If you are a seller on the Le Bon Coin platform, be careful, a secure payment scam exists, warns UFC Que Choisir.
It’s a misadventure, reported UFC What to choosewhich ends well in the end but also reminds us to always be vigilant when doing business on the internet.
A Bon Coin user is contacted to buy the computer he has put up for sale on the platform. The buyer offers to pay the asking price, the shipping costs and to go through the Bon Coin secure payment system, explains the consumer defense association. “After a few exchanges”, the buyer assures the seller that successfully made the payment and should receive a message from the site that the money has been paid. Message that arrives as an email in his box. An email seeming to come from Bon Coin, with his name, the price of the computer, his description and the address where to send the package to release the money, specifies the association.
The confirmation message must go through the site’s secure messaging system
But, before sending the computer, the seller inquires and discovers that the payment confirmation message should have arrived in the secure messaging system of Le Bon Coin, and not by email. And learns that other sellers have already been scammed like this. The email did not come from the platform. Once reported, the account of the “buyer” was also deactivated by Le Bon Coin, explains UFC Que Choisir.
The association recalls that secure payment systems are “reliable procedures, provided they are used exactly as indicated”. And encourages you to always be wary, whether you’re buying or selling. “Beware of suspicious behavior, prefer a personal delivery and exchange through the messaging system integrated into the site. If in doubt, look for testimonials on the forums, ask the platform’s customer service for advice, or even do not suite”, advises the association, which also gives some “clues” that can alert us, such as:
- Check the email address, because Le Bon Coin only uses three addresses to send its messages: @leboncoin.fr; @news.leboncoin.fr and @messagerie.leboncoin.fr. Any other address would be suspect;
- Transaction confirmations “compulsorily go through the secure messaging system” of Bon Coin;
- Always pay attention to grammatical or spelling errors in the message;
- If the buyer does not seek to negotiate, or even offers to pay more than the initial price, and “says he is ready to pay the delivery costs”.
