Be it clothes, cars or furniture: you can buy and sell pretty much anything on classifieds portals like eBay Kleinanzeigen. Fraudsters also appreciate this. Their scams are not only aimed at buyers - anyone who sells something themselves also has to fear dubious purchasing intentions. A consumer from Oldenburg also had this experience when she sold a ticket using the “secure payment” method on eBay classifieds.
The scam on eBay classifieds
Due to an illness, a consumer has to sell two tickets for ski jumping in Willingen and places them on eBay classifieds. An interested party contacts us who would like to make the purchase using the “secure payment” method. The seller accepts the suggestion and receives a text message saying that the items have been paid for and that she only needs to confirm the payment using a link. The link lands on the supposed website of the portal. Here she enters her credit card details in order to receive the money.
What she doesn't know: It's a deceptively realistic recreated site. By entering her data, she triggers a payment of around 3,000 euros. By the time she notices the fraud, it is already too late - and the bank refuses to repay her.
Use “Pay Securely” exclusively via the eBay classifieds portal
“This is of course extremely annoying for the consumer,” says Ann-Katrin Fornika, consultant at the Lower Saxony Consumer Center in Oldenburg, and explains: “When it comes to 'paying securely', most people don't think about the risk of fraud. Finally, the function also offers buyer and seller protection. And so many fall into the smishing trap.” What is important with this payment method is that the function only takes place via the messaging function of the classifieds portal. “Links in emails or text messages should therefore not be clicked on and data should not be disclosed,” explains the consultant.
Tips for safe selling
“Sellers should always choose the payment method themselves,” advises Fornika. This means you can take your time to learn the correct procedure. Ideally, the item for sale is always picked up for cash - so there is little that can go wrong. “But if you can and want to ship your item, you should definitely use a secure payment method with buyer and seller protection,” says Fornika. When shipping, care should also be taken to ensure that it is insured and can be tracked. This is the only way to make claims later if necessary.
Source:
Lower Saxony Consumer Center
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