Today’s scammers are smarter than they used to be. They have infested the digital world and found several schemes to extract your wallet under your nose. Sales sites to make good deals between individuals such as Leboncoin and Vinted, are not excluded from their field of sight. Buyers aren’t the only ones affected. Several sellers have been defrauded because of these criminals on Internet. Comment recognize them and thwart scams ? The answer in a few lines.
Hunting for scams is difficult on second-hand sales sites
The scams and disputes which result are in large numbers on online shopping sites between individuals such as Leboncoin or Vinted.
Mireille Bougeard, a retiree who lives in Besançon just fell victim to it on Vinted. She would have bought a virtual reality headset for 250 euros on the site when it never arrived. When she checked the detail of the package in the photo, she understood the trap:
“I saw that it had already been delivered, but four days before the sale and to another address. The seller had given me a counterfeit packing slip,” she says.
Seller would have changed the image of an earlier package already sent so the retiree would believe the package was hers.
However, social networks bring together several cases like this. Médiamétrie allegedly claimed that one out of two buyers would have been the victim of these dishonest maneuvers. In order to combat these scams, several online sales platforms have created secure payment systems. This consists of blocking payment until the buyer of the product confirms receipt of the package.
Unfortunately, some unscrupulous buyers took advantage of this system to avoid paying vendors. Contacted on the occasion of these problemsVinted replied:
“We have also noticed for some time a number of cases where it is the seller who can be deceived by the buyer. »
This is also the case on Leboncoin, when scammers made false confirmations of payment in order to receive an item without payment from them.
Sarah Tayeb, director of sales at eBay, agrees that managing disputes and securing purchases remains a “daily challenge”. She would even have admitted that “the great difficulty is often to understand on which side there is bad faith”.
How to avoid scams?
According to Sarah Tayeb, “Creativity is limitless for these scams “. Here are the most common scams, with solutions to them.
The questionable profile
Before proceeding to a transaction, always check the reliability of the profile. Whether on the buyer or seller side, the average of the ratings will give you an idea of the seriousness of the individual.
Beware though:
- Notices and reports of counterfeiting or misleading descriptions
- A seller profile, but too recent.
- Sending problems: cancellation, delay, etc.
misleading pictures
Some sellers purposely show blurry photos. The misled buyer will therefore sometimes receive an item that is damaged or too small, etc.
To avoid this ploy,
- Look for the label to see if it is the right brand or the right size.
- Beware of the quality of the photos. Does the definition of these prevent you from seeing the photo clearly? Is the item shown from different angles?
- Ask for more photos or exact measurements if you are unsure of a product’s appearance.
Counterfeit
For’avoid paying more for a disguised producta study of the photo may not be enough.
To avoid this :
- Compare the item photo to the official photo.
- Look among the brand’s products. Do they look authentic?
- Look at customer reviews.
- Post the photo on the forum of the site so that connoisseurs can help you.
Beware of this telephone scam which can cost you dearly: a so-called bank adviser calls you and makes you carry out various operations on your customer area. Several victims were robbed of several thousand euros. https://t.co/PCIGoA7yZr pic.twitter.com/7ivC4K7Hib
— Signal-Arnaques (@SignalArnaques) January 12, 2022
A non-compliant item
This scam is more on the buyer side. He pays for the product. When he receives it, he declares to the site that it is “non-compliant” so that the platform can block the payment. At the end of all of this, the seller loses the item and the sale.
Pour to protect yourself of this scam, take the best precautions to prove, if necessary, your good faith.
- The photos of your articles must be of good quality
- Specify the defects of the article, if there are any.
- Check the buyer’s profile: is he suspicious? How are the reviews? If in doubt, you can cancel the sale.
- Always take a photo or video of the product at the time of packaging to prove compliance.
Phishing
Also called phishing, phishing is manipulation on messaging (email or SMS) which consists of imitating the official messaging system of Leboncoin or Vinted. The objective of the criminals is to obtain the personal information of the user by diverting the confidence of the Internet user. They take data like user ID, credit card number, etc. in order to resell them to other malicious individuals.
Internet scams: tips for spotting them #scams #internet > https://t.co/LGw9QFZVVD pic.twitter.com/oXMn1hYseT
— Phonandroid (@phonandroid) May 17, 2017
To avoid the scam, it is necessary to know upstream that during the updates carried out on these sites, these last will never ask you for your personal information. To be sure that it is a message coming from the site, know that:
- Team messages will always come from the same profile.
- Recognize site team profiles via their badge.
- No other channel apart from the site’s messaging service will be used.
Scams: what to do if you are a victim?
If you are delivery scam victimhere’s what to do:
- Check with Info Scams of the Ministry of the Interior to find out the right steps, at number 0 805 805 817.
- Contact the delivery company.
- Contact your bank to stop the payment or to get a refund.
- Report your case on the Perceval platform of the Ministry of the Interior, in case of debit fraudulent on your credit card.
- Keep all of your dealings with the scammer to show the authorities.
- File a complaint with the competent authorities.
#BlackFridayWeek : some tips for spotting and avoiding scams when shopping on the internet https://t.co/Eez4IpdgYO pic.twitter.com/UAX19pIWbY
— CNET France (@cnetfrance) November 22, 2018