Ebay classifieds rip-off: How to protect yourself

Almost every week, the police report new scams on eBay classifieds (EBK). The perpetrators are becoming more and more sophisticated in their approach and manage to swindle money day after day. One available to the author shows how bold the criminals act: in November last year, a collector’s knife from Victorinox was offered by a Ferdinand at a very reasonable price – just a few kilometers from the place of residence of a prospective buyer. The seller did not respond to the message about the EBK app and the suggestion to collect the knife personally on the same day – but did respond to messages from other users in Germany.

As it turned out days later in a Facebook group, several buyers were actually cheated out of just under 400 euros each. The money paid with a transfer to an N26 account was gone – the knife never arrived. Problem: Because Internet banks like N26 apply very low security standards when opening accounts, criminals can conduct their business via corresponding accounts for a short time. To make matters worse, some banks only check whether the account holder is a legitimate account from an amount of 1000 euros. By the way: The caught criminal then sent a nice greeting to one of his victims and even boasted about his actions. An isolated case? No, unfortunately the bitter reality.

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Scammers often use online-only bank accounts like N26. Here it is quite easy to open accounts with fake identities.

Scam 1: Hijacked accounts on eBay classifieds

If criminals come into possession of an existing account on Ebay classifieds, they can pretend to be serious. Because users who have been active for years and have correspondingly positive ratings are trusted (more). External accounts are usually taken over by phishing, but also with the help of database leaks that appear on the dark web. EBK users who use the same password as for other services are at risk. If one of these is hacked, criminals simply try the access data on Ebay classifieds and, in the worst case, can use it to log in. They own the account and can run their own fraudulent ads under the name of unsuspecting SFBC users. But how do you recognize that? Not at all. Bad German or stolen pictures from other advertisements are revealing.

Mesh 2: Two victims of the triangle fraud

Hundreds of victims have fallen for this scam. The fraudster copies an ad that already exists on Ebay classifieds – in our example a smartphone – and puts it online under his name. In the next step, he contacts the original seller (victim 1) and buys the advertised smartphone. The fraudster receives the account details for the agreed payment by bank transfer. If, in the meantime, the fraudster is contacted by a buyer (victim 2) who is interested in the copied advertisement and a deal is reached at the same price, the buyer receives the account details from victim 1. Victim 2 then transfers the purchase amount to victim 1. The latter sends the smartphone to an address provided by the scammer. This can then be a packing station that the fraudster has rented with a false identity. The perpetrator disappears with the goods, leaving two victims behind. If the payment was made with Paypal instead of bank transfer, buyer protection applies, at least for injured party 2. Damaged 1, i.e. the real seller, is left with his damage. To protect yourself from this scam, you should look for identical offers on eBay classifieds. Even better: Have detailed pictures sent to you and a photo with a crumpled piece of paper with the current date written on it.

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When making offers, pay attention to the information provided by the seller and, above all, that he actually owns the goods offered.

Mesh 3: Beware of counterfeit money – you will have real problems with that

Thanks to new security features, the number of counterfeit euro bills continues to fall. In 2021, the Deutsche Bundesbank registered around 42,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of 1.9 million euros in German payment transactions. The number of counterfeits fell by 28.6 percent compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, you should be careful when the buyer is at the door and wants to pay in cash. Hardly any private person owns a counting machine that checks the authenticity of the banknotes. Criminal buyers take advantage of this and cheer the seller for flowers. Look closely at the banknotes and pay attention to the specific security features that you have memorized beforehand. Take a similar bill and compare it with the buyer’s. Poorly made counterfeit money can be easily unmasked with a bank note detection pen for a few euros. Be extra cautious when you’re listing high-priced watches, jewelry, and collectibles on eBay Classifieds and a buyer strikes quickly without lengthy negotiations. If things go really badly for you, you have a completely different problem: If you don’t recognize the counterfeit money and continue to circulate it, there are legal consequences. You are on the safe side if you go to a bank or post office with the buyer, have the cash checked there and pay it into your account.

Mesh 4: Be careful when returning purchased electronic devices

As a seller, you also have to be on your guard: a supposedly serious buyer responds to an ad on eBay classifieds, comes by in person at the agreed time and pays for an electrical device without a functional test, in our example a smart TV for around 300 euros. Shortly thereafter, the buyer calls and claims that the device does not work. He demands the return and insists on the warranty obligation. And that is actually also the case with private sales. If an item sold is defective and not marked as such, the seller must repair, exchange or take it back. And that’s exactly where the scam comes in: if the seller takes the goods back, he doesn’t get the original television from the buyer, but the identical one as defective. As a seller, you are on the safe side if you heed the following advice: Document the condition with photos and videos, for example, and take pictures of type plates and serial numbers. In addition, carry out a function test with witnesses and have the result confirmed in writing by the buyer.

How to protect yourself: Pay securely with buyer protection

In view of the many rip-offs, Ebay classifieds has introduced a new payment function that works according to the escrow principle: the purchase price is held in trust by the Dutch company Online Payment Platform (OPP) for up to 14 days. Only when the buyer confirms receipt of the item and that it matches the description will the amount be paid to the seller. The secure payment function is free for sellers. The buyer pays an additional 4.5 percent of the purchase price as a fee and a fixed amount of 35 cents. The seller must offer the secure payment function for his advertisement and send the package in such a way that the shipment can be tracked. The buyer pays either by bank transfer or credit card. If the buyer does not want the secure purchase process, he can still agree on the payment method with the seller and, for example, agree on PayPal or prepayment.

Buyer protection always applies if the item

Problem: Hardly any seller uses the payment function and the search cannot be filtered accordingly.

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This is how secure payment works on eBay classifieds. But hardly any seller offers them.

© eBay Classifieds

Checklist: How to protect yourself from scammers

Ebay Classifieds: Introduction, Tips and Tricks