Posted26 avril 2022, 07:10
A reader wanted to sell his car on an internet platform. But he was ultimately cheated by his pseudo-buyer thanks to a false bank document.
Scammers often operate on private online sales platforms.
Thomas He / Tamedia
Bad luck or carelessness? Still, a reader of 20 Minuten has been the victim of a scam once morest which Autoscout24 and the police are warning. Indeed AS wanted to resell his old car on the autoscout24.ch platform. After receiving a message from an interested buyer, he agrees with it for a price of around 12,000 francs.
So far, nothing but very classic. But where things get tricky is that the buyer insists that the transaction be carried out by the bank BNP Paribas. He explains to AS that the bank, very cautious in terms of tax evasion, requires in a directive that the two parties pay each other an amount of 700 francs. Purpose: to verify the transfer.
fake bank statement
The seller is suspicious. As a result, to prove his good faith, the buyer sends him a bank statement showing that the money has indeed been sent to him. AS then gains confidence and in turn pays the amount requested. It is only later that he realizes that he has been the victim of a scam and that not only has he not received any money but that he has also lost 700 francs in the misadventure.
Asked by AS, BNP Paribas obviously replied that the money had never been sent. She denied being involved in the scam. The evidence presented by the pseudo-buyer is only forged documents with the bank’s logo to be more credible and this logo has been misused, she explained.
A seller should not pay any money
On the police side, sellers are especially warned once morest this kind of scam. “Anyone who sells something on the internet should receive money, not pay,” explains Hanspeter Krüsi, spokesperson for the cantonal police of St. Gallen. As soon as you have to pay money as a seller, you have to be very careful, because a scam is then in the air, according to him.
(tob/cht)