Wave of fraud on OLX and Vinted. Cybercriminals take loans for their victims

According to cybersecurity experts, lawyers across Poland are receiving more and more cases regarding online fraud. We learn that cybercriminals most often use the “Blik” method, trying to refer their victims to false electronic payment methods.

Don’t fall for scams on OLX and Vinted

Online fraudsters take advantage of the fact that in the general shopping frenzy it is very easy to lose vigilance at the payment stage. Now, in December, they are trying to hunt down people shopping on popular portals such as OLX or Vinted, but also Allegro.

– Shopping on online platforms is financially attractive, but these places are literally a breeding ground for fraudsters. We must be very vigilant – says Małgorzata Marczulewska, a detective dealing with Internet fraud cases.

Recently, we also learned that fraud occurs in the corporate and office space via e-mail and messages containing counterfeit VAT invoices. In such situations, mail containing infected attachments is most often distributed.

– We are talking about a real plague of fraud. Only since November, we have received four cases in which the fraudsters lost literally hundreds of thousands of zlotys. Fraudsters usually use infected applications to access victims’ bank accounts and perform financial activities – says Małgorzata Marczulewska

Fraudsters take out loans for their victims

It turns out that in the worst case, there is even a situation in which the data stolen by cybercriminals is used to conduct financial operations, e.g. in parabanks.

– Unfortunately, there are also hybrid frauds in which criminals not only clear accounts but also take out loans for their victims. In the case of our client, it was PLN 100,000 – adds the detective.

Frauds carried out using fake links and authorizations are particularly popular. Thieves extract our personal data or install applications on our devices that literally wipe out our bank accounts.

– Most often, we receive a link in which we must confirm our willingness to purchase, or simply a link to an alleged electronic payment. It also happens that a representative of an alleged sales platform calls us and wants to confirm our details in order to complete the transaction – says Marczulewska.

December’s cybercrime plague

There are many online thefts and frauds throughout the year, but the largest wave of such events occurs in December. This is when we do our shopping before Christmas, and many of the fake offers seem to be very attractively priced at first glance. You can’t fall for this.

Importantly, fraudsters appear among both sellers and buyers, so it is important to remain vigilant on the trading platform also as a seller.