7. Even when the listener considers the speaker to be as reliable as two witnesses, it is forbidden for the listener to believe his words. However if the speaker tells him about a person who transgresses sins that are known to be forbidden, and therefore according to the speaker he is allowed to speak lashon hara about him, only then is it permitted to believe him.
8. In this case too, one is permitted to believe the speaker only if the speaker himself was witness to the matter. One is permitted to believe but not to pass it on to others, and not to harm the subject either monetarily or physically. [Today however, there is no such person who can be considered as valid as two witnesses].
