Online Marketplace Scams: How to sell online safely

Online Marketplace Scams: How to sell online safely

From furniture to fashion, selling our belongings has never 

been so simple. Gone are the days of yard sales on lawns — now replaced by digital spaces like Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji. 

These convenient, always-open marketplaces are easy to use because buyers and sellers can connect in just a few clicks.

However, with this convenience comes additional risk. Many of us do think twice before purchasing something online or secondhand from a stranger, keeping in mind tips like not sending money before seeing the product and making sure the item works before purchasing it. 

We have all heard ‘buyer beware’ before but what about ‘seller beware’? There is a new type of online scam targeting people who are SELLING items on digital marketplaces.

The new kind of scam, reverse to prepare.

CBC reported this new type of fraud, part of a larger reverse fraud category, is becoming more common and people using digital marketplaces should be diligent before selling items. With these marketplace scams, fraudsters send a fake e-Transfer link, which asks the seller to input their banking information in order to receive the payment. With these details, the scammer can then access the seller’s accounts with the goal of stealing the contained funds.

When someone is interested in purchasing the item you’ve listed on Marketplace, your first step should be to look at that person’s profile prior to the exchange. Fraudsters generally use newly created profiles, so someone with a long history of photos, status updates and many friend connections may be more likely to be a legitimate buyer.
Here are some red flags to look out for when connecting with online buyers:

• They don’t want to meet in person or have excuses for why they keep postponing or cancelling the meeting.

• They want the transaction to be completed quickly with a lot of urgency in their messaging, to try and rush you so you use less caution.

• The profile they are contacting you from was recently created, has no or very few friends, very little information, and no previous selling experience.

How do I protect myself?

• Use cash to pay whenever possible.
• If you accept an e-Transfer, be familiar with the steps for how that process works and the warning signs to recognize.
• An email money transfer from Interac will always be sent from either notify@payments.interac.ca OR catch@payments.interac.ca. You will never receive a legitimate e-Transfer notification that comes from a gmail, hotmail, outlook or other email provider address. If you are on a phone or tablet, and you cannot see the sender’s full email address, click or hover over their name to reveal it.
• If you receive text (SMS) notifications instead of emails, the notification will primarily come from the short code 100001.  Interac has recently introduced a second short code of 100002, so you may occasionally see this as well. You will never receive a legitimate e-Transfer notification from a 9- or 10-digit phone number.
• In your text notifications, the clickable link will always begin with https://et.interac.ca. If the link starts with anything else, do not click on it. 
• Do not provide your banking information, such as account number or full name and address, if you are prompted to do so. If you have already set up an Interac e-Transfer profile within your online banking so that you can send and receive e-Transfers, Interac has access to this information and will not ask you to enter it again.
• When you click the link to ‘deposit funds’, you should be directed immediately to an Interac page that prompts you to choose your banking provider, with no steps or other pages in between. Once you select your provider, you should be taken directly to the login page for your banking provider’s website or mobile app. Accepting payment through your banking app is often more secure as sometimes scammers will try to recreate a website to look very similar to your financial provider.
• Setting up Autodeposit in your account for receiving e-Transfers can help you avoid the need to identify fraudulent links. Autodeposit allows the incoming e-Transfer to be automatically deposited into your account of choice, without having to click a link or answer a security question. If you have this enabled, ensure you have received the funds before you finalize the transaction with the buyer.
• And finally, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is
  

Digital Banking Guides & Interac e-Transfers explained

CUA has online tools to help you successfully accept, cancel and send an Interac e-Transfer. You can visit our Member Instruction Guide, which walks you through this process on different device types. There are also guides for how to set up your e-Transfer profile, how to add an e-Transfer contact and how to set up auto-deposit on your CUA account.

Key Takeaways

When you receive an Interac e-Transfer, you are notified by the email address and / or mobile phone number you provided to the sender. A legitimate email from Interac will end in @payments.interac.ca, and notifications will never be sent from a gmail or hotmail account. A legitimate text notification from Interac will come from 100001 or 100002, and the enclosed link will begin with https://et.interac.ca.

If you are ever unsure about the legitimacy of an e-Transfer notification, avoid clicking any links directly and do not enter any personal information. 

Do you think you have been scammed?

Being scammed can feel embarrassing, and often, people are ashamed to admit they may have been a victim. We want to remind everyone that scams are unfortunately common, and fraudsters are continuously coming up with new, inventive ways to try to trick people.

If you, or someone you know, feels like they may have been a victim of a fraud attempt or are victims of fraud, report the case to your financial institution and local police