Handling cash safely

Count the cash in the open, in front of the other person, before anything changes hands. Not in the car afterwards, and not at home.

Checking notes

United States notes carry several features you can check in a few seconds, without any equipment:

• Feel. Genuine notes are printed on cotton and linen paper with raised ink. A note that feels smooth or waxy is worth a second look.
• Tilt. On $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes the numeral in the lower right corner shifts color as you tilt it. On the $100 the blue security ribbon moves.
• Light. Hold it up: there is a watermark of the portrait in the blank space, and a security thread embedded in the paper with the denomination printed along it. Both are visible from either side.
• Detail. The portrait and the fine lines around it are sharp on a genuine note and muddy on a copy.

Do not rely on a counterfeit pen on its own. It reacts to the paper, and notes bleached and reprinted from lower denominations pass it.

For anything above a few hundred dollars, use a bank

Meet inside your own bank during opening hours and have the teller count and deposit it while you are both standing there. The money is verified by somebody whose job it is, it goes straight into your account, and you do not leave the building carrying it. This is the single best answer for cars, and for anything else in the thousands.

Do not advertise that you are carrying money

• Bring the exact amount if you are buying, in a pocket, not a full wallet you open in front of them.
• Do not say in messages how much cash you will have on you or when.
• Do not post "cash only" alongside a home address or a fixed weekly meeting spot.
• Do not count it in the car park before you go in, and do not count it a second time where anyone can watch.
• Vary nothing that would make you predictable if you sell often.

Cash cannot be reversed, in either direction

That is exactly why so many people prefer it, and exactly why the checks above matter. Jinu never handles the money for a local deal, takes 0% of it, and has no way to claw a payment back or to compensate either side. Instant transfer requests: Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, wire compares the payment methods and lists which ones can be reversed against you after you have handed over the goods.

Reporting and blocking

To report a listing, open it, use the more menu (the three dots), choose Report listing, and pick a reason: Spam or scam, Prohibited item, Wrong category, Already sold, or Other. A seller profile has Report seller, which offers a different set of reasons: Spam or scam, Harassment, Impersonation, Counterfeit or fake, Offensive content, or Other. A conversation has Report and Block this user, and the conversation report takes no reason at all.

Blocking is immediate and mutual: neither of you can message the other afterwards. Blocked people are listed in Settings under Blocked accounts.

For anything urgent, email safety@jinu.app. If you are in danger or a crime is in progress, call 911 first and tell Jinu afterwards.