All of us, or almost all of us, have bought something over the Internet at least once in our lives. Many of us make purchases on bulletin boards "from hand to hand". I decided to collect in one article the types of fraud that are practiced by hunters for your wallet on the OLX website. The schemes are applicable to other resources of this kind. Therefore, the information will not be superfluous for almost any Internet user. Forewarned is forearmed, right? Read on to avoid being scammed!

Scheme with two gullible sellers

Friends, we want to warn you against a new invention of scammers. Now they have learned to deceive with special cunning, attracting two gullible sellers / buyers at once, and they themselves “get out of the fraudulent scheme dry”. Read on to avoid being scammed!

The scheme of the crime is as follows: the fraudster makes a deal with one of the buyers, while asking to transfer money to a bank card. At the same time, he indicates the card number of another person from whom he buys something. Thus, one victim transfers money to the card of the second, and the third party, the fraudster, receives the goods for which the third party paid.

The implementation of this crime may differ depending on the situation, but in the end, one person is left without money, accusing the other of fraud, while the real fraudster simply disappears.

Even more advanced scammers have even learned to steal SIM cards using the service of mobile operators to restore the lost SIM card. To do this, they call the victim from three different numbers, and then call these three numbers at the operator’s office, receiving a SIM card with the victim’s number, and then, knowing the phone number and bank card number, withdraw money from ATMs using the “Emergency Money” service . But this trick is applicable only for PrivatBank clients.

Fraudulent buyers and Oschadbank ATMs

Information about the increasing method of deception using Oschadbank ATMs. We want to warn you so that you do not fall for the tricks of scammers!

The method is quite simple, and the main task of the fraudster is to lure the victim to the ATM. Here's how it goes:

1. The scammer calls the phone number indicated in the ad, pretending to be potential buyer. At the same time, he has little or no interest in the product itself, but immediately declares his desire to make a purchase. Very often, a scammer pretends to be a representative of a company - for example, a wedding dress rental shop or a children's goods store.

2. Next, the "buyer" asks the seller to provide card details to transfer payment for the goods, often specifying the type of card, as well as the account balance. This should definitely alert you: think for yourself, why would the buyer need to know how much money is on your card if it’s not you who will pay, but he?

3. Then the fraudster says that he will transfer the money, but to receive it, you need to go to the Oschadbank ATM and follow the steps that he says. When the seller approaches the ATM and inserts the card, the scammer dictates his card number under the guise of a number money transfer and asks to enter the amount that supposedly should be credited to the seller's account. After the transaction is confirmed, the money ends up in the scammer's account.

As a rule, communication with such unfortunate buyers takes place in a hurry, they rush the sellers, ask them to quickly run to the ATM and press the necessary buttons, otherwise “the money will not pass”, they use other methods of psychological pressure. We ask you to be vigilant and careful.

Fraudsters and PrivatBank cards

The principle of work of crooks is unchanged - to force you to give them money, but the methods are constantly changing. We want to warn you once again and tell you about the new invention of the villains!

The principle of deception is very simple - a fraudster under the guise of a buyer calls, agrees to a deal and asks to make a payment on bank card PrivatBank. At the same time, in addition to the card number, he is trying to find out additional data about the cardholder. For example, validity period, availability of a credit limit, etc. Often the deceiver explains the need for this information by saying that payment will be made from legal entity.

Do not, under any circumstances, share any information with anyone. except for the card number and full name.

In addition, the security service of a bank or any other company will never call you back to clarify additional data on the card. Only scammers do this.

If you received an SMS with a code that asks you to name the buyer so that his payment goes through, then you should know that you are dealing with a scammer. This is a deceiver, knowing your card number, additional data and phone number, he is trying to carry out the "Emergency Money" service.

But such fraud schemes can be directed not only at PrivatBank cardholders. Therefore, we ask you to be very careful when shopping online.

Don't fall for the tricks of scammers!

Free animals - a new way to cheat on the Internet

Attention all animal lovers! Ads began to appear on OLX, in which expensive animals, under various pretexts, are offered absolutely free. And everything would be fine, but only scammers make up such offers!

The text of such ads is often written with various details and inspires confidence. Fraudsters even leave a phone number in their contacts where you can contact and hear a convincing story about why the animal is given away for nothing.

There is just one problem - there is no possibility of a personal meeting to pick up the animal. Instead, scammers ask you to pay for shipping or transportation. The victim is offered to transfer a "symbolic" amount to a bank account or transfer money through international transfer systems.

Naturally, after the money is transferred, the contact number of the scammers will be disconnected, and the victim will be left without money and an animal.

