This may come as a surprise to many, but due to our move to Canada and a few unavoidable realities, we’ve made the decision to shut down the SWAPD Victim Fund.
Here’s why:
Legal complications.
Even back in the EU (where our company still technically operates), holding user funds/donations for redistribution is a legal nightmare. Canada brings similar challenges. We simply don’t want the legal exposure or the administrative burden that comes with managing what essentially amounts to a small-scale compensation program.
Unrealistic expectations.
The Victim Fund was originally created to help those who were genuinely scammed out of their last few bucks — people who saved up $200 to try something new, and lost it to a shady deal. It was never meant to cover losses for high-volume sellers (for payment runners), or people who willingly took risks on services that clearly stated “no guarantees.”
Unfortunately, every time someone gets burned, there’s an expectation that SWAPD will swoop in and write a check. That’s simply not feasible. The fund was limited, and payouts were meant to be rare and only used in special circumstances. But we’ve seen too many attempts to game the system — including fabricated transactions, staged scams, and coordinated buyer/seller fraud. It’s just not sustainable.
The Victim Fund isn’t really needed.
We’ve calculated. SWAPD has 0.83% scam rate. This rate is the current number when you consider our 1000-1200 monthly transaction volume. Buying on SWAPD is incredibly safe, period.
So, moving forward, the Victim Fund is officially discontinued.
We know this will disappoint some members, but this change will allow us to focus our energy on the core mission: creating a safer, smarter marketplace where due diligence is your first line of defense.
The SWAPD Victim Fund category will remain open until the funds are depleted. But we will no longer take in donations and proceeds from PM sales will not go towards it.
This is what we’re talking about. The VF does more BAD than good, because people end up mad at us for not releasing them, even in situations where we had nothing to do with (or have no control of). SWAPD isn’t an insurance company (because basically legal-wise that’s what the victim fund kind of was).
0 & 0 KEK - the Victim Fund has never been paid out to any staff in any way, shape, or form, ever. All the deposited funds have been tracked and promptly updated since its inception.
Today is a prefect example why the VF program is shutting down. One of our sellers willingly started a no-prepayment ticket, only for the buyer to disappear. For weeks, possibly months, the seller pursued the scammer without success. Today, he turned his frustration on us, making several claims:
Our KYC checks are improper and that we should have been doing them since 2024 (but we started years before that).
We do not conduct Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance.
(that’s why we use 3rd party payment processors that do)
Additional KYC checks are legally required for each badge upgrade (e.g., VIP or DC status), citing an unspecified law. (IDEK how to respond to this)
He concluded by implying he’d “hate to report us” but suggested “releasing the VF” would resolve everything. Because according to him, SWAPD is just one big illegal operation.
We will not disclose his username. However, he may attempt to vent publicly elsewhere, as we’ve banned him for attempting to extort us.
