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How to Report a Scam Without Using Your Real Name

The most common reason people do not report a scam is the fear that reporting it puts their name in front of the person who scammed them. On this platform it does not, and it is worth being precise about why.

3 min readUpdated

What signing up asks for

An email address or a phone number, which is verified, and a country. That is the whole of it. You are not asked for your real name, and there is no field that stores one.

The account is given a display name automatically — something in the shape of 'VividScout27' — and that is the name attached to anything you post. You can change it whenever you like from the Profile tab.

Why a pseudonym is the default rather than an option

Reporting a scam should not require identifying yourself to the person you are reporting. If the public name on a report were your own, the safest thing for most people would be to say nothing, and the database would be poorer for exactly the reports that cost the most to file.

So the display name is a pseudonym by design. It is not a privacy setting you have to go and find, and it is not something that quietly changes when a report is published.

What a moderator sees, and what they do with it

Moderation is not anonymous in the way publication is. A report is reviewed before it goes live, and during that review a moderator may come back to you through an in-app inquiry thread to ask for more evidence or to clarify something.

They may also, where it is feasible, contact the party named in the report, using the identifiers in it — that is a right of reply, and it is a deliberate part of a fair review rather than a leak. The person contacted is given the chance to respond and to submit evidence of their own. What they are not given is you: moderator notes and your private account details are not published.

Where your name could still appear

Two places, and both are under your control.

Evidence is the first. A screenshot of a conversation often has your own name, number or account visible in it. Moderators may redact private information, but the person best placed to crop a screenshot is you, before you upload it. The second is the description: it is free text, and it is public once the report is published, so write it as though a stranger will read it, because one will.

Deleting the account, and what goes with it

You can delete your account from the Profile screen. Doing so removes your reports, your evidence and your personal data.

Frequently asked questions

Will the person I report find out who I am?
Not from the platform. Your report carries a display name, not your real name, and the platform does not hold your real name to disclose. Be careful that the evidence you upload does not identify you — crop screenshots before sending them.
Can I change my display name after I have posted?
Yes, from the Profile tab, at any time.
Does the reported party get told about the report?
A moderator may contact them where it is feasible, so they have a chance to reply and submit their own evidence. That is part of a fair review. Your identity is not part of what is shared.

Related guides

The app

Check before you send money

Look up a website, phone number, payment account or crypto wallet against what the community has already reported.

Download Exposing Scams — free

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