Unfortunately, today various frauds on the Internet are incredibly common. Fraudsters are very resourceful and even the efforts of well-known platforms in the fight against them cannot guarantee the absence of fraud or loss of money. But not everything is so bad when you know how to protect yourself and what to pay attention to when buying goods on OLX. In this article, we will carefully consider various types of fraud, because not only the buyer, but also the seller may be at risk.
Common scams on OLX
Currently, one of the most popular schemes is a fake secure order service, which is called "OLX Delivery" on the site.
You place an ad and a very interested customer contacts you and says that he wants to buy your product with safe delivery. In some cases, to confuse the seller, scammers say: we agree to buy twice as much, just don't give your product to anyone, I'll pay for everything now. And then you receive a link in a private message with the text that the buyer has completed everything and paid, and you need to follow it and tweak it.
If you do this and keep your payment card details, your money will end up with a scammer.
The link is very similar to the real OLX site, it is a fake of a valid web page. For example, instead of olx.ua, the link leads to 0lx.in.ua, the interface is the same, so it is difficult for the victim to immediately notice and understand this, especially during the euphoria when they are offered to pay more.
So never click on suspicious links! Block such users immediately and request a fraud report.
Real safe delivery is only on the site itself and when a person wants to use it, they select "Buy from olx" this button is under your ad, enter the city data and post office number and that's it. And the seller sees a valid request in his profile, there is no need to go anywhere, click confirm and the order is formed. The declaration for sending is immediately formed, depending on the selected mail, and the funds are frozen. The buyer's card is debited, but they have not yet arrived on the seller's card. The crediting occurs only when the person picks up the shipment.
Such fraudulent links are called phishing and they can be found on various trading platforms. All online money transfer transactions should be made on the official websites of the companies!
Fake ads for the sale of goods
Believe me, there are a lot of them, and the scheme is very simple. The seller works only on full prepayment, you transfer the money to him, and then he disappears. Therefore, when looking at the ad, pay attention to the following things:
- A very low price is a lure, the cost should correspond to the market price, somewhere a little more, somewhere less, but not a significant difference.
- Read the description carefully, it should not contain water, information that is not related to the product or "there are no analogues", "you won't find better", without grammatical errors, everything should be clear and to the point.
- Carefully examine the photos, they must be real, high-quality, without strong photoshopping and not downloaded from the Internet.
Therefore, if there are such ads, you should not pay attention to them at all and do not place an order. And on the site there is a special function, when you see a fake ad, you can complain, under it there is a button "Seen a suspicious ad? Report"
Prepaid plans
It's all banal, but still someone is caught on this hook. Yes, many online stores work with prepayment. Most often, this is the amount of delivery in both directions, so they insure themselves if the client does not pick up the shipment. With a reliable seller, you can not worry, but a scammer will take the money and disappear.
Another scheme: the seller says that he simply has a queue for the product and will now show it to the next customer, but if you pay half the price now, I will send it to you today, and you pay the rest at the post office, and then it disappears.
Working with prepayment is normal, the main thing is to identify unscrupulous sellers.
Fake seller accounts
You've found a good ad and want to place an order, but before that you need to analyze the seller's account and make sure that he's not a scammer. To do this, pay attention to the following nuances:
- Profile registration date. If a person registered recently and offers a lot of things, such an account should be treated with caution.
- Don't trust sellers with made-up nicknames, especially when they're just a set of Latin letters.
- The profile should have contact information available for calls, instant messengers, etc.
- Look at where the seller is located. In cities, buyers may want to look at the goods, but in some small, remote village, inspection is simply impossible, and this is very profitable for scammers.
- Sellers who work honestly always have positive reviews and high ratings.
- It is better to correspond on the official OLH portal, firstly, the company blocks all phishing links with fraud from the seller, and secondly, all history is stored on the site.
When corresponding, you should not receive threats, blackmail, excessive pressure, etc. For example, buy urgently, there is only one item left, or you will not find a better one at this price.
A good seller will agree to film a video and take additional photos if needed.
Delivery fraud
There can only be one option from the seller, you were sent the wrong item, a damaged product, or one that does not match the photo and the declared characteristics at all. In the case of cash on delivery, you refuse and lose nothing, except for the prepayment for delivery. In the case of full payment, you can really lose money. Therefore, buyers cheat more with delivery.
Fake buyers
Both stores, sole proprietors, and private individuals sell on the OLX website. A person who wants to sell children's things places an ad and may come across a lot of scams. Unreliable buyers can harm anyone on the portal, so let's look at various fraud schemes.
They place an order for you and send you a fake payment receipt. Today, it is very easy to forge it using various editors and programs, so always check the receipt of money into your account.
At the post office, the parcel may be replaced, a new expensive phone may be sent, resulting in a refusal, and you will receive back a box with an old, different or broken one. Therefore, evaluate the parcel according to its real value, in which case you can write a claim at the post office and demand compensation.
The person simply does not pick up your goods, has changed his mind or some circumstances have arisen and does not answer calls, no one is safe from this, then you will have to pay for delivery and return yourself.
Please withdraw cash on delivery after inspection, so as not to pay interest on the transfer and immediately transfer the money to the seller's card. Fake receipts also work here, or the funds were debited from the account, but they take longer to arrive, the buyer assures that he transferred everything in a couple of minutes and everything will arrive. Don't believe it! Withdraw the money transfer from the parcel only after the actual receipt of funds.
We have already talked about the scheme with fraudulent links coming from buyers, but there is another fraud scheme. It is used for oversized parcels.
The bottom line is that the buyer calls you, says that I can't or am out of town, my driver will come, take a look, and I will transfer the money to you immediately.
The goods were loaded into the car, you are told that everything was transferred and the driver left, but it turns out that there is neither goods nor money. Such methods are used more often when scammers work in your location.
When you sell and hear everything suits us, I will transfer through the terminal, but you need to be near it too to confirm the transfer, this is a scam.
How to protect your money and goods from scammers on OLX
Never click on a third-party link, think about it when everything fits just perfectly, there are no additional questions or tangible pressure. There are no functions "Delivery", "Payment for goods", "Call courier" on this site! If you see such buttons, it means you are on a fake site. Buy and sell wisely and carefully, and also listen to your intuition, when something confuses you, it is better to look for another buyer or seller.
What to do if you are a victim of fraud on OLX
You should immediately contact the police and file a complaint. Only authorized bodies can start an investigation and defend your interests in court. All details of the fraud should be reported to the site team, they will be able to block the profile to protect other users. OLX will not return your lost money or goods, both sellers and buyers are responsible for their actions, and the company itself monitors and blocks unreliable users. You can read the work policy and all the features and warnings on the official website.
Despite the many schemes, online trading is beneficial for everyone, it is convenient, fast and comfortable!
