Fraud using WhatsApp, Facebook and eBay

If you ever sell things online, such as on eBay, you may be contacted by fraudsters pretending they want to buy something from you. They will usually get in touch with you using WhatsApp or another messaging app.

The fraudster will ask you to transfer a small amount (usually €0.01) to them ‘to make sure it works’. You will receive a fake payment request that will take you to a fake website, rather than the website of ABN AMRO, iDEAL, Tikkie, bunq or another bank. However, the site will be very similar to the one you’re expecting to see.

The fraudster will use the details you enter to log in to your Internet Banking and transfer money to his own current account.

• Always be careful when clicking any links you receive on WhatsApp
• Ignore payment requests from people you don’t know
• Check  whether the website is genuine  (iDEAL, Tikkie or bank website)
• Send a payment request to the buyer yourself, using Tikkie for instance

Fraudsters use social media platforms, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, to pose as friends or family and try to gain your trust by saying that they temporarily have a new phone number. This is known as social engineering.

Fraudsters often use your friends’ or family’s profile photos and ask you to lend them money. They will ask you to transfer it as soon as possible, so that they can buy a train or plane ticket, for instance. You will probably never get that money back.

If you transfer funds, but it later turns out that you have been defrauded, we unfortunately cannot reimburse your financial losses since you issued the payment order yourself.

If you report the fraudster's phone number to WhatsApp, they will block the number once they have confirmed that the report is valid. In this way, you help prevent other people from being swindled. Want to save the contents of the chat conversation for the purposes of a police report, for example? Take a screenshot and then follow the steps below.

• Open the chat conversation with the phone number you want to report to WhatsApp.
• Tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner.
• Tap 'More' and then ‘Report’.
• Tap the contact you want to report.
• Scroll down and tap 'Report contact'.

The above steps may appear slightly differently on your own mobile phone.

If you have sold something online and the buyer comes to your home to collect it, beware if the buyer says he has just transferred the money to you on his smartphone.

Fraudsters will show you a fake transfer in a fake app made to look like the ABN AMRO app, for instance. So although it may seem like they have transferred the money to you, you won’t actually receive it.

Send a payment request to the buyer yourself, using Tikkie for instance.

Fraudsters also operate as sellers, selling you something, but failing to send it to you after you have made the payment.

Fraudsters will often try to sell you something on eBay or in online shops that they delete again after a few days. So make sure you are always on the alert. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is!

• Before buying something from a stranger,  check whether the seller is known to the police .
• Look carefully at the photos and decide whether they seem genuine or could have been stolen.  Use tineye.com  to check whether the photos have also been used on other websites.
• Know a suspicious offer when you see one. If the price seems too good to be true, you need to be especially cautious. Check whether the product you are about to purchase is actually real, or if it is an illegal version.
• If you have fallen victim to fraud, always take a screenshot of the advert or website.  Report the fraud  to the police and also to us.

If you have fallen victim to fraud, we advise you to report the matter to the police first of all. If the fraudster is known to the police, we can share their name and address details with you. If you wish, you can use this information to engage a lawyer, debt collection agency or bailiff yourself. You will then be able to hold the fraudster liable directly and may be able to get your money back through the civil courts.

If you have already reported the matter and would like the fraudster’s name and address details, please get in touch with us.