Don't fall for tricks. Never, under any circumstances, transfer money in advance!

Remember, if you do not have the opportunity to personally meet with the seller, then you can use the cash on delivery service - when you pay after receiving and checking the goods. Many popular carriers offer such opportunities.

Read:

Cars from abroad: popular fraud schemes

Due to the fact that cases of fraud in the sale of cars have become more frequent, we have prepared for you descriptions of well-known "swindlers" and signs by which you can identify false sellers. Read on and don't fall for the tricks!

Given the high prices for cars in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, scammers often hook those who want to buy a cheap car. The standard scheme of deception is as follows - a tempting offer with a good car at a low price is placed on the bulletin board. A potential buyer contacts the seller and it turns out that he is abroad. Then the process of entering into trust and luring money begins.

It happens something like this: so that the victim does not guess about the fraud, the scammer comes up with a plausible legend, provides photographs or scans of documents and offers to transfer money through an intermediary company (car dealership, carrier company, bank, etc.).

Since fraudulent schemes are improving every day, there is no specific scenario. For example, a scheme is now popular when a seller from abroad offers to buy an already cleared car, which, however, due to a certain coincidence, is now in another country.

Here is a fragment of communication with a scammer who pretends to be a seller:

“The car is in perfect condition. I agree to all checks when I arrive. I can bring her to Ukraine in about 3-4 days if you want to buy, but I need a guarantee because I can't afford to make this trip in vain. My suggestion is this:

You send $1800 to Denmark via Western-Union, for example, in the name of your relative (father, brother, cousin ... even a friend), and then you send me a copy of the transfer by e-mail.

When I arrive in Ukraine and I give you the car, we will go to the bank together and you will change your father's name (for example) to my name, and when I return to Denmark I will receive money from the bank.

This transfer is not in my name, I cannot receive money from the bank until you check the car and change the name of the recipient.

In fact, a scammer will be able to receive such a transfer. It will be enough for him to forge any certificate, entering the name and surname of the recipient there. After all, Western Union employees are not required to check documents for authenticity.

There may be a lot of similar answers, but they all boil down to one thing - you must pay a certain amount of a deposit.

Want to make sure it's a scam? Write to the seller that in just a couple of days you will be on a business trip in his country and you can drive up to him, see the car and complete the deal on the spot. Most likely, the seller will disappear.

Read: Bus to Germany and Poland… any city for 30 euros: my low-cost route

Fraudsters "from the bank": how to keep money on the card safe

Bank cards have now become a very popular payment method for goods purchased on the Internet. Unfortunately, this is used not only by buyers and sellers, but also by scammers. Here is the story of one of the users - and tips on how to protect yours plastic card from intruders!

First rule - never share your card details with third parties no matter who they appear to be. The PIN-code of the card, secret codes, passport and registration data, as well as passwords that come to your mobile phone are strictly secret. By transferring this data, you run the risk of transferring access to your card accounts to a stranger!

The second rule is do not send SMS requests from your mobile phones, the purpose of which you are not 100% sure. This is especially true of SMS to short numbers.

Here is a story that happened to Valery, one of our users. He's writing:
“I sell, for example, some goods via the Internet. A potential client calls, says that everything suits him, he wants to buy and is even ready to make a full prepayment to a Privatbank card.
I say ok and send him my card number. Then, after a while, a person calls me from a hidden number and introduces himself as an employee of Privatbank ... In the turmoil of the working day, I don’t pay attention to what number he is calling from, especially since the number is hidden, possibly corporate. That is, I believe him.
This pseudo-worker says that a certain person is trying to transfer a certain amount to my account. I say yes, I know. Then he says that I am allegedly not connected to the system " mobile bank” and in order to be able to transfer money to me, you need to connect me. I don't know anything about mobile banking and I agree. Then this pseudo-worker asks with all sorts of tricky questions what Privatbank cards I still have, do I have a credit card, what is the limit, what debt, etc. Then he says, okay, I connected you, now the person who sends you money will be sent a message with a code to confirm the payment, he will send this code to you, and you will have to send it in the form as it is, to the short number 10060 .
If I have not used mobile banking services before, then in any case I do not know what the code that he sent me by SMS means. And I send this code to number 10060. And people like me, most likely, the majority, who, perhaps in confusion or ignorance, do not pay attention to the forwarded code and thus lose money. Naturally, it was a code of the form SENDxxxVAL + [Last four digits] + CARD, where the last 4 digits of the card were the numbers of my credit card, which they learned over the phone under the guise of a Privatbank employee, and the CARD card number is already their card number. The amount indicated in the code corresponds approximately to credit limit, which is still available to the victim, and which their pseudo-bank employee finds out before that".

