranged in messages does not. The report itself goes through Report on the user's profile or the listing, with screenshots of the chat attached and any request to pay outside Depop named in the note.
Airbnb's help pages, as indexed on 15 October 2026, say hosts may not request reservation payments off Airbnb, apart from listed taxes and fees, and that "we can't help with issues related to off-site or cash payments". They name wire or bank transfer requests, cashier's checks, money orders and PDF or paper invoices as signs of fraud. For a scam that started in messages, open Messages, select the conversation, click the three dots and choose Report this message, then contact Airbnb.
How do you report a Cash App scammer or a crypto scammer?
To report Cash App scammer accounts, open the payment in Activity, select it and choose Report an issue, then report the recipient's profile. A crypto scam takes three reports: the account on the app where the scammer was met, the wallet and transaction to the exchange that received the funds, and a complaint to the FBI's IC3 in the US or Report Fraud in the UK.
Cash App's help article says payments are "instant and usually can't be canceled", so the report in the app is mostly a record and a request, not a reversal. The recipient's profile has its own Report or Block option at the bottom. A card linked to Cash App can sometimes be disputed with the card issuer, which is a different desk with its own deadline.
IC3 logged 1,008,597 complaints and $20.9 billion in reported losses in 2025. Crypto accounted for 181,565 complaints and $11.37 billion, and the Recovery Asset Team froze $679 million of the $1.16 billion it worked on.FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center 2025 report, via The Block, 12 April 2026
Report Cash App scammer to IC3 with the $cashtag
File at ic3.gov with the scammer's $cashtag, payment dates and amounts, and screenshots. IC3 does not refund victims. Its value is the record it shares with law enforcement, and its Recovery Asset Team works quickly reported transfers through the banks involved.
Report crypto scammer wallets to the receiving exchange
Send the wallet address and transaction hash to the exchange that received the funds. An exchange can freeze an account it controls; nobody can freeze a private wallet, so speed only helps while the money sits on an exchange.
Report crypto scam to FBI's IC3, not a field office inbox
The FBI routes online fraud complaints through IC3. Include wallet addresses, transaction hashes, exchange names and the website or app the scammer used, and keep the complaint number for the bank and the exchange.
Report crypto scam UK cases to Report Fraud
Report Fraud, launched by the City of London Police on 4 December 2025, replaced Action Fraud. Reports go online at reportfraud.police.uk or by phone on 0300 123 2040, and traffic to the old Action Fraud site is redirected.
Report crypto scam website hosts and registrars
An IC3 complaint does not take a site offline. The fake trading site's host and domain registrar can, through the phishing site takedown process, which sends evidence to both.
To report crypto romance scam losses, file both kinds of report: the dating app or social platform where the contact began, and IC3 or Report Fraud with the wallet trail. Romance scams that end on a fake trading platform are counted by IC3 as crypto investment fraud, which drew 61,559 complaints and $7.2 billion in losses in 2025. Recovery scams come next: IC3 counted 10,516 complaints and $1.4 billion lost to people promising to recover earlier losses, so anyone who offers to return stolen crypto for an upfront fee belongs in a second report. For scams that started on TikTok, such as fake TikTok Shop sellers, the guide to reporting a TikTok scammer sets out TikTok's own report paths.
How do you report a dating scammer or a love scammer?
To report dating scammer profiles, use the Report option on the profile or in the chat inside the dating app, before unmatching or blocking, because unmatching can delete the chat the moderators need. To report love scammer accounts that have already taken money, add a report to the payment provider and to IC3, the FTC or Report Fraud.
The order matters because dating-app chats vanish with the match. Screenshot the profile, the photos and the full conversation first, then report, then block.
Report impersonator on dating app profiles as the person in the photos
The person whose photos were stolen usually has a stronger case than the person who was messaged, because most dating apps ask the impersonated person to verify their own identity before removing a profile. A friend can still report the fake; the owner of the face is the one who can prove it.
The FTC received 55,604 romance-scam reports from January to September 2025, up 22%, with reported losses above $1.16 billion and a median loss of $2,218 in the third quarter.FTC Consumer Sentinel data, via Global Dating Insights, 26 February 2026
To report Grindr scammer profiles, open the profile, tap the block icon at the top left and choose Report. Grindr's help page lists seven categories, none of them "scam": Illegal Activity, Spam, Harassment or Bullying, Hate Speech or Discrimination, Nudity or Pornography, Underage, and Impersonation. The report can include the last 30 chats, and Grindr states that "reporting a profile does not block it", so blocking is a second tap.
To report impersonation on Grindr, choose the Impersonation category, which Grindr describes as anyone "pretending to be you or someone you know". To report Grindr impersonation as the person in the photos, expect Grindr's verification step: its help page says an account reported for impersonation can be suspended until the owner sends a selfie holding a paper with the account email. To report Grindr catfish profiles built on someone else's photos, the same Impersonation category applies; the step-by-step version is in the guide to reporting a Grindr catfish profile.
