The recent example of Kinglesy Te Waa who used his mother’s Trade Me membership to commit a ‘non delivery’ fraud serves as a reminder about the perils of sharing your member login details.

In the end, the mother paid out the person who'd been conned.

Kingsley (who Trade Me colourfully referred to as a ‘knob’ in this article) used his mother’s laptop and Trade Me account to sell a tablet that did not exist.

While Te Waa did the crime, it was his mother that ended up making good on the stolen money as by allowing her son access to her Trade Me account, she shared some of the blame.

The best advice we can give our members on how to protect their accounts is to never share your Trade Me password. The reasoning is pretty simple – if you are the only one using your account then there will be no problems.

If you use a shared computer such as a home PC or one in a cyber café, it is always wise to log out when you’ve finished using the site – the log out button is on the top right hand side to the right of your name.

You can always decline to use the auto-login function.

The same advice goes for your smart phones – if you sell them or lend them to someone else, logging out from the Trade Me application is a good idea!

We do understand that couples often share the same account and if that’s the case, our advice is the same.

If you do think your password has been compromised by a ‘knob’, change it immediately. Feel free to get in touch with our Customer Support team if there’s an issue.

How sharing a password cost a mum a lot of money