A saleswoman thought she had made a good deal by selling her coffee maker for 45 euros on the Facebook marketplace… Until her bank account was finally debited by more than 9,000 euros. Here’s what to watch out for to avoid falling into the trap, which is also rampant on Vinted or LeBonCoin.
We all use online sales sites, like Le Bon Coin, Vinted, or Facebook to buy, but also to sell their own clothes or objects. But sometimes the good deal turns into a scam. This is the case of Sylvie who published an ad on the Facebook social network marketplace for sell your coffee maker for 45 eurosreports the magazine 60 million consumers. An Internet user interested in this proposal then invites him to carry out a payment on PayPal. Sylvie, who already has an account, therefore continues the procedure to validate her sale, but she was far from imagining that the buyer would steal her the sum of 9100 euros!
How is the PayPal Scam Performed?
Once the sale has been made, Sylvie receives an SMS containing the link to the Paypal site with a message specifying that an advisor will call her to finalize the transaction between the online platform and her bank. Something to reassure the buyer who does receive a call from a French number with, on the line, a PayPal advisor who tells her, in a very professional way, the procedure to follow to receive the money from the sale on her account. fluent.
A fraudulent PayPal site
She then enters her access credentials for her bank account on a site that turns out to be a perfect copy of the original PayPal site. The scammer, still online with his victim, takes control of his bank account, uses his credentials and saves the RIB of an accomplice account to transfer the money.
On the Good Corner, some victims have also testified to similar experiences. A user who had sold a pair of sneakers had received a message stating that she had received too much money and that she had to reimburse part of it to the buyer, for example by using PCS card recharges, which can be purchased from a tobacconist. But the interlocutor managed to scam him out of 3500 euros.
To note that on the Vinted site and for security reasons, it is no longer possible to pay via PayPal since May 2023.
What precautions should be taken to avoid online scams?
- In general, do not respond to proposals other than your online ad.
- Never click on links sent by email or SMS as part of your sales proposal or an online purchase.
- Always stay connected to the secure messaging of online sales platforms.
- Never give your bank details by e-mail or telephone, even if your interlocutor seems professional or the e-mail seems to come from an organization you know.
- It is sometimes possible to verify the origin of emails, even if the interfaces deceive us, by taking a look at the sender’s address.