A retiree almost got scammed on Leboncoin: there was nothing to suggest that it was a scam. Or almost.
“I had started to enter my bank card number…” Christine still can’t believe it. Used to selling various items on Leboncoin, this sixty-year-old almost fell for a well-executed scam. Without her daughter’s increased vigilance – “she also almost got fooled”, she explains – her bank details would have slipped away in two clicks.
“I didn’t see anything coming” concedes the retiree from Ile-de-France. A well-rehearsed scenario quickly gave him confidence, removing, in his eyes, any suspicion of fraud. “The messages didn’t show anything,” she admits.
Everything happened very quickly. This Saturday morning, Christine publishes an ad to put two armchairs on sale. Starting price: €120 per pair. Within a minute, a certain Caroline made an offer at the price. Bingo! Conclude a deal in no time, without negotiation, the dream scenario.
At the same time, the buyer said she agreed to pick up the chairs on site. Then sends a new message, asking for the seller’s phone number. Christine does so without thinking. The buyer adds: “Check if you received notice of my payment. Apparently, you will receive confirmation on the phone number linked to your Leboncoin account.”
Indeed, immediately, a text message arrives indicating that a transaction on Leboncoin is in progress and that you must click on a link to validate it. This sends you to a site, a certified copy of the platform, and asks you to enter your RIB to receive the money. In haste, the Francilienne follows the instructions. On the next page, your bank card number is requested. This is where the retiree ticks: why enter such data to receive payment?
Copies of the exchanges and the SMS are then sent to his daughter. At first glance, nothing suspicious for the thirty-year-old. Then her eyes focus on a detail, she remembers: the address of the site. It was not about the Leboncoin platform at all. “In appearance, everything was the same: the logo, the writing, the colors… Only the URL was wrong,” she explains.
Warning, Christine stops everything and closes the website she had just opened, before sending her contact details. She was the victim of a phishing attempt. If she had gone through with it, her banking details would have been stolen, leading to a risk of having her bank account emptied. She therefore sounds the alert: “The message was rather well written, but it is a scam and it is difficult to realize it.” To avoid being fooled, a golden rule must be respected: only use the platform and do not open the slightest SMS.