Ebay Classifieds is THE place to go for private sellers. Conversely, buyers can also find almost everything on the classifieds portal. That is why the platform is also a popular target for scammers.
There is currently another phishing scam going around on Ebay classifieds, which has been around in one form or another for some time. The main target is the sellers on the platform and the scammers are very specific. TECHBOOK also has a current case.
Ebay classifieds phishing scam
Someone places an offer on Ebay Classifieds, and then an interested party reports. You knock each other off, the product and, if necessary, the price, you agree – that’s it. This is how it usually works on the classifieds portal. Communication usually takes place via the integrated messenger. If it comes to a sale, you may exchange numbers to make it easier to coordinate.
In the current scam, however, the alleged prospective buyers directly request the contact details of the seller. Either because the payment function does not work via Ebay classifieds itself or because you simply prefer to communicate by email. Anyone who gives out their data and possibly even clicks on links in the e-mails ends up on a fake page.
Police warn of current scam
The Police of Constance therefore warns of the new scam. The case of a young man who wanted to sell a book on Ebay classifieds provided a concrete reason. An alleged buyer contacted him. Since the payment function via PayPal does not work, he should switch to an alternative payment method.
The 26-year-old then gave his email address and received a message asking him to click on a yellow button or follow the corresponding link. The website to which the link led probably made a serious impression. The person concerned gave his bank details when asked; Shortly thereafter, he found that an unauthorized debit of several thousand euros had been made from his account.
Attempted eBay classifieds scam
A similar, very current case is also available to TECHBOOK. In mid-March, the seller made an offer for car tires including aluminum rims on eBay classifieds. Within a few hours, he received several inquiries from potential buyers. In fact, these were exclusively women, who usually only gave their first names. A quick search revealed that none of the accounts had existed on eBay classifieds for more than three days.
The alleged prospects asked the seller directly for his e-mail address or, in one case, his telephone number. None wanted to use the portal’s internal messenger to process the purchase. When asked, only the insurance came that you would pay with buyer protection. After the email address or phone number was not released, people in the chat stopped responding.
Recognize phishing on eBay classifieds
In their press release, the police explicitly pointed out that no bank would send a comparable letter by email. This is how you generally recognize phishing scams that are aimed at the banking data of their victims. In general, special caution is always required when it comes to sensitive data. You should also only give your number or email address to trustworthy people or sites. If buyers or, conversely, sellers, absolutely demand communication away from Ebay classifieds, one should also be suspicious.
The consumer advice center actually warns regularly about current phishing scams, not only on Ebay classifieds. In addition, the experts give the same several tipshow to spot a fake message when in doubt. In general, the messages often look deceptively real. Attempts at fraud can often still be recognized by incorrect language and dubious salutations. However, technical progress is also increasingly ensuring that the news appears more and more authentic. In general, you should always be careful if you cannot trust the source 100 percent.
At a certain point, there is always a request to follow a link, enter data and/or open a file. If you do not comply with this request, if in doubt, check with the bank or the payment service that everything is correct. In this way, scammers can be quickly unmasked. Or as in the current case with Ebay Classifieds: check who is interested in buying, ask questions.