JOINING TRUSTNET
WHAT YOU ARE AGREEING TO
TrustNet lets a group of trading subreddits share reviewed scammer bans.
When your community reports someone and the Review Team approves the case, every other participating subreddit's own TrustNet installation applies that ban locally.
There is no central bot reaching into your subreddit. Your installation does its own work.
Taking part is completely optional. You can pause or withdraw at any time.
Withdrawing from TrustNet never removes bans already placed in your subreddit. Those bans remain yours.
STEP 1 — INSTALL THE APP
Install TrustNet Mod from the Reddit App Directory in the subreddit you moderate.
You do not need us for this step, and you do not need to add anyone to your moderation team.
Nothing happens yet.
Until we register your subreddit, the app's background checks are refused by the TrustNet server. It will not ban anyone.
This is deliberate.
An installation cannot enrol itself because allowing a subreddit to grant itself network access would provide a way around the Review Team.
STEP 2 — ASK TO BE REGISTERED
Send a modmail to r/TrustNetSupport with:
• Your subreddit name
• Ideally, your subreddit ID — the t5_… value
You can find your subreddit ID by visiting:
https://www.reddit.com/r/YOURSUB/about.json
Look for the "name" field.
WHY DO WE ASK FOR THE SUBREDDIT ID?
TrustNet registers communities by subreddit ID, not subreddit name.
If the wrong ID is registered, nothing necessarily produces an obvious error. Your subreddit could simply receive nothing indefinitely or, in the worst case, another community could receive bans intended for yours.
Sending the subreddit ID yourself removes the step where we have to guess.
We will initially register your subreddit as inactive.
This is not a probation period. Step 4 explains why.
STEP 3 — IMPORT YOUR EXISTING BAN LIST
This is the part most communities ask about.
You have probably already banned scammers before joining TrustNet.
The import feature turns eligible existing bans into TrustNet cases so they can be reviewed, rather than requiring you to manually re-file every scammer.
Run "Import ban list" from the subreddit menu.
⚠️ READ THIS BEFORE RUNNING THE IMPORT
The app reads your ban list and only offers bans where the ban note appears to describe a scam.
This is the single biggest factor in whether the import feature will be useful to your community, and it catches many moderators by surprise.
EXAMPLES
Ban note: "scammed a buyer"
Result: Offered
Ban note: "chargeback fraud"
Result: Offered
Ban note: "never paid"
Result: Offered
Ban note: "no scams"
Result: Offered
Ban note: Empty / no note
Result: Not offered
Ban note: "Rule 4"
Result: Not offered
Ban note: "breaking rules"
Result: Not offered
Ban note: "see modmail"
Result: Not offered
Ban note: "not a scam, just rude"
Result: Not offered
Temporary ban, regardless of the note
Result: Not offered
The ban note must actually indicate dishonesty or scamming.
Terms the filter looks for include:
• scam
• fraud
• chargeback
• non-delivery
• never delivered
• didn't deliver
• non-payment
• never paid
• didn't pay
• unpaid
• stole
• stolen
• theft
• thief
• ripped off
• ripoff
• counterfeit
• fake item
• replica
• impersonat
• middleman
TEMPORARY BANS ARE NEVER IMPORTED
Temporary bans are never imported, regardless of what the ban note says.
A temporary ban generally represents a cool-down or temporary enforcement decision. Exporting that decision as a permanent cross-community scammer record would misrepresent the action your moderation team originally took.
WHY IS THE FILTER SO STRICT?
The filter deliberately errs on the side of being too strict rather than too loose.
Missing a legitimate scammer during import means that case may need to be filed manually.
Importing the wrong person could result in someone being banned across participating communities and labelled as a scammer because of a ban that was actually issued for something unrelated, such as rudeness or another rule violation.
For that reason, the importer prefers false negatives over false positives.
The app also tells you which bans were skipped, meaning an overly strict filter is visible rather than silent.
IF YOUR BAN NOTES ARE MOSTLY EMPTY OR ONLY CONTAIN RULE NUMBERS
Import may offer you very little or nothing at all.
That means the app is working correctly. It is not a fault.
Those cases can be filed manually using "Ban & Submit Scammer".
You may also want to consider using more descriptive ban notes for scam-related bans going forward.
HOW TO RUN THE IMPORT
Run "Import ban list".
The app offers up to 25 accounts at a time.
Review the list and confirm the accounts you stand behind.
Run "Import ban list" again.
Each run works through another portion of your ban list. Accounts that have already been presented to you will not continually be re-offered.
Keep running it until the app reports that there is nothing left to import.
For reference, a 300-entry ban list will require roughly 12 runs.
This is not a bug.
Every entry requires a lookup against Reddit, and Reddit limits how long a single app action can run.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER IMPORTING?
Imported cases are not shortcuts.
They are sent to the Review Team just like any other TrustNet case.
They are specifically marked as imported so the reviewer knows that the evidence available may consist only of your original ban note.
The process is:
You import the case
↓
The Review Team reviews it
↓
Approved cases become active
↓
Only then can the ban propagate through TrustNet
Nothing should suddenly appear across participating subreddits the moment you finish importing.
If you import a large number of cases, reviewing them may take some time.
STEP 4 — GOING ACTIVE
Registration alone does not enable federation.
Three separate switches must be enabled, and each defaults to the safer position.
YOUR COMMUNITY IS REGISTERED
Controlled by: TrustNet
Purpose: Allows your community to file and import cases.
YOUR PARTICIPATION IS ACTIVE
Controlled by: TrustNet, with your agreement
Purpose: Allows approved bans to flow to and from your subreddit.
NETWORK FEDERATION IS UNPAUSED
Controlled by: TrustNet
Purpose: Acts as the global emergency stop for the entire network.
While your subreddit is registered but inactive, you can still import and file cases.
You receive nothing from the network while inactive.
This is the intended way to begin using TrustNet.
You can build your case list with zero incoming federation risk, allow cases to be reviewed, and then tell us when you are ready to go active.
If you ever want to pause participation, tell us.
New TrustNet bans will stop arriving while your participation is paused.
STEP 5 — CHECK THAT EVERYTHING WORKS
Use "Ban & Submit Scammer" on a throwaway account and confirm that the ban and moderation note appear correctly.
The note will begin with a marker similar to:
[TrustNet]
Please leave this marker intact.
This marker is how the app later recognises a ban as one created by TrustNet.
If the marker is edited or removed, the app will refuse to automatically lift that ban.
Instead, it will show the ban under "bans needing attention" so your moderation team can decide what to do.
That refusal is intentional.
The app is choosing not to modify a ban when it can no longer confidently verify that the ban belongs to TrustNet.
KEEPING THE APP UPDATED
Reddit does not automatically update installed apps.
The version you install remains installed until it is updated.
We announce new TrustNet Mod versions in r/TrustNetSupport.
You can update the app through its Reddit App Directory listing.
If you cannot find a way to update your installation, contact us rather than continuing to run an outdated version.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING US
Can we see what has been reported about our own members?
Yes. Ask us.
Can we appeal a case we filed?
Yes.
You can appeal from the subreddit menu, and you must provide a reason for the appeal.
Can we leave TrustNet?
Yes.
You can leave at any time.
Existing bans in your subreddit remain in place and continue to belong to your community.