Be carefull! We hope this story doesn't repeat itself.

Read:

How to recover stolen money from a bank card

The most common recent cases of fraud with bank cards, when a fraudster withdraws funds from a card after the user discloses confidential information. We strongly recommend that in no case - neither sellers nor buyers - disclose confidential data, do not disclose confirmation SMS codes and do not perform any actions at an ATM at the request of strangers, even if they appear to be bank employees. However, people continue to fall for tricks. In some cases, stolen money can be returned.

Anastasia Borisova, a business analyst, shared her own experience of returning stolen money to a PrivatBank card. These recommendations will be useful to users of the LiqPay system.

“The situation is brief: the scammers called under the guise of buying my goods listed on OLX (SLANDO). They said that they would charge the money for the goods to the card. After that, “allegedly an employee of PrivatBank” carried out an operation to credit funds, and in fact - theft of my funds - from my PrivatBank card.

The key point of this case is that the fraudulent operation of debiting funds from the card was carried out through the LiqPay service (www.liqpay.com).

To enter the account of the LiqPay system, you must enter a phone number, as well as a code that comes via sms. In addition to the card number and the name of the recipient, the victim reported this code, as well as her date of birth, allegedly to a bank employee. Having received the code, the scammers gained access to the user's account and transferred money from her card to another account.

Attention: in no case should anyone disclose sms-codes and personal information!

How to protect yourself from unscrupulous sellers and buyers on the Internet? How to avoid becoming a victim of Internet scammers trading on popular message boards such as OLX?

Over the past few months, several of my close acquaintances have encountered scammers on the most popular bulletin board on the Internet - OLX. Unfortunately, one of them suffered 100 hryvnia, the money was transferred to an unscrupulous seller, who never sent the goods to the buyer. As a result, a statement was written to the police indicating all the information collected about the seller.
In the course of my monitoring of the situation with fraud around this board, I managed to identify several main areas of activity for fraudsters. The so-called scammers choose their victims among people who are ready to make a purchase / sale with the shipment of goods to another region. The main types of scams today are:
Attempt to access debit / credit card seller. It is no secret that almost all sellers are ready to send goods to other regions of Ukraine, while accepting payment via the Privat 24 system to their bank card. The fraudster calls the seller, is interested in the goods, may even bargain, sometimes asks to send cash on delivery, but if the seller agrees, he changes his mind and offers to pay immediately to the card. And here several variants of this divorce begin: the fraudster says that he sent the money, but the seller must confirm the transfer, since the money was transferred to a private bank card from another payment system(Yandex money, WebMoney) or another bank. The seller is asked to drive up to an ATM, most often Oschadbank or Privatbank, and under the pretext of confirming the transfer, the inattentive seller, instructed by a fraudster over the phone, sends him all the money from his card.
Another option for this fraud is a phone call from an "employee" of Privatbank that a payment from a legal entity has been received on the seller's account and its crediting must be confirmed / allowed - using an SMS password, and after such confirmation the amount indicated in the message is debited from the seller's account.
Also, fraudsters can, under any pretext, ask the seller for the expiration date of his card and the CVV code located on the back of the card - remember, a bank employee will never be interested in this information!
An attempt to replace the goods upon receipt of cash on delivery. Fraudsters ask to send the parcel by cash on delivery (payment upon receipt of the purchase), but as you know, the recipient has the right to familiarize himself with the contents before paying for the parcel, and this is where an attempt to replace the content occurs (for example, instead of a tablet, they can put the same tablet but not working, or replace the branded goods with a cheap fake). Despite the fact that a post office employee must be present when opening the parcel, scammers still sometimes manage to replace the parcel.
Deception of buyers by unscrupulous sellers. To date, one of the most common types of fraud on OLX. The buyer finds the product he needs at an affordable price, contacts the author of the ad, the seller asks either an advance payment or a 100% prepayment before shipping. After receiving the money, the seller stops communicating, and after a while turns off the phone and deletes the account.
In some cases, the seller sends low-quality or defective goods, even can send cash on delivery, knowing that the buyer will not be able to detect defects in the mail (computer components, various spare parts, etc.).
How to protect yourself from scammers on OLX and other similar Internet services?!
- First of all, check the information about the seller or buyer by entering his phone number, private bank card number (or other information known about him) into a search engine, preferably in Google, and see if there are any reviews about him on the Internet.
- Never tell anyone passwords and codes that come in the form of SMS messages to your phone.
- Never tell the expiration date of your bank card, and the code on the back of it.
- If you are asked to go to an ATM to confirm the transfer of money - these are scammers, in no case follow their lead.
- If you are going to send an advance payment or the full amount for the goods, before sending money to the seller, pay attention to the date of registration of the seller on the OLX service, most often scammers are registered on the service for no more than 2 - 3 months, but experienced scammers register accounts in advance for half a year - a year . Be sure to enter the seller's phone numbers into the search engine. It happens that one phone number is indicated in the ad, and the seller calls back from another. Enter phone numbers and card numbers in different variations: 067-012-34-56, 0670123456, 067 012 34 56,
If this happened and you became a victim of scammers, you can write a statement to the police, in Ukraine there are quite a few cases of catching Internet scammers.
On our site, we decided to create one that will be updated daily with contact information from open sources.