To report impersonation on Hinge, the in-app Report option on the profile is the first step, and Hinge's request form handles cases where the impersonated person does not use Hinge. Hinge's help centre could not be loaded for this guide, so this detail comes from indexed copies of its impersonation article: choose "Safety and Reporting" on the request form and give the name, age, bio and photos on the fake profile.
How do you report impersonation on LinkedIn, Threads, Tumblr, Bluesky or Lemon8?
Each of these platforms has an in-app report option for impersonation, and three of them add a form for people outside the app or for identity proof. LinkedIn and Bluesky handle impersonation inside the report menu. Threads uses Instagram's impersonation form. Lemon8 shares TikTok's US impersonation form. Tumblr's form is the least documented of the five.
To report impersonation on LinkedIn, open the fake profile, click More, then Report / Block, then "Report [name] or entire account", and choose "This person is impersonating someone" or "This account is not a real person". LinkedIn's help article adds that "Reported members won't know who made the report". To report LinkedIn impersonation of a company page rather than a person, use the same More menu on the page. LinkedIn says it stopped 99.7% of fake accounts proactively from July to December 2025, so a fake that survived long enough to reach someone has already passed the automated checks.
To report impersonation on Threads, use the profile's three-dot menu in the app, or Instagram's impersonation form, which asks for the impersonating account's Instagram or Threads username. The form takes one account per submission and asks for a photo of the reporter holding an ID, which Instagram says is deleted within 30 days. The same Meta system handles Facebook, covered in the guide to Facebook impersonation reports, and X runs its own form, set out in the X impersonation report guide.
To report impersonation on Tumblr, Tumblr's community guidelines bar impersonating anyone and registering a deliberately confusing blog URL, while allowing parody that does not claim to be the real person. Tumblr's help pages could not be read for this guide. Secondhand copies of its policy describe a separate online form for impersonation reports, and one blogger reads it as open only to the person being impersonated; check the live form before relying on that.
To report Bluesky impersonator accounts, use the Report option in the profile's menu and choose the reason that matches. Bluesky's Trust & Safety team said in November 2024 that "impersonation and handle-squatting accounts will be removed", and that parody and fan accounts must say so in both the display name and the bio; an account with only one of the two gets an impersonation label.
Report Bluesky account for impersonation as a brand or public figure
A brand or public figure has two things a private user lacks: a domain handle that proves ownership of a website, and Bluesky's blue check, introduced in April 2025 alongside "Trusted Verifiers". Point the report at the genuine handle so the moderator can compare the two accounts side by side.
Bluesky received 9.97 million user reports in 2025, up 54% on 2024, and took down 2,446,334 items.Bluesky, 2025 Transparency Report, 29 January 2026
Report impersonation account on Lemon8 through TikTok's form
Lemon8 has no impersonation form of its own. TikTok's US impersonation request form lists TikTok and Lemon8 as the two apps it covers. The form accepts up to 10 profile links and asks the impersonated person for a photo holding a government ID. Choosing "Someone else" ends the form, because TikTok acts only for the person or an authorised representative. The TikTok side of the same form is covered in the guide to reporting a fake TikTok account, and the overview of impersonation takedown routes compares which reports remove an account and which only record it.
How do you report a Discord server for scamming, a Kik scammer or a fake Chrome extension?
A Discord scam server is reported message by message, through Discord's in-app Report option and its Trust & Safety form, with message links and the server ID attached. To report Kik scammer accounts, tap the person's name at the top of the chat and choose Report User. To report Chrome extension impersonation, use the listing's report link and Google's legal removal tools.
Report Discord server for scam links, not just the server name
Discord needs locations it can open. Its support article on reporting the location of material gives the format: a message link as https://discordapp.com/channels/server-ID/channel-ID/message-ID, and the server ID for anything on the server itself, which needs Developer Mode switched on in Advanced settings to copy. The same article warns against filing "multiple reports about the same issue" or asking a group to report it, and says repeated violations "may result in account warnings or other penalties". Anyone trying to report Discord server for scamming should send one precise report with links, which does more than ten vague ones.
Kik's help centre could not be loaded for this guide, so the Kik path comes from school and police safety guides dated 2020 to 2025: open the chat, tap the person's name at the top, tap Report User and choose a reason. To report Kik scam account activity inside a group chat, use the group's own report option. Kik's safety page, undated, lists [email protected] for Trust & Safety issues; confirm it is current before sending evidence there.
To report Chrome extension impersonation, start from the Chrome Web Store's impersonation policy. It says an extension must not "pretend to be someone else" or claim it is "authorized by, endorsed by, or produced by another company or organization" when it is not. That policy page links only to Google's DMCA tool for copyright and names no separate impersonation form, so a brand usually files a trademark or copyright request through Google's legal removal tools and reports the listing too. Proton has said publicly that it notified Google three separate times about copycat Proton VPN extensions, and that removal took weeks in several cases.
What can each report do, and what can it not do?
