In order to protect the security of your account, it’s important to be able to recognize phishing attempts and spoof sites. Phishing is a term used when fraudsters try to gain access to personal account logins. Spoofs are websites or emails that attempt to mimic a particular company in order to trick users into providing their information. Most phishing attempts come in the form of spoof sites or emails.

Spotting a Phishing Attempt

Fraudsters go to great lengths to mimic real companies. They can use logos, similar email addresses, and even the names of employees to appear more realistic. Learning to spot phishing attempts comes down to recognising when you are dealing with the true organization, and when it may be a spoof. Here a few key signs to watch out for:

Alarmist statements

In an attempt to get users to act quickly, fraudsters often start messages with urgent claims such as ‘Your Account has been disabled. Change your password now to regain access or it will be deleted.’ These can also be positive statements, such as ‘You’ve qualified for a discount! Confirm your account information now to receive free features!’

Asking for confidential Information

In order to gain access to your accounts, fraudsters ask for passwords, bank accounts, or credit card information. Our team will never request this type of personal account information over email. We will also never send password reset emails unless you’ve specifically requested one through the ‘Forgot your password?’ button on the GhanaYe: Classifieds login page.

Bad Spelling and Grammar

Many phishing attempts come from illirates, and often use odd phrasing, incorrect spelling or bad grammar.

Suspicious Email Addresses

Legitimate Gumtree emails will come from @ghana.com email address. Don’t be fooled by emails such as ghanayesupport@hotmail.com or security@ghanaye.support.com

Spotting a Spoof Site

Whenever you are asked to enter in your password, double check the URL of the page. It should read as https://ghanaye.com/my-account/. If you don’t see the S in https:// or if there is anything between ghanaye.com and the first forward slash (Ex. ghanaye.com.spoof.com/), don’t click. Many browsers also have a secure connection symbol that will appear next to the URL as a small lock icon.

When asked to use a link within an email you can hover over it before clicking to see the true URL. Depending on what browser or email application you’re using, you may see this at the bottom of your window, or as a pop up next to your curser. If it looks suspicious, don’t click.

What to Do

If you receive a phishing attempt, don’t open any links, download any attachments, or provide any of your information. 

Report this attempt to:

When you report this please include a copy of the email, a screen shot of the site and the spoof site URL. If escalated to our Customer Service Team we will forward this information to our specialized team to have the site shut down.

We will then forward the information you provide to our specialized teams to have the spoof site shut down.

In this day and age, privacy is on everyone’s mind. GhanaYe: Classifieds protects your privacy by giving you complete control over what information other users can see. Below, we’ll explain how to work with the security measures that GhanaYe: Classifieds has in place to keep you safe.

Emails and Phone Numbers

By default, GhanaYe: Classifieds masks your email and hides your phone number behind the Reveal button. It can be tempting to include contact information in the body of your ad to speed up communication. However, by putting this information in the description you’re side-stepping the protections we’ve put in place to protect your information. This can increase the chance that you’ll be contacted by those who would otherwise not be able to get around our security measures.

Name

The name in your Profile is the name that will appear on your ads. It’s safest to use your first name only, or even a nickname. Including your last name is not required or recommended.

Address

When you post an ad on GhanaYe: Classifieds, you can select a city or type. Whichever you choose, you will have the option to include a map that will show a point over the centre of your city or postal code. If you don’t want other users to see your postal code, you can always remove it by unchecking ‘Show a map on my ad’ from the post or edit ad page.

Giving out your street address shouldn’t be necessary in most cases. We recommend meeting at a safe third-party location whenever possible. If you are selling something that cannot be easily moved, it’s best to only provide your address once you’ve agreed to make the deal or arranged an inspection. Posting your address in the ad description is not recommended.

Whenever an ad is posted on your account, we’ll send an email to your account’s Primary email address to let you know. If you unexpectedly receive an email from GhanaYe: Classifieds confirming that you just posted an ad, but you did not actually post the ad, then someone else may have gained access to your account. Fraudsters will sometimes take over genuine seller’s accounts to attempt to defraud the community.

If someone has gained access to your GhanaYe: Classifieds account, follow the steps below:

  1. Sign in to your GhanaYe: Classifieds account immediately and write down the Ad ID numbers of any ads on your account that you didn’t post. After noting the Ad IDs, delete the ads. Please also check your own ads to ensure that nothing was changed.
  2. Contact our customer support team and provide the Ad ID numbers of the falsely posted ads. A member of our team will then be able to reset your account and walk you through the process of regaining control.

How Fraudsters Gain Access to An Account

GhanaYe: Classifieds accounts are most often accessed through a method called phishing. Phishing is a process where fraudsters send others fake emails that look like they are from GhanaYe: Classifieds. They may also appear as pop-up ads. They will then ask you to sign in via a fake GhanaYe: Classifieds site, or request that you tell them your password. Once you’ve entered your email and password, they can use these details on the real GhanaYe: Classifieds site to access your account.

Note: GhanaYe: Classifiedscustomer support will never ask for your password. If you receive an email asking for your account password, this is a phishing attempt.

To ensure that you do not fall for phishing attacks, learn to recognise phishing emails and always make sure that you’re logging in to the real GhanaYe: Classifieds site. When you login to GhanaYe: Classifieds the address in your web browser should look like this: https://ghanaye.com/my-account