As my friend likes to state, now is the time. that you have to be on your guard all the time. As soon as you relaxed in the market, in a store or in a bank, you were immediately deceived! What can we say about virtual reality, which is literally teeming with scammers?

It is not surprising that all kinds of "black lists" are now quite popular on the Web, with the help of which you can figure out a fraudster by name and surname, phone number, card number, social network account. But such a calculation does not give a 100% guarantee: first and last names are very common, the phone number and account can be easily changed, and fraudsters have not one, but several bank cards. In addition, apparently, their ranks are constantly replenished.

Schemes from "sellers"

Recently, I have already heard several stories from acquaintances about scams related to the popular OLX Internet bulletin board. Judging by these stories, the scammers operate in several main ways.

1. Prepayment - and goodbye!

The scheme is as old as the world. The seller, before sending the goods by mail, asks for either an advance payment or a 100% prepayment, and after receiving the money, he disappears forever: he stops communicating, turns off the phone, deletes the account.

2. Marriage in the parcel

The buyer is sent a low-quality or defective product. By the way, cash on delivery is also possible if the fraudulent seller is sure that the buyer will not be able to detect defects in the mail (spare parts, components, etc.).

Schemes from "buyers"

I must say that fraudsters operate on both sides of the barricades, so they can act as both sellers and buyers.

So, popular schemes from pseudo-buyers:

1. "Transfer Confirmation"

It is no secret that almost all sellers do not mind sending goods to other regions of the country, having received a payment on their card before that. The scammer calls the seller, is interested in the goods, may even bargain, and then agrees to send money to the card. The divorce can go in several directions: the scammer says that he sent the money, but the seller must confirm the transfer, since the money was sent from another payment system. For example, to the "Privat" card with WebMoney, etc. The seller is asked to drive up to the ATM and they give him detailed instructions, what to do. As a result, under the pretext of confirming the transfer, an inattentive seller, instructed in real time by a fraudster, sends him all the money from his card.

2. Phone call from an "employee" of the bank

The seller receives a call allegedly from a bank employee who reports that a payment from a legal entity has been received on the seller's account, and its crediting must be allowed using an SMS password. True, after such confirmation it turns out that the amount indicated in the SMS was not credited, but debited from the seller's account.

3. CVV code

Under any of the above or under another pretext, fraudsters may ask the seller to provide data on the expiration date of the card and the CVV code. Well, then it’s a matter of technology: a fraudster can already pay with your card on the Web.

4. Substitution of goods at the post office

The fraudulent buyer asks to send the parcel by cash on delivery (that is, the goods are paid for upon receipt of the purchase). The scheme is based on the fact that upon receipt of a parcel by cash on delivery, the recipient has the right to familiarize himself with the contents before paying for the parcel. Of course, when opening the parcel, a post office employee must be present, but it is quite possible to distract him. And then the scammer replaces the content - for example, instead of a phone or tablet, he puts the same, but non-working one in the package, and then refuses to receive it - they say, the goods did not fit.

How to protect yourself from scammers

Psychologists say. that divorce is most often based on "three pillars": surprise, loyalty and tact. Therefore, be vigilant!

And the "security" rules are general, and equally suitable for both potential sellers and potential buyers:

• Check the seller or buyer information. The simplest thing is to drive the information you have (last name, phone number, card number) into a search engine and check if there are any reviews about it on the Internet.
• Never tell anyone the passwords and codes that come to your number in the form of SMS messages.
• Do not tell anyone the additional details of the card: its expiration date and the code on the back.
• If you are asked to go to an ATM to confirm the transfer of money, be sure: you are talking to scammers!
• If you have any questions, do not discuss them with the person who is calling you, but call back to hotline financial institutions independently by the phone number indicated on the official website of the bank.
• Before you send an advance payment for the goods, pay attention to the date of registration of the seller on the site. If it is registered for no more than a couple of months, and, moreover, a couple of weeks, this is a reason to be wary.
• Please note that one phone number may be indicated in the ad, but they call you back from another. In this case, it makes sense to "break through" both numbers through the search engines.
• If, however, you have become a victim of scammers, write a statement to the police.