Every report below can lead to an account or listing being removed, and none can return money on its own. The table sets the report path beside the money route, and marks where the platform's own help page could not be read on 15 October 2026, so the reader knows which paths are confirmed and which come from secondary guides.
| Where the scam happened | Where the report goes | Where money can come back | Source read |
|---|---|---|---|
| OfferUp | Profile or chat > three dots > Report; listing > Report | Nowhere on OfferUp: sales are final. Bank, card or payment app only | OfferUp help centre |
| Upwork | "Flag as inappropriate" on profile, portfolio, job post, message; Customer Support | Upwork payment protection and disputes, for on-platform contracts only | Upwork help and guide |
| Craigslist | "prohibited" flag on the posting | Bank, card or payment app | Craigslist contact page, FAQ |
| Depop | Report on profile or listing | Depop protection for Buy-button purchases | Security vendors' guides |
| Airbnb | Report this message; contact Airbnb | Airbnb, for payments made on Airbnb | Indexed Airbnb help pages |
| Cash App | Activity > payment > Report an issue; profile > Report | Rarely; linked card dispute | Cash App help |
| Crypto | Exchange, IC3 (US), Report Fraud (UK) | Only if an exchange freezes funds in time | IC3 report, gov.uk |
| Grindr | Block icon > Report > category, last 30 chats | Payment provider | Grindr help centre |
| Hinge | Profile report; request form "Safety and Reporting" | Payment provider | Indexed Hinge help |
| More > Report / Block > impersonation reason | Not applicable | LinkedIn help | |
| Threads | Profile menu; Instagram impersonation form | Not applicable | Instagram help form |
| Bluesky | Profile menu > Report | Not applicable | Bluesky policy posts |
| Lemon8 | TikTok US impersonation form | Not applicable | TikTok request form |
| Discord | In-app report, Trust & Safety form, message links | Payment provider | Discord support |
| Kik | Name at top of chat > Report User | Payment provider | Third-party safety guides |
| Chrome Web Store | Listing report; Google legal removal tools | Not applicable | Chrome Web Store policy |
When will a scam report not work?
A scam report will not work when it asks a platform for something the platform no longer holds. Anyone who tries to report a scammer on OfferUp to recover a cash sale or a Zelle deposit is asking a desk that never held the money. A request to report a scammer on Upwork cannot recover a crypto payment made after a Telegram interview either. A dating app cannot remove a fake profile on a different app. In each case the report still helps others, but it will not resolve the loss.
A report also stalls when it gives a moderator nothing to open. An Upwork report with no transcript, a Discord report with no message link, or an impersonation report filed by a friend on a form that only accepts the impersonated person is closed without action. The fix is the evidence, not a second report. Several platforms, Discord among them, treat repeated reports of the same issue as misuse.
Some scammers simply return. Upwork's community team has said that removed fake client accounts reappear under new names, and Grindr's help page says scammers "know they will be banned on Grindr quickly". Reporting stops one account. Keeping chats and payments on the platform is what takes away the scammer's opening, which is why every red-flag list on both platforms opens with the move off the app. When a fake account or a scam listing uses a real person's name and will not come down, the content removal service handles the documentation each platform asks for.
Frequently asked questions
Does OfferUp still offer Purchase Protection?
Not in practice. OfferUp's help centre says the platform only supports local, in-person transactions, shipping ended between 23 September and 21 October 2025, and all sales are final once payment is made. Older guides that describe a two-day Purchase Protection claim refer to shipped orders, which no longer exist on OfferUp.
Will the person know I reported them on OfferUp?
No. OfferUp's help page says it does not tell users when they get reported, so people who report a scammer on OfferUp stay anonymous, and listing reports are anonymous too. The reporter does not see a status update in the app either, so the only sign a report worked is the profile or listing disappearing.
Can I report a scammer on Upwork after I already paid off the platform?
Yes. To report a scammer on Upwork after an off-platform payment, flag the profile and the messages with the reason for payment outside Upwork, and send Customer Support the transcript and payment details. The report can close the account, but Upwork payment protection does not cover money sent outside Upwork, so the refund request goes to the bank or payment app used.
Should I report a Cash App scammer to IC3 or to the FTC?
Both, if the loss is real. IC3 at ic3.gov shares complaints with law enforcement and its Recovery Asset Team works quickly reported transfers. The FTC's ReportFraud site feeds the Consumer Sentinel database that investigators use. Neither refunds the payment, so report it in Cash App and to any linked card issuer as well.
Where do I report a crypto scam in the UK?
Report Fraud, run by the City of London Police, replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025. Reports go online at reportfraud.police.uk or by phone on 0300 123 2040. Report the wallet and transaction to the exchange that received the funds at the same time, because only an exchange can freeze an account it controls.
Does reporting an impersonator on one dating app remove the fake profile everywhere?
No. Each dating app reviews only accounts on its own service, so a fake that uses the same photos on Grindr, Hinge and another app needs a report on each one. The impersonated person usually gets faster action than a third party, because most apps ask for proof of identity.
A fake account using your name will not come down?
We review the reports already filed, identify which platform desk can still act, and prepare the identity and evidence package it asks for. The first reply comes within 12 hours, with the limits stated up front.