The number of fraud cases involving payment requests via Marktplaats has fallen sharply. This is reported by the cybercrime department from the Limburg police on Friday. A targeted collaboration between the police and the sales platform reduced the number of fraud cases by almost 77 percent in two years. Among other things, more active information for users about the working methods of fraudsters contributed to the decrease. At the beginning of 2021, the police still saw that between 500,000 and 800,000 euros per month in fraud was committed. Now that amount is between 125,000 and 200,000 euros.
According to the police, most online payment request fraud, about 90 percent in 2020, occurs through contact on Marktplaats. In this method, scammers pretend to want to buy a product. The fraudster then sends a link outside the website to make a small payment of, for example, 1 eurocent. The so-called buyer would like to verify the reliability of the seller in this way. In reality, this is a fake payment request that leads to a phishing site where the fraudster can look with the seller’s payment details.
Marktplaats now offers users the option of so-called buyer protection, a function that offers them more security. This also plays a role in reducing fraud. With such protection, the seller only receives his money when a buyer has indicated that he has received the purchased product. Fraud also occurs at other sales websites such as Facebook Marketplace and Vinted, but to a lesser extent, according to the police.
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