Today we will tell you about a new kind of scam, which is primarily aimed at SELLERS who sell their goods on Slando (OLX) and similar message boards.

Auctions on Aukro are practically not affected by this method. all Aukro participants are verified (a letter is sent to the postal address), in addition, there is a feedback system, and the phone number becomes available only after contacting the seller through the form, or after placing a bid / buying a lot.

How it all started

It so happened that I needed to sell a brand new Samsung GALAXY Star Advance White smartphone and, as usual, I posted it on both Aukro and Slando (OLX) at the same time, because the seller is always interested in the fastest possible sale.

Just 5-10 minutes after adding to OLX - a call. The man introduced himself as Sergey ( Shapovalov Sergey Mikhailovich, mobile +38-095-441-48-74) from Zaporozhye, clarified the information by phone, agreed on payment by bank card.

Everything is as usual, however, the "buyer" said that he would need to go to the Oschadbank ATM and confirm the transfer. Already at this stage, suspicions arise, what kind of confirmation, what kind of innovation?

Walking to an ATM

Because there was an ATM nearby, and I was on the way, for the sake of interest I decided to go further and check what kind of "innovation" is it?

I call back the “buyer”, follow the instructions - it is proposed to insert the card into the ATM and go to the “card replenishment” menu section - ahem ... this is done so brazenly that many may not suspect a trick. Especially those who poorly “understand” the ATM, usually these are older people.

Because on the card we have only 39 UAH. (nothing to risk), insert the card, go to the “card replenishment” section and there the “buyer” dictates the “confirmation code” 5104 7700 1043 0694 to us, then you need to enter the amount of 500 for the “test”, will the payment go through - do you still believe?

Here we are warned that a commission of 10 UAH will be charged, and that the “confirmation code” must be entered quickly within 1 minute. And naturally, in all this turmoil, you don’t pay attention to the fact that you enter the “confirmation code” in the “Payee / card for replenishment” field, the amount of 500 is the amount that will be debited from your card. 5104 7700 1043 0694 - the card number, it's obvious.

Updated June 04, 2016: divorce with a transfer to a PrivatBank card from a legal entity account

Dear friends! I draw your attention to another subspecies of this divorce.

The other day, a certain Alexander Melnikov called about one of the lots on OLX (mobile +38-094-921-09-82 / 0948210982) and offered to make a partial prepayment, on the condition that I would drop the price to him.

After that, Alexander asked for the card number of PrivatBank, where the money should be transferred and the full name of the owner. If you have ever made a purchase on Aukro, you know that large sellers always indicate the card number and full name, the latter is needed in order to check the correctness of the number when making a payment through a bank terminal.

The lot was allegedly required to be sent to Vinnitsa, to the first warehouse of the New Post. At the same time, Alexander said that the money would be transferred from a legal entity (from the company's account).

A day later, a call was received from the number +38-056-785-85-68 (0567858568), the caller addressed by his first name and patronymic (after all, he had a full name in advance) and introduced himself as an employee of PrivatBank named Vitaliy. The pseudo-employee said that the card received a payment from a legal entity and it needs to be confirmed. The attacker was exposed, after which he hung up.

If the attacker managed to gain trust, the next option involves transferring Money from one card to another. In this case, the attacker will need additional card details - expiration date and CVV, as well as a confirmation code.

How not to become a victim of a scammer?

• Do not, under any circumstances, provide additional card details to anyone: expiration date and CVV code on the back of the card. This data is confidential and allows you to make transfers and payments via the Internet.
• Do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone the confirmation codes and access codes received by SMS from the Bank.
• Always carefully read SMS messages received from the Bank: type of operation, amount, from where and where the transfer is made.
• Pay attention to suspicious numbers of the Bank, for example, if the bank suddenly changed its number, the SMS came from another number, and so on.
• Activate the service of full SMS-informing about the operation on your account: income, expenses, etc.
• Enable two-step authorization in Internet banking so that you can enter the system only with a username, password and mobile phone at hand.
• If you have any questions, please contact the bank directly or call the Bank's hotline at the number listed on the Bank's website.
  Be vigilant, divorce is always aimed at loyalty and surprise.

How do you like this divorce?

Judging by the confidence of the "buyer", this is not his first "purchase". Be carefull!