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Ebay classifieds: Pickup on Sylt?
Photo: Rüdiger Wölk / imago images
1800 euros is not an unusual price for a brand new Asus graphics card of the type Geforce RTX 3080.
On the other hand, it is 900 euros.
And so Stefan G.
(name changed)
believed
in a real bargain when he saw a corresponding offer on Ebay classifieds in early 2021.
The seller posed as a doctor of engineering from Hanover, 58 years old.
He also sent a photo of himself and his ID, everything seemed correct.
The man was finally googled without any problems.
The two quickly came to an agreement, even though the seller insisted on an immediate transfer.
A possible warning sign that G. overlooked.
On the contrary, he even sent the man a photo of his own ID.
He then transferred 900.49 euros to an account at the direct bank N26.
A few days later, however, the alleged engineer claimed that the money had not arrived.
G. never got the graphics card.
On March 1, G.'s mother filed a criminal complaint.
Shortly afterwards, she says, “we received an email from Ebay classifieds that the user's account had been blocked.
So it was very likely hacked before. "
The perpetrators often ask for the cell phone number
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900 euros for this graphics card?
Sounds too good to be true
Photo: private
On the classifieds platform, she then came across two other victims of the scam.
Together they founded a WhatsApp group and found other people who had fallen for an alleged doctor in Westerland who was also selling graphics cards at bargain prices.
Over the course of a few months, the group gathered screenshots of dozens of cases, and patterns quickly became apparent: The fraudsters
lure classified ads on Ebay
with, for example, the Playstation 5, extremely inexpensive graphics cards or Thermomix kitchen machines.
At least in some cases they do this from hacked accounts, most recently Ebay classified ads explicitly warned against such cases.
G.'s mother says: "An account that has existed for years is more trustworthy than a newly set up classifieds account."
In the chat, the perpetrators offer to show
photos of their alleged identity
cards. "For more trust" or "so that we are both on the safe side", as it says in the screenshots saved by the WhatsApp group. It is unclear where they got the photos from. But at least some are likely to be those of previous victims who were willing to show their IDs themselves. One of the screenshots shows that the alleged doctor from Sylt expressly asks "so that I know who I am sending my data to".
The
perpetrators also often ask for the cell phone number of
an interested party in order to continue negotiations on WhatsApp.
If the hacked accounts are blocked because the actual owners notice that someone is posting classified ads in their name, the interested parties may no longer notice this because they have been lured to another platform.
The perpetrators
only
accept bank
transfers or direct transfers
with proof of payment as payment methods.
"My PayPal is currently not working" or "Unfortunately we do not have PayPal," is the reason, for example.
At this point at the latest, interested parties should become suspicious: It cannot be seen whether the person on the ID card and the account holder are the same person.
So the supposed vote of confidence is not one.
The information on the ID does not play a role in the transfer either: banks and savings banks do not need to check whether the recipient's name and account details are correct.
Only the IBAN counts.
If you give a correct IBAN in a transfer, but the wrong name of the account holder, you are liable for the mistake, warn consumer advocates.
G.'s mother says it was noticeable that the perpetrators »kept choosing the N26 bank«.
Account numbers of the N26 also appear several times in the screenshots, but whether the bank is used more than average by fraudsters cannot be proven with the collected material.
However, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) recently imposed a growth restriction on N26 that allowed the bank to "use its resources to strengthen customer identification processes, transaction monitoring and suspicious transaction reporting," as the Bafin said.
This was preceded by reports that N26 had a "massive problem with fake accounts".
Lured away from the platform
If someone becomes suspicious of Ebay classifieds and makes too many inquiries, he or she is put under time pressure or advised that there are other interested parties. This is exactly why the scam can work. The fear of missing out on such a good offer at the last minute, even though you are already in contact with the seller, is likely to be stronger for some people than their doubts.
Of course, the offer itself should make you suspicious: why, for example, should a doctor on Sylt, where collection is naturally difficult, sell new graphics cards at half the price?
Why rush in the chat when it is also about several hundred euros for the seller?
Why a photo of the ID if it doesn't prove that the seller and the person depicted are identical?
But above all: why does someone insist on paying via external providers when trading valuable products instead of processing them via Ebay classified ads themselves?
"Never send photos of ID documents or bank cards"
None of this is new.
This can already be seen from the fact that Ebay classifieds itself warns of exactly this scenario, even if the "Tips for your safety" are linked at the bottom of the page and are inconspicuous.
"Never send photos of identification documents or bank cards - these could be misused," it says there.
“You should be suspicious of receiving such documents unsolicited.
Never trust their authenticity. "
In addition, the company expressly recommends its “Pay securely” function, in which an escrow service does not approve payments from buyers until they have confirmed receipt of the goods.
The members of the WhatsApp group want to show one thing above all, says G's mother: “The problem is not forged ID cards.
Rather, there are countless photos of real ID cards in circulation, of people who were first victims of fraud, i.e. who paid money and received no goods, and who then fell victim to identity theft again.
Because the fraudsters continue to use their photos of ID cards. "
The members of the group have already filed numerous criminal charges, but so far only one fraudster has been identified.
