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Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
31–40 of 48 posts
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#32Earlier 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),…
Holy crap. What a terrible system and I hope my part of the world never implements such forms of tech.
It's an actually really good system, as the origin (aka the domain displayed in your URL bar) changes during the redirect.
The problem is the lack of user education as to what an "origin" is.
But assuming there is good user education, this is the proper way to do it. One (untrusted) origin redirects you to a trusted one with instructions to give it some information. The trusted origin asks for your authentication and tells you what the untrusted origin is requesting. If you approve, the untrusted origin only gets the very specific data it requested (and you approved) and nothing else.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#33If anyone here has done a similar reconnaissance operation - I am curious how much time does it roughly take ?
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#34Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#35It'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.
That's even more of an indicator that it's a scam. You put a listing for something big/bulky/expensive on the internet and some person sees a couple pictures, thinks "good enough" and immediately wants to wire you hundreds of dollars? Without actually seeing it or making sure they aren't getting scammed? Nope, does not happen.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
you just named multiple things that are not a scam
How not? The robber never intended to finish the deal.
Because like everything else in law, the lower charge becomes irrelevant in light of a worse offense. Breaking into someones home is burglary, but do it when someone is home and it becomes home invasion. Do it with a weapon and it becomes an aggravated charge.
At that point, nobody cares if you were trying to steal the silverware.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#37I got several people wanting to send a courier last time I listed something on Facebook. Checking their pages, they were all from eastern Europe with no obvious connection to my city. Good to know the mechanics of the scam, I wondered what they were up to. Don't understand why Facebook couldn't have auto detected the messages though - seemed like a pretty major failure of marketplace that the majority of the messages…
Someone is probably afraid to be too effective at filtering them out, as it would nuke their numbers. (Engagement/messages sent? Who knows)
If most of the traffic is scams, it’s not like they can remove it without something showing up in their metrics after all.
Search, and USPS ‘spam’ mail has a similar problem.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#38It'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 ‘beauty’ of the Internet is how scalable it is. Both for good, and for evil.
Even if you get .01% success rate, if it costs so little to reach 1M people, you’ll do well.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
That's even more of an indicator that it's a scam. You put a listing for something big/bulky/expensive on the internet and some person sees a couple pictures, thinks "good enough" and immediately wants to wire you hundreds of dollars? Without actually seeing it or making sure they aren't getting scammed? Nope, does not happen.
Hey, only a hundred ish for a piano? Even if 1/2 the time it’s a scam, that’s still a pretty good deal.
This is how overall marketplace trust dies and the overall industry collapses though.
Re: Tracking Down the Bulgarian Marketplace Scams
#40Earlier 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),…
Holy crap. What a terrible system and I hope my part of the world never implements such forms of tech.
I am not sure I can agree with that. I almost got scammed, but isn't that my responsibility to check?
The thing is, those services really are useful. A lot of stuff that used to be complicated and required me to stand in line somewhere can now be done comfortably from home. Many good things can be abused, but that does not mean they should not be implemented. And you don't have to use it if you do not want to.
Also, I don't know how the scam works behind the login form that stopped me, but I think it would not have worked even if I had given them my info because there is 2FA - how would they overcome that hurdle?