Request for IBAN or Postepay
Hi.
I have a question. I hope someone can clear up my doubt.
Lately, on a couple of occasions, buyers have contacted me by message to make me an offer on two items I have for sale. Almost identical messages in which they asked to get the item (two different items on the two occasions and two different buyers) at a discounted price, shipping included. In both cases, after I wrote that I accepted the agreed price, they asked me for my IBAN or Postepay number. I told them that I didn’t sell outside eBay and they disappeared.
I’m wondering: by giving out an IBAN or Postepay card number, what kind of scam could be carried out? I certainly wouldn’t ship anything without having the payment credited.
Could it be a “simple” attempt to steal sensitive data, link it to something, and clone a bank account or card?
Thanks to anyone who knows something about this and will answer!!!
Regards.
heavenwelkin
·2 years agoTrying to go by logic....
On the internet it is often said that the IBAN can be considered personal data, but the same is true of the tax code, which is very often requested when we fill out forms.
From the tax code, a program can trace back to all the person's data, whereas if a bad actor has our IBAN + first and last name, they can do very little.
A variation of the Nigerian scam is when the foreign buyer contacts you and tells you that they will make the foreign bank transfer, but then they will tell you that it will be necessary to pay a fee for the foreign transfer and will invite you to pay it through services like Western Union or MoneyGram.
Or, as an alternative, they will pretend to send the bank transfer, maybe they will buy time by saying that it is an international transfer, they will send you attachments that falsely attest to the payment having been made in order to induce you to ship before actually receiving the credit.
In my opinion it was an attempt at a "Nigerian" scam, just as sika700 wrote before me.
Kind regards.
truedefender
OP2 years agoThanks everyone for the replies!!!
But I don't know this famous NIGERIAN thing? What does it involve?
Of course it's best never to give out, unless necessary, data or anything else, so nothing, to anyone.
Surely with my IBAN or my Postepay number they can't do anything with it...!!!
Interesting the idea of some intern/forum member who wants to study online sales dynamics (I would never have thought of that...).
The situation: I ship before receiving any possible credit... is there still anyone who ships after the buyer says there are delays in the bank transfer credit???? Strictness is when the referee blows the whistle!!!!
Thanks again, best regards to everyone. But explain the Nigerian scam to me.
daxsisko
·2 years agoin short ( ... but old as the hills.... ) , explained on Subito :
https://assistenza.subito.it/hc/it/articles/360001165785-Truffa-alla-Nigeriana-Come-Proteggersi-su-Subito
truedefender
OP2 years agoThanks daxsisko!!!
Now I know more and I’ve satisfied my curiosity.
It must definitely be a very old scam... but I didn’t know it.
It seems unlikely to me that anyone would fall for it today, but for sure if you’re not fully alert, you give in and it hurts.
After all, a few months ago they tried to scam me by calling my mobile and, claiming to be an official from my bank, he started making requests. I kept telling him it was obvious it was a scam, but instead of hanging up, he kept at it for almost half an hour... and I, laughing, kept repeating to him, "what, you think I’m going to give you my details".... insane!!!
Best regards!!!
daxsisko
·2 years agoyou’re welcome
of course for those who have never heard of it it may seem "new" or unfamiliar : if it still exists, evidently those who carry it out still find people who fall for it ( evidently the game is still worth the candle for them.... ) ;
unfortunately over time others have developed, harder to spot ( but that can be identified by a trained eye .... ) ;
going back to the original question, it’s not necessarily the case that whoever asks you for bank details ( or Postepay ) in order to pay is necessarily a scammer , you always have to see how things develop : as Vonbalden mentioned, sometimes behind a purchase request there is in fact another purpose, just to give an example simply to get information about a certain item ( and then buy it.... somewhere else, at least..... ) : on this subject ( but also on others.... ) I could write a book.....maybe with a bit of (free) publicity it becomes a best seller à la Vannucci...
PS: earlier by mistake I replied to my own post (... see message 12... ) ..... this one is correct....
daxsisko
·2 years agoyou're welcome
obviously for anyone who has never heard of it it may be "new" or unknown: if it still exists, evidently those who use it still find people who fall for it (apparently the game is still worth the candle for them....) ;
unfortunately over time others have developed, harder to spot (but which with a trained eye can be identified ....) ;
going back to the original question, it's not necessarily the case that whoever asks you for bank details (or Postepay) to pay is necessarily a scammer, you always have to see how things develop: as Vonbalden hinted, sometimes behind a purchase request there is actually another purpose, just to give one example, simply to get information about a certain item (and then buy it.... somewhere else, at the least.....): on this topic (but also on others....) I could write a book..... maybe with a bit of (free) advertising it would become a Vannucci-style bestseller...
heavenwelkin
·2 years agoI don't know whether a feedback score of 1375, registered since 2006, can be "taken in" by a user who wants to wrap up outside the auction.
The thesis hypothesis / gathering material for writing an article on online commerce security, or possible sociological studies on human behavior in certain tempting situations / circumstances.
I know for sure that there are many users willing to risk sending a bank transfer blind on a random marketplace when they find themselves facing a listing for a highly sought-after item worth 1000 and offered for 500.
