Bonanza Marketplace Cracks Down On Fraud After Attempted Attack
Bonanza marketplace is taking new security steps to crack down on fraud on the platform after attempted cyber attack.
Earlier this month, users received an email notice from Bonanza alerting them to an attempted attack which the company was quick to assure was handled proactively with no breach of sensitive data.
Dear Bonanza Seller,
We want to make you aware that we recently detected an attempted attack on our system. Rest assured, our security team took immediate action, and all seller data remains 100% secure. This was a preventative measure, and there has been no breach of information.
You can continue to access your account as usual by visiting your Selling Dashboard. Your listings remain active and continue to be promoted through Google Ads and other marketing channels as usual. If you notice anything unusual, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.
We take security very seriously and are fully in control of the situation. Thank you for your trust as we work to keep Bonanza a safe and reliable platform for our sellers.
Whether those efforts were completely successful isn't entirely clear, but today Bonanza created a public blog post to address how they are cleaning house and cracking down on fraud to protect users on the platform.
Why We're Cracking Down
Fraud hurts everyone. Sellers suffer from chargebacks, lost inventory, and wasted time.
Buyers risk losing money, receiving counterfeit goods, or experiencing poor service.
The community as a whole sees trust decline, damaging the reputation we’ve all worked hard to build. We're not standing for it.
What We're Doing About It
Here are the concrete steps we’ve implemented (and are continuing to improve) to protect our trusted sellers and genuine buyers:
- Real-Time Fraud Detection Tools - We’ve upgraded our backend systems with AI-driven fraud detection. These tools analyze behavioral patterns, payment anomalies, and account histories to flag suspicious activity before it impacts other users.
- Stronger Seller Verification - All new sellers must now pass a multi-step verification process, including ID verification, payment account validation, and proof of inventory or fulfillment capability. Our goal is to ensure every seller on Bonanza is legitimate and ready to serve buyers with excellence.
- Buyer Risk Profiling - We’re actively flagging buyers who exhibit risky behaviors, such as excessive return requests, chargeback abuse, or using fake identities. Repeat offenders are removed and banned from the platform.
- 24/7 Fraud Response Team - Our trust and safety team is now available around the clock to respond to reports, investigate claims, and take swift action. We also proactively monitor account activity to shut down fraud before it spreads.
- Community Reporting Tools - We’ve made it easier than ever for buyers and sellers to report suspicious listings or behavior. When you help us spot bad actors, we act fast.
Bonanza has also recently experienced mass phishing/account hijacking attacks using the one site messaging system to send fake account suspension notices.
Liz Morton
While it's good to hear Bonanza is taking steps to combat fraud and bad actors on their platform, many users will likely be wary of the use of AI for this purpose - while new technologies can be very helpful for these applications, there can also be problems with accuracy and some amount of innocent accounts may be caught in an automated dragnet in error.
Hopefully that 24/7 support will be available and able to help with appeals for incorrectly flagged accounts as well.
Have you experienced fraud or scams on the Bonanza marketplace? Let us know in the comments below!
As many of the items I sell are £10 or less, this makes it not worth the bother and I'll probably have to give it away to the charity shop.
Add that to the "buyer protection" fee they've added on - and the costs are making it untenable for people trying to clear the house, or make a few bob from old bits and pieces. Not happy at all and there doesn't seem to be a way of opting out.
The sooner these sleazebags at the top can be got rid of, or some community-run buy/sell/swap sites come up - the better. We don't need ebay.