What should investigators request from an online marketplace?¶

An online marketplace may hold the only complete link between the buyer, seller, payment, order and payout.

Avoid the dangerous assumption¶

The dangerous assumption is that the customer’s payment record identifies the actual seller and final recipient.

Request the buyer-account details, seller-account details, account creation records, login history, IP addresses, registered devices, contact details and security changes.

Request the listing, order ID, item or service details, checkout session, payment references, delivery or collection records, platform messages, refunds, disputes and cancellations.

Obtain the seller-payout records, including destination bank account, wallet or payment service, payout dates, amounts, fees and holds.

Where several sellers or items were involved, ask the marketplace to map each part of the customer payment to the relevant seller and payout.

Preserve user IDs, listing IDs, order IDs, transaction IDs and payout references exactly.

Ask whether either account was restricted, compromised, renamed, transferred or accessed from unusual devices.

Do not assume that the seller’s display name identifies the legal account holder or actual operator.

A marketplace may use a payment processor or payment facilitator that holds additional transaction and token data.

Where physical goods are involved, request delivery, tracking, collection and return information.

For digital goods or services, request access, redemption, download or service-use records.

Specify the date range and investigative question so the response includes the relevant account, payment and communication evidence.

When reporting, distinguish the platform, buyer account, seller account, payment processor and final payout destination.

Operational takeaway¶

Request marketplace account, listing, order, communication, payment and seller-payout records so the customer charge can be traced to the actual transaction and recipient.