I had a bunch of those whenever I tried to use OLX - both on OLX messages and Whatsapp as well. Bot prevention is 0.
I know people who were successfully scammed as they think they are entering their card details to get money transferred by their card number.
Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
21–30 of 48 posts
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#22It's so easy to spot marketplace scams that I'm baffled people still fall for them. Are you going to show up with cash on my doorstep (or another agreed upon location)? If yes, we can continue talking. If not, you are blocked and reported. End of story.
The article mentioned it was a listing specifically for a large item.
I get why someone might not show up on my doorstep if they’re buying a piano - they probably need to hire somebody and are themselves not going to contribute anything to the piano moving process.
But fully agreed that once you’re an inch off the “show up with money” path, everything is suspect.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is the thing - you don't. In Czechia, something called bank ID is commonly used to authenticate. The point is to verify it is you, for example when you sign a contract online, fill in tax returns online... stuff like that. The way it works is that you are on some site, you get redirected to your internet banking, you log in (that's what I meant by "bank details", I am sorry about expressing myself so clumsily),…
Login page redirects have become a big user security hazard it would seem - and OAuth is basically the culprit.
The entire social engineering of sending everything off to 3rd party is something that really irks me. The touted convenience of faster to deploy updates by using 3rd party rather than depending on local version updates has never been enough for me. It also was the sugar pill for switching to rent seeking SaaS to gain traction.
I don't want my web server dependent on anyone else's server/service being available or in any other way slowing down my user's experience.
The only service that I have no local solution is payment processing.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
You missed their point. It's cash on the barrel head or counterparty is presumed to be a scammer. If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed.
> If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed. until you get robbed, kidnapped or forced to do a bank transfer.
you just named multiple things that are not a scam
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#25Good work! As noted, it probably won't change anything, but scammers are a lot more sophisticated, these days, than they used to be.
From the description, these are rent-a-scammers, who convince people that renting their all in one scam platform is a great deal. It probably isn't, or they'd be doing it themselves. It's a good deal if you place a premium on feeling clever from scamming people, and don't care about the risk of getting hit by the police, or by rival would-be scammers eager to show they're more tough criminals than you. It's the lifec…
This isn't any different from those seminars that teach you how to make money in real estate, forex, or similar. All you have to do is buy their books and attend their seminars and they teach you how to host your own seminars.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
You missed their point. It's cash on the barrel head or counterparty is presumed to be a scammer. If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed.
> If you follow that rule you'll never be scammed. until you get robbed, kidnapped or forced to do a bank transfer.
None of those things are a scam.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#27That's bizarre - someone tried to scam me in a similar way literally a few minutes ago. I am selling something on a marketplace. Someone contacted me - they want to buy the thing I am selling. Do I still have it? I say yes. They say they are sending a GLS courier to collect the item. I figure they need the item fast - we are celebrating Christmas tomorrow. Why not. The "buyer" sends me a link to a service supposedly…
The problem is using bank account for anything else than managing and transferring money. Confirming identity is a "convenience" no one asked for. Government services have their own authentication. Bank shouldn't know where and when you are accessing any other services, they _will_ use it for profiling or could even escalate into some KYC enquiry. Government should know only your IBAN. Connecting these dots for various service providers will never work in your favor.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#28It's so easy to spot marketplace scams that I'm baffled people still fall for them. Are you going to show up with cash on my doorstep (or another agreed upon location)? If yes, we can continue talking. If not, you are blocked and reported. End of story.
This is how I do it as well, gumtree or marketplace.
I Still have to deal with the spammers messages and reporting
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#29Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#30Good work! As noted, it probably won't change anything, but scammers are a lot more sophisticated, these days, than they used to be.
If only there were authorities that would take actions to track down these scammers with as much zeal as they track down pirates...