The opposite could also be true, namely that an eBay seller gets convinced to sell an item for more than its value if he accepts shipment with bank transfer instead of PayPal credit card because, for example, in his country there's a ban on this service or for any other excuse.
About the Nigerian scam, Wikipedia also talks about it
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffa_alla_nigeriana
Best regards.
truedefender
OP2 years agoHello and thanks heavenwelkin!!!
Thanks to you too, now I know the meaning of this scam.
"I don't know if a feedback score of 1375, registered since 2006, could get "ripped off" by a user who wants to wrap things up outside the auction." ...actually...no!! When someone tries, I immediately put them off by trying to steer them back onto the straight path...of eBay 😀😀
Even though, as an old buyer/collector/online seller, two or three years ago I got badly ripped off for a purchase on Subito with Postepay payment (I was unbelievably stupid!!!).
Those who ask me to buy like that are few, and usually they simply propose to close the deal outside eBay, paying by bank transfer or Postepay. Sometimes they complete the purchase on eBay, other times they disappear.
Two proposals in one week seemed too many to me. Oh well...let's rein them in!!!
Actually one of the two was a "regular" thing since in the end I completed the sale normally on eBay.
The other was a message so terse that it was strange just because of that, and in fact, as I read on the guides to the Nigerian scam from your links, it seems to me that the buyer didn't even refer to the item he was interested in.
In conclusion, I've been buying, selling and trading since I was a kid, so I can say that whoever scams or tries to scam goes beyond their own "role." You can be scammed by SELLERS and also by BUYERS.
Thanks again.
A big hello!!!
vonbalden
·2 years agoNo one is potentially immune from a scam. If you read on this forum, there are dozens and dozens of admissions of always being scrupulous during a transaction, but only once, and only once, as you also pointed out, did they unknowingly fall victim. But beyond scams, there are a ton of inappropriate annoyances that anyone with a phone and who makes a purchase or has been an occasional seller has to put up with every day. Answering satisfaction questions before and after a nerve-racking wait in any public or private institution, spelling out step by step why you chose Bau! dog kibble! And if you're interested in a supply of 40 kilos for a year, if you own an apartment to sell to such-and-such real estate agency, or if you can give more details on how you handle house cleaning because without knowing it you've been kissed by luck and won a futuristic vacuum cleaner. Whatever you look at for a nanosecond, you have offers or proposals you can't refuse. Obviously, when I call, as your fake bank manager, you're done for. You're ready to have your account emptied, to make that one mistake... fatal. Of course, if you sell online, you always have to bring your best attitude. Someone once told me: ..it doesn't matter who's on the other side and what their real intentions are. You have to stay alert, but you have to treat the potential buyer as if they were your biggest sales opportunity. May they never regret choosing one of your items.
truedefender
OP2 years agoDear vonbalden, you wrote things that are really spot on!!!
I’ll just add that in my role as a seller I put myself in my buyer’s shoes and try to treat them the way I’d like to be treated myself.
The same goes the other way around when I’m the one buying.
The desire to “take advantage” of situations at all costs is deplorable, but unavoidable in our time.
You can only be careful and avoid trouble.
The desire to scam, on the other hand, is one of the worst things one can do. In this case taking advantage (without quotes) of a weak or inattentive person is something that should be PENALIZED (not by eBay but by society) more effectively.
Best regards!!
vonbalden
·2 years agoEvery now and then strange requests pop up on the platform, both in public forums and in private messaging. In the first case, it often involves students who need, for their thesis, to understand the mechanisms of online selling, thanking all the willing forum members for the answers, which will need to be detailed in order to get a good thesis grade (??) There are also very expert systems people, self-proclaimed former sellers who want to change careers and who want to compare notes with the skilled sellers on the platform. To share strategies, maybe, and everyone needs much-appreciated dialogue, confidences. In exchange for lots of thanks and invitations to keep in touch. Often you get the feeling you are dealing with figures who have barely made it through compulsory schooling. In other cases, less so. In messaging, on the other hand, there used to be (some time ago) requests for discounts outside the platform, especially to those sellers who offer the purchase proposal in the listing. Which immediately lets the malicious person know that they can try to get sensitive data. It seems absurd, but the buy-or-sell-out-of-compassion strategy is still around. (Here, anyway!) In conclusion, never say anything. Never leave a number. Also avoid replying if there is the slightest doubt. By the way, do you want to make a donation to VDI ? (Italian Divorced Sellers) Stay alert ! Best regards.
it2015-inno
·2 years agounfortunately no donation.....lack of funds.
greetings and thanks for your contributions, always enjoyable.
iemmepi
vonbalden
·2 years agoYou're too kind, Inno, but... beyond the donations, have you noticed that the female forum members, the ones who used to be everywhere with the most original avatars and the most varied posts, seem to have gradually disappeared? Do you think maybe with the new year it would be a good idea to make a few appeals?
As long as, besides me, there is someone else who misses them. Big greetings.
sika700
·2 years agoHello,
a bank account cannot be cloned from a simple IBAN... nor a card!
So, the attempted scam is the classic Nigerian one.
Kind regards.