Friends function very risky when shopping online with strangers

A woman from Rheine orders a pair of shoes via a sales platform and pays for them: the shoes never arrive. A man from Mettingen purchases a bicycle trailer via another internet platform and pays the bill in advance using a payment service: the trailer is never delivered. Another man from Lotte buys a box system online: Here too, the goods are not delivered. The district police authority regularly receives reports of goods fraud on the Internet.

The friends scam in goods fraud

The processes are often the same. The injured parties pay in advance and then do not receive any goods. Time and again - as in the cases mentioned above - the “Friends and Family” option is chosen with the online payment service PayPal, for example, because there are no additional fees. The problem: There is no buyer protection with this option. The chances of a refund of the costs are therefore extremely low. Because there can be fraudsters behind the trade who simply keep the money.

The police advise

The police therefore strongly advise against paying through “family and friends” for online purchases. If you don't know the seller personally, you should always choose the "Goods and Services" option instead of the friend function. And if the latter option is not offered at all, it is best to refrain from purchasing it.

Source: Steinfurt police

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