It is the sellers who are targeted, alert UFC – Que Choisir.
Car, apartment, computer, consoles, … The popularity of the Leboncoin site is such with individuals that the site is a target of choice for many online scams which then continue to improve. The association UFC-What to choose has just drawn attention to a new scam: the fake payment confirmation email. Explanations.
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It does not concern buyers but sellers who post ads on the platform. The scammers therefore wish to obtain the goods put online… but without actually paying for them. For this, they use two main channels: the secure payment system of the site as well as fake payment confirmation emails which reproduce, almost identically, those that Leboncoin could send.
The need to use the site’s secure messaging system
Elie, seller on Leboncoin, therefore posts, in the first place, an advertisement for his property, describing UF Que Choisir. A “fake” buyer notices her and decides to contact his potential “victim”. He seeks to gain his trust, in particular by telling him that he intends to pay via the site’s secure payment system and that the seller should receive a confirmation email directly from the boncoin proving that the money has indeed been sent. .
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However, if you are faced with this situation, you should be in doubt because the payment confirmation should have automatically appeared on the site’s secure messaging system and not by email. The boncoin messaging service guarantees that the site has officially taken the payment into account, whereas a simple email is absolutely no proof of this, according to the platform’s site. The email may very well have been written, not by the site, but by your “Buyer“. The scammers, taking advantage of the lack of vigilance and the confidence of their victims, therefore obtain their property without leaving a single penny.
The recommendations of the Que-Choisir association
In order to no longer be the victim of scams that could exist on the boncoin site, UFC-Que Choisir advises users to be vigilant and to check six fundamental parameters:
- The email address of boncoin: the platform sends emails to its users only with the following addresses: @leboncoin.fr, @news.leboncoin.fr and @messagerie.leboncoin.fr
- Spelling errors and certain expressions used : “from your buyer’s side» found in the email sent to Elie or «delivery costsare two formulas generally used in scams.
- The price : if the buyer does not try to negotiate the price and even offers to pay the delivery costs, this can alert the buyer to a possible scam attempt.
- The address : if the potential buyer does not communicate his precise personal address or indicates a relay point which is not located in his city can also interlocute.
- Shipping methods : it is absolutely necessary that the terms of delivery (by Chronopost) be discussed between the buyer and the seller and not imposed unilaterally by one of the parties.
- Always communicate by platform messaging : this is the most important element. All exchanges and confirmations of dispatch or payment are made by the site’s secure messaging system.
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