Anna:
They gave me a new phone, but I didn't need it, I immediately decided to sell it via the Internet. I made an ad on a popular website. Almost immediately the guy called and said that he wanted to buy a phone. He asked to meet as soon as possible, because he buys as a gift.
We agreed at the metro, arrived with a friend in a black Mercedes, looking solid. Said the money will be transferred to my card. Right in front of me, I opened the bank application and makes a transfer. I see there he has accounts, there is a lot of money on them. I entered my card number and transferred it, took a picture of the transfer receipt from the screen and sent me a screenshot. Everything is detailed there, his full account number, bank contacts, amount, my card number is half hidden, the date and time of the operation is there.
He said only the money will not come right away, but we have to wait two or three days. I say why? He replies that the transfer from account to card can take a long time. Well, if anything, call! And they didn't even open the package with the phone, they quickly left.
Three days later, the money never arrived. I called his bank, they asked the last 4 digits of his account. The bank employee said that such an account does not exist, there was no transfer and that they were fraudsters, you need to contact the police.
I called this guy again - the number is no longer available. Lost a lot of money! I can't understand how he deceived me, but I saw how he transferred money.
Financial Culture Expert:
If you decide to sell something over the Internet, always remember about the high risk of running into scammers. Even on a well-known and popular classifieds site.
In this case, the fraudster most likely used a demo version of a banking application. This is a trial mode, which is available in every mobile bank. This mode helps you understand how the application is arranged and whether it is convenient to use it. There you can see how accounts, cards, deposits will be displayed, you can see how to conduct various transactions. Probably, the fraudster demonstrated precisely these accounts from the demo mode, and not his real ones.
The attacker took advantage of the fact that the demo version looks almost the same as a real personal account in a mobile bank and simulated a transfer. Then he photographed the test transaction check and forwarded it to Anna.
The demo can be distinguished from the full version of the application if you take a closer look. First, there should be a “Demo” mark on the screen, which the fraudster can, for example, cover with his finger. Secondly, it does not display real personal data. If you enter the recipient's real card number, the demo application can only display the initials of the fictitious owner. With a real translation, Anna would see her name, patronymic and the first letter of her last name on the screen.
However, even if you are sure that the buyer has really made the transfer, this is not a guarantee that the money will reach you. A real transfer can be revoked if the money has not yet been credited to the recipient's account.
To protect yourself from fraud when selling goods over the Internet, always follow the main rules:
1. Money up front. Do not give up the item until you receive the money.
2. Choose secure payment methods:
If the attacker still managed to deceive you, contact the police. In the application, describe all the details of what happened, attach screenshots of the receipt, correspondence, announcements from the site.
Not only buyers, but also sellers can be scammers. For more information on how not to lose money in online stores, read the article "Safe online shopping".
They gave me a new phone, but I didn't need it, I immediately decided to sell it via the Internet. I made an ad on a popular website. Almost immediately the guy called and said that he wanted to buy a phone. He asked to meet as soon as possible, because he buys as a gift.
We agreed at the metro, arrived with a friend in a black Mercedes, looking solid. Said the money will be transferred to my card. Right in front of me, I opened the bank application and makes a transfer. I see there he has accounts, there is a lot of money on them. I entered my card number and transferred it, took a picture of the transfer receipt from the screen and sent me a screenshot. Everything is detailed there, his full account number, bank contacts, amount, my card number is half hidden, the date and time of the operation is there.
He said only the money will not come right away, but we have to wait two or three days. I say why? He replies that the transfer from account to card can take a long time. Well, if anything, call! And they didn't even open the package with the phone, they quickly left.
Three days later, the money never arrived. I called his bank, they asked the last 4 digits of his account. The bank employee said that such an account does not exist, there was no transfer and that they were fraudsters, you need to contact the police.
I called this guy again - the number is no longer available. Lost a lot of money! I can't understand how he deceived me, but I saw how he transferred money.
Financial Culture Expert:
If you decide to sell something over the Internet, always remember about the high risk of running into scammers. Even on a well-known and popular classifieds site.
In this case, the fraudster most likely used a demo version of a banking application. This is a trial mode, which is available in every mobile bank. This mode helps you understand how the application is arranged and whether it is convenient to use it. There you can see how accounts, cards, deposits will be displayed, you can see how to conduct various transactions. Probably, the fraudster demonstrated precisely these accounts from the demo mode, and not his real ones.
The attacker took advantage of the fact that the demo version looks almost the same as a real personal account in a mobile bank and simulated a transfer. Then he photographed the test transaction check and forwarded it to Anna.
The demo can be distinguished from the full version of the application if you take a closer look. First, there should be a “Demo” mark on the screen, which the fraudster can, for example, cover with his finger. Secondly, it does not display real personal data. If you enter the recipient's real card number, the demo application can only display the initials of the fictitious owner. With a real translation, Anna would see her name, patronymic and the first letter of her last name on the screen.
However, even if you are sure that the buyer has really made the transfer, this is not a guarantee that the money will reach you. A real transfer can be revoked if the money has not yet been credited to the recipient's account.
To protect yourself from fraud when selling goods over the Internet, always follow the main rules:
1. Money up front. Do not give up the item until you receive the money.
2. Choose secure payment methods:
- When making a cash payment, be sure to check that the money is real, or ask the buyer to withdraw the required amount from the ATM in front of you, so as not to run into counterfeit bills.
- If you can only accept payment on a card, ask to make a transfer in front of you and make sure that the money has arrived for sure. Or send the parcel with cash on delivery - this is the amount that the buyer must pay at the post office to receive the goods, and the postal service will transfer this money to the seller.
Some courier services offer a similar secure transaction service: the buyer transfers money to a special current account, the service notifies the seller about this, and only after that he gives the goods.
If the attacker still managed to deceive you, contact the police. In the application, describe all the details of what happened, attach screenshots of the receipt, correspondence, announcements from the site.
Not only buyers, but also sellers can be scammers. For more information on how not to lose money in online stores, read the article "Safe online shopping".
