If you buy and sell second-hand products, you probably use one of the platforms best known for this objective, such as Wallapop.
Unfortunately, these types of applications are not free of scammers, both buyers and sellers, who take advantage of numerous techniques to keep the money and the product, in addition to the victim’s personal data.
During this summer, as reported The Countrya appeared new type of scam in Wallapop and Milanuncios which targeted the automotive sector, with an organized network for the pirate sale of spare parts, something that several scrapyards reported to the Civil Guard.
The scam begins with a replacement at a price well below the official one that is promoted with an original photograph from a workshop; From there, the scammer diverts the conversation to a phone number or WhatsApp to send a legitimate-looking invoice.
After paying, the victim realizes the ruse not receiving any response and having been left without the money and without the product.
But cars are not the only products that scammers use to achieve their goals, they also take advantage of low-priced electronic devices to attract victims. This way you can identify a scam and protect yourself.
How to know if you are facing a scam
First of all, we will talk from the point of view of a seller. Imagine that you have placed a product that you no longer use and you need the money, so you put it at a quite affordable price for those who need it.
Virtually no product for sale on Wallapop is among the most recommended on the platform in the first hours, so if you receive a message on the first day, Check the profile very carefully – the photograph, the namethe score and the purchases and sales made–.
Another important thing is to look closely at the messages. Something that should raise alarm are the messages that appear automated or external links to Wallapopas well as telephone numbers or invitations to chat on WhatsApp.
From the buyer’s point of view, the ideal is to download photographs of the product you are going to purchase and perform a search for them in the image search engine from Google. If they appear there, the scammer has stolen these images to pass them off as originals.
In addition to this, save all the screenshots of the conversation, in case the profile is deleted after the purchase, so you can file a subsequent complaint –although there are no guarantees that you will get your money back–.
And whenever you can avoid paying by transfers, bizum or in cash, since all of these are methods other than Wallapop and the platform will wash its hands if you don’t do it with its own payment system.
What to do if you have been scammed on Wallapop
Many users have shared on social networks one of the most curious strategies of platforms like Wallapop. The seller sends the product – with photographs included as proof – but the buyer reports that is broken, in poor condition or does not match with the original.
This is what the user deliriumworks said in his X profilewhich sold a game in perfect condition on Wallapop, although the buyer opened a dispute claiming that it had arrived damagedto which the platform ignored the incident and the buyer resent the game.
When it arrived at this seller, the game was bitten and the agent did not help him in no case, as shown in the screenshots of the same publication. In his case, he also filed a claim with OCU.
Precisely, the deliriumworks case shows that, even with more than evident evidence, the platform can completely ignore user complaints who have been selling on Wallapop for 10 years.
In this case, a solution could be to open a claim to the OCU, as he himself did, although it would also be advisable file a complaint for the crime of fraud before the police authorities, in case the scammer’s details are known.
As you can see, when buying or selling on these platforms, no evidence falls short, so it is best prevent and collect all possible information before you run into a scam.