Since last January, more than a hundred users have reported through the comments of this other article a multitude of cases of scams and scams forged around the Wallapop application. Precisely last week the National Cybersecurity Institute warned of a new case of scam in Wallapop that seeks to get the users' money . Most of these cases, according to INCIBE, are usually carried out by false buyers. For this reason, the Internet Security Office recommends taking a series of precautions to detect fake buyers in Wallapop, precautions that we will discuss below.
If you speak an artificial Spanish, distrust
It's a fact: the majority of fake buyers come from countries like Nigeria, France, Italy or South Africa . They often make use of an artificial Spanish from a translation application.
Images taken from Forocoches.
The use of bots to automate responses is also recurrent . Checking this fact is as simple as radically altering the topic of conversation . Generally, the bot will not change its mind and will carry on the initial conversation as if nothing had happened.
International deliveries? Do not play it
The Nigerian scam is probably the best known type of fraud in trading applications. Although it has some other variation, it is usually similar in most cases.
Generally, the alleged buyer will request to ship to a foreign country , such as some of those mentioned above. For "the inconvenience caused" and "shipping costs", the user will be willing to pay a surcharge of 50 or 100 euros , depending on the advertised product and the final amount.
Once we have accepted the operation, an international transfer will be simulated through a fake email , a transfer that will require a cash deposit to “unlock the amount of money”. It goes without saying that both the content of the email and the bank receipt are false.
Run away from messages like these
In the article linked to the beginning of the entry dozens of users have made public the way of proceeding of this type of buyers in Wallapop. Before developing the scam, the alleged scammer usually uses the following message to contact us through the application chat:
Hello, I would like to know if your item is still available since I am interested in purchasing it, so if so, please contact me only at my EMAIL address below:
Once we have responded to your query, the user will use the following message:
Thanks for your reply. I confess the interest I have in your ad that I would like to see made in Clean Hands but since I live in France I could make a money order in cash, that is, I send you the DHL money in cash in an envelope, and once I have received the money, the service will charge you to collect the package from your home.
If my payment method is convenient for you, I ask that you provide me with the following information so that I can proceed with the mandate as soon as possible: name, postal address, item price and telephone number.
The goal is clear: to urge users to continue the conversation outside of Wallapop . The reason? That the algorithm of the platform does not detect the practices that we will talk about below.
And from services such as DHL or NeoSurf
The statement released by INCIBE states that the majority of cases of scam develop around services such as NeoSurf through its prepaid cards or through the DHL money transfer service.
Apparently, the alleged buyer offers these two services to extract money from our credit or debit card or to make a money transfer to an international bank account. Outside of the in-app chat, the scam comes to life through an email that simulates the appearance of an email originating from DHL or NeoSurf.
The content of the email is similar to the following:
On 02/29/2020, Davilla Duboeuf made a transfer of a mandate to DHL for € 150.00 euros. We invite you to take a few minutes and read our comments to understand our systematic process of accrediting your bank account.
Note from DHL: You must complete the form immediately after receiving notification from DHL to ensure that you are honest and that you are the owner of the account to be credited. And so the delivery man can move in with you as soon as possible.
To do this, we ask you to confirm the information very quickly by providing it to us:
- Postal address:
- Card number:
- Cardholder:
- Date of Expiry
- Months:
- Year:
- Security code: 3 digits on the back of the card or 4 digits on the front of the card
- Phone:
You will need to send the required information via email to [email protected] to credit your account as soon as possible as it is still open.
Of course, the content of this and other emails is false. Just use the attached email address ( @ gmail.com instead of @ dhl.com ) to verify. Likewise, none of these services will require sensitive data through a simple email.
No purchase or sales history? Be careful
Perhaps the best way to find out if a profile is legit or not. Most fake profiles tend to use accounts with empty sales histories , that is, without any type of evaluation or comment from other users of the platform.
Beyond the user in question making use of any of the practices we have just mentioned, from tuexperto.com we do not recommend closing a purchase with users who have just registered in the Wallapop application or who lack their own history.