This weekend I let myself be blinded online, on eBay classifieds.
In Hamburg someone wanted to get rid of his VR glasses, an Oculus Quest 2, which otherwise costs more than 300 euros, including accessories, supposedly for 220 euros.
In Wuppertal - near a good friend - someone had set up a Playstation 5 with a “Fifa 22” and an additional controller for 600 euros.
Both prices were good even for used goods, especially in the case of the Playstation 5, which is still hard to come by.
Hoping for a nice Christmas present, I contacted the account with the VR glasses, my friend the one with the console.
A little later we both had e-mails from Ebay classifieds in our inbox.
"We have restricted the user account of the provider you had contact with," the company warned.
»We assume that the user account has been misused by a third party.
Without the knowledge of the actual account holder, either his existing advertisements were changed, new advertisements were placed, or messages were sent on his behalf. "
Presumably we both ran into online fraudsters at the same time who wanted to rip off people with taken over accounts.
People like us who lured them with attractive but not completely unrealistic prices.
Fortunately, neither my buddy nor I would have paid for the gadgets on offer without first looking at them.
"The ad uploaded at two o'clock in the morning?" My friend wondered when we chatted for the first time about the Playstation offer.
"He'll take the cash and beat us up." During Quest 2, I had pondered why the seller advertised with a residual guarantee from MediaMarkt, even though the glasses were never officially put on the market in Germany.
The fact that we even contacted the supposed sellers despite such concerns shows one thing: the prospect of bargains can mean that you put your skepticism aside.
In the best case scenario - like us - you just waste a little life and a few thoughts on what you should consider when picking up such items in order to get away with the device but without a black eye. In the worst case, you transfer money to someone for things that may not even exist. For good reason, the warning email from Ebay Classifieds contains a paragraph that begins with the question "Too late?": It is aimed at people who have already paid potential fraudsters.
The risk of falling for scams such as fake offers or entire fake shops online is particularly high these days. First, with banners and newsletters, the trade fools you into the fact that now, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the big bargain times have dawned. Between all the discounts and coupon codes that are currently being sent, printed and posted, it is easy for fraudsters to smuggle fake messages with supposedly great deals into the mailboxes of those willing to save.
Second, there are only four and a half weeks to Christmas - and things are not looking good on the market for PC hardware, refrigerators and bicycles, for example, as I recently summarized here.
The lack of chips and the supply crisis cause nervous bottlenecks, even when hunting for game consoles: If the Playstation 5 weren't constantly sold out, no one would think of spending 600 euros on an already unpacked console that would cost similarly new and regular.
At the end of 2021 it will be even more important than in previous years to keep a cool head when shopping online, as my colleague Jörg Breithut wrote: On Saturday, for example, he pointed out the risk of very long delivery times if you shop yourself Orders in reputable online shops are based solely on the price.
I have set myself four rules that would have at least protected me from possible fraud with Quest 2:
Beyond small amounts, I do not transfer any money to unknown third parties.
When I buy something larger from private individuals, I pick it up myself or insist on features such as the so-called secure payment, which is offered on Ebay classifieds.
Using such services often costs a small fee.
But the buyer is covered if, instead of a cool gadget, only a bunch of technical junk is delivered in the end.
Or nothing at all.
When paying in online shops, I also prefer payment functions where I only pay after receiving the goods (like the good old invoice) or at least theoretically have the chance to get my money back in the event of problems.
Credit card and PayPal are examples of this.
But be careful: With the payment method »PayPal Friends and Family«, which is widely used in the world of Ebay classifieds, chargebacks are not possible.
(You can find a comparison of many common online payment methods here on Konsumentzentrale.de.)
Also, I try as best I can not to go to websites directly from promotional emails.
The risk is too great that the message will not come from the provider himself in the end and, in the worst case, I will try to log into a fake website with my data.
Likewise, if the prices for a product are similar in many places anyway, I rely on providers with whom I can contact personally in case of doubt: via a telephone hotline or simply by visiting a shop nearby.
External links: three tips from other media
"11 Leben - Die Welt von Uli Hoeneß" (17-part podcast series, one to three hours per episode)
When "11 Leben" started in September 2020, there was talk of eleven episodes. Since then, the podcast, on which "Rasenfunk" moderator Max-Jacob Ost has been working since 2018, has mutated: ultimately into a 17-part epic that tells the story of German football based on Uli Hoeneß 'career. A time waster, definitely, with a penchant for the extra loop: In return, listeners are repeatedly surprised with interesting anecdotes, interviews and sound snippets.
"Meta delays encrypted messages on Facebook and Instagram to 2023" (English, three minutes to read)
Meta, which was formerly called Facebook, had already announced in 2019 that chat messages from users would not only be sent to WhatsApp, but also to Instagram and its Facebook Messenger Secure end-to-end encryption. As the Guardian reports, this plan will not be implemented until 2023 at the earliest.
»Amazon Prime: 50 percent cheaper with a social pass or with exemption from the radio license fee« (two minutes' reading)
»Caschy's blog« reports on an innovation at Amazon: From now on, people who live in Germany and are exempt from the radio license fee or receive specific social or family passes Big cities like Hamburg and Cologne have the Group's Prime subscription for half the price.
This leads directly to Amazon's info page on the topic.
I wish you a nice week,
Markus Bohm