What should I do to obvious scam messages?

[ciemxn]

Hi! I am new on Fiverr and I have a question; I keep getting messages from obvious scammers (random usernames, messages that are irrelevant to the gig, asking to talk and discuss off the Fiverr Platform)

 

My question is, do I need to do something about it? I know I should just ignore those messages but if I do, does it messages affect my response rate? Or are there other consequences if I ignore these types of messages?

[donnovan86]

Reply with HI and then mark as spam. 

[miiila]

If you use the Spam button directly, you shouldn't need to reply first.

However, if you want to use the Report > Spam / Buyer wanted me to contact them off-platform function, you *need to* reply first, even if just a "Hi" or "No, thanks".

I've had the issue of my response rate inexplicably, to me, taking a nosedive several times, until finally, a support person told me the following the other day:

Quote

 

To confirm, using the flag feature does not exclude a message from your response rate, only the spam button does.

 

It still makes no sense to me. As I get loads of spam messages, I can easily test it out, and today, I did briefly reply to a spam message, first, and then clicked the flag feature, i.e. Report > Spam. A briefly flashing pop-up told me "No need to respond"... which probably was what made me think that using the "flag feature" shouldn't affect my Response Rate in the first place, after all, why else would it say "No need to respond" in that pop-up...

Maybe the coding is off there, and that pop-up actually is, or was at some point, for the Spam button, but still, or wrongly appears when using the flag feature, but, in any case, don't trust it! If you want to Report instead of using the Spam button (which, obviously, is a good idea if it's a scam attempt and not just "standard spam", always respond briefly, first.

[vickiespencer]

1 hour ago, goodyart25 said:

If you receive obvious scam messages on Fiverr, here are some steps you can take to protect yourself: