Marketplace Integrity & Anti-Fraud Policy
(last updated: 4/17/2026)
Helios is committed to maintaining an honest, trustworthy, and secure marketplace. This Marketplace Integrity & Anti-Fraud Policy explains the standards Helios uses to protect users, transactions, listings, trust signals, and payment-related activity from fraud, deception, manipulation, and abuse.
This Policy applies to all users of Helios, including experts, companies, students, vendors, suppliers, associations, partners, customers, and any other person or entity that uses the Platform.
This Policy should be read together with the Helios Terms of Service, Trust & Safety Policy, Code of Conduct, Payments, Payouts, Refunds, and Transactions Policy, Seller, Expert, and Vendor Payout Terms, Refund and Cancellation Policy, Privacy Policy, and any category-specific rules published by Helios.
Helios may take action under this Policy to comply with the requirements of its payment processors and financial service providers, including Stripe, Inc. and its affiliates, and to protect the Platform, its users, and marketplace transactions from fraud, abuse, prohibited activity, or compliance risk.
1. Purpose
The purpose of this Policy is to:
- protect users from fraud, deception, payment abuse, and marketplace manipulation
- preserve trust in listings, profiles, reviews, transactions, and payout activity
- support fair, documented, and legitimate marketplace transactions
- reduce legal, financial, operational, and reputational risk to users and Helios
- establish standards for identifying, reviewing, and enforcing against dishonest conduct
2. General Duty of Honesty
Users must act honestly, accurately, and in good faith when using Helios.
You may not mislead Helios or other users about:
- your identity
- your qualifications or experience
- your business status
- your certifications or licenses
- your pricing, delivery capacity, or performance history
- the quality, origin, legality, or compliance status of goods or services
- the status of work, milestones, delivery, or acceptance
- the existence of genuine buyer demand, reviews, references, or transaction history
3. Identity Fraud and Misrepresentation
Users may not engage in identity fraud or deceptive identity-related conduct.
This includes, without limitation:
- impersonating another person, company, organization, or brand
- using fake names or misleading aliases to conceal identity in a deceptive or harmful way
- creating fake accounts or coordinated accounts for abuse
- falsifying qualifications, certifications, work history, manufacturing capability, or business credentials
- forging or altering identity, tax, payout, banking, or verification documents
- using stolen, borrowed, or unauthorized credentials or business information
- concealing material facts that would make a profile, listing, or transaction misleading
Helios may require identity, business, tax, banking, or beneficial ownership verification and may delay, limit, or deny account access, payouts, or transaction functionality where verification is incomplete or cannot be confirmed.
4. Listing Fraud and Marketplace Deception
Users may not create, publish, or maintain deceptive listings, offers, or opportunities.
This includes, without limitation:
- fake listings or fake opportunities
- listings for goods or services the user is not actually authorized or able to provide
- misleading descriptions of technical capability, certifications, sourcing, compliance status, lead time, or quality control
- bait-and-switch offers
- false urgency, fabricated scarcity, or manufactured demand
- fake inquiries, fake buyer interest, or coordinated demand inflation
- misleading images, documents, specs, or supporting materials
- false claims regarding testing, inspection, traceability, materials, or approvals
Providers are responsible for ensuring that their listings and related communications are accurate, lawful, and not misleading.
Users may not use AI-generated content to misrepresent qualifications, experience, portfolio work, certifications, or manufacturing capability. AI-assisted content is permitted but must accurately reflect the user's actual capabilities and must not create a misleading impression of expertise, credentials, or past work that the user does not genuinely possess.
5. Review, Reputation, and Trust Signal Manipulation
Trust signals on Helios must be genuine.
Users may not:
- post fake reviews, testimonials, or endorsements
- solicit or exchange dishonest reviews
- create fake transactions to generate positive reputation
- coordinate review manipulation
- retaliate against users for honest feedback
- post extortionate or coercive reviews
- misrepresent the source or authenticity of references, ratings, or project history
Helios may remove or discount reviews, references, endorsements, or ratings that appear fraudulent, irrelevant, abusive, retaliatory, or inconsistent with platform integrity.
Helios will not remove a review solely on the basis of a Provider complaint where the review appears genuine and its content does not independently violate Platform rules. Providers who file repetitive or baseless review-removal requests may themselves be subject to enforcement action under this Policy
6. Payment Fraud and Financial Abuse
Where Helios uses Stripe or other third-party payment providers, Helios may delay, freeze, reverse, deny, or review transactions or payouts as reasonably necessary to respond to fraud signals, chargeback risk, reserve requirements, compliance obligations, or provider-imposed restrictions.
Prohibited conduct includes, without limitation:
- using stolen payment methods
- using unauthorized bank accounts or payout details
- submitting false tax, payout, or banking information
- engaging in chargeback abuse
- making bad-faith refund demands after receiving the agreed value
- creating sham transactions or circular payments
- inflating transaction volume artificially
- using Helios for payment laundering or transactions without a genuine underlying product or service
- falsifying proof of payment, proof of work, delivery status, milestone completion, acceptance, attendance, or transaction support materials
- attempting to bypass transaction reviews, holds, reserves, payout delays, or fraud controls
7. Off-Platform Transaction Circumvention
Where Helios requires or expects transactions to occur through the Platform, users may not pressure, induce, or encourage others to move transactions off-platform in order to avoid:
- platform fees
- payment review
- payout controls
- refund or dispute processes
- taxes or reporting
- trust and safety monitoring
- recordkeeping or evidence preservation
Helios may consider off-platform payment behavior when evaluating fraud, dispute risk, or marketplace integrity concerns.
8. Fraudulent Transaction Evidence and Delivery Misconduct
Users may not manipulate or fabricate transaction evidence.
This includes, without limitation:
- false milestone claims
- falsified completion records
- fabricated delivery confirmations
- false attendance records for training, consultations, or events
- altered invoices, quotations, statements of work, or purchase records
- misleading project updates intended to trigger payment or avoid refund responsibility
- false claims submitted in support tickets, disputes, complaints, or appeals.
Providers are responsible for maintaining commercially reasonable records supporting the legitimacy and fulfillment of their offerings.
9. Fraudulent Use of Support, Reporting, and Dispute Channels
Helios’s support, dispute, and reporting tools must be used honestly.
Users may not:
- file knowingly false reports
- submit false fraud claims to gain leverage
- weaponize payment disputes, safety reports, or policy complaints against other users
- misuse support channels to harass, intimidate, or pressure users
- fabricate evidence in refund, chargeback, safety, or moderation matters
Helios may take action against users who abuse dispute systems, safety reporting channels, or support processes.
10. Platform Manipulation and Coordinated Abuse
Users may not manipulate Helios systems, visibility, rankings, recommendations, or trust signals through deceptive means.
This includes, without limitation:
- coordinated fake engagement
- coordinated fake referrals or demand creation
- multi-account abuse
- attempts to manipulate search or recommendation placement through deceptive conduct
- abuse of promotional systems, incentive systems, or referral programs
- evasion of previous enforcement actions through new or related accounts
Helios may investigate linked accounts, unusual behavioral patterns, suspicious transaction clusters, or coordinated activity where platform manipulation is suspected.
11. Cooperation with Reviews and Investigations
Helios may review accounts, listings, files, messages, transaction records, verification materials, and related evidence where fraud, deception, or marketplace abuse is suspected.
Users are expected to cooperate honestly and promptly with legitimate requests for:
- Explanations
- supporting records
- transaction evidence
- verification documentation
- business or tax information
- proof of authority, ownership, licensing, or fulfillment
Failure to cooperate, refusal to provide relevant information, or submission of false information may itself result in account restrictions or other enforcement action.
12. Temporary Risk Controls
To protect users and preserve marketplace integrity during a review, Helios may impose temporary controls such as:
- listing pauses
- messaging restrictions
- feature limitations
- transaction holds
- payout delays
- reserve requirements
- visibility reductions
- account review status
Temporary controls do not necessarily mean Helios has reached a final conclusion, but they may remain in place until Helios determines that the risk has been resolved.
13. Enforcement
If Helios reasonably determines that a user, listing, account, or transaction violates this Policy or creates unacceptable fraud or integrity risk, Helios may take one or more of the following actions:
- issue a warning
- require corrective action
- remove or limit listings, reviews, or content
- cancel or restrict marketplace activity
- reverse, freeze, or deny transactions or payouts where permitted by policy or law
- require additional verification or documentation
- suspend the account temporarily
- terminate the account permanently
- block future re-registration
- report relevant conduct to payment processors, financial institutions, regulators, or law enforcement where appropriate
Helios may act with or without prior notice where permitted by law and reasonably necessary to protect users, preserve evidence, comply with legal obligations, or satisfy payment-provider requirements.
14. Related Policy Violations
Conduct that violates this Policy may also violate other Helios policies, including:
- Terms of Service
- Trust & Safety Policy
- Code of Conduct
- Payments, Payouts, Refunds, and Transactions Policy
- Refund and Cancellation Policy
- Seller, Expert, and Vendor Payout Terms
- Restricted Activities & Prohibited Transactions Policy
- Privacy Policy
- Intellectual Property, Confidentiality & Technical Data Policy
Helios may enforce these policies together rather than separately.
15. Policy Updates
Helios may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, fraud patterns, platform features, payment systems, operational needs, or industry risks.
When we update this Policy, we will post the revised version on the Platform and update the “Last Updated” date above. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of an updated version constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy, except where additional notice or consent is required by law.
16. Contact and Reporting
For fraud, payment abuse, fake listings, impersonation, suspicious transactions, or marketplace integrity concerns, contact:
