What to do if scammers on Avito offer to transfer money to your card - sample applications

Cheating schemes on Avito

Any person or organization can post an offer to sell a product or service. You need to go through a simple registration procedure by providing a phone number or email address. Scammers take advantage of these opportunities using the following deception schemes.

Transferring the wrong amount to the specified card number

The method is reminiscent of the fraudulent schemes of the old era. It is not technical tricks that play a big role, but psychological treatment and pressure on the victim. The product is put up for sale, and after some time a call comes in. The person introduces himself as a buyer and explains the situation. He is extremely interested in the purchase, he came across the ad after a long and unsuccessful search, and is ready to pay for it as soon as possible. In this case, the product is supposedly needed so much that there is no need for a personal meeting - it is important to book it in time.

In order to convince the seller of the seriousness of his intentions, the swindler asks to send the card number for transferring the prepayment. Having only information at his disposal, the fraudster will not be able to steal money from her, so the seller boldly sends him away.

Then a message about funds being credited is sent to the number linked to the card, and a call is immediately received from the buyer. He very confusingly explains that in a hurry he transferred an amount much more than what was agreed upon, and it urgently needs to be returned. At this stage, processing occurs - the attacker convinces the seller that the consequences of an accidental mistake will be terrible for him, and appeals to integrity.

The Avito seller sends the “extra amount” and discovers that he is left in the red, and cannot contact the buyer. It's all about the message about the crediting of the amount - despite the convincing text, it was sent from the scammers' number, and is not a real notification of the operation.

Note: first of all, you should check not the text of the message, but the sender. It is quite possible to completely copy the format of a notification about the transfer of funds from any bank, but it is impossible to replace the number.

Withdrawing money from bank accounts

An equally complex method carried out by a group of scammers. The buyer transfers the erroneous amount and calls the citizen to confirm that the deposit has been received. The puzzled and conscientious seller reports that the amount has arrived, but exceeds the agreed amount. The buyer feigns bewilderment and promises to sort it out, since the money was not transferred personally, but by another person on behalf of a courier, an accountant, a relative.

This is where the second scammer comes into the scheme – the buyer’s trusted representative. It reports that an error did occur and asks for the merchant's card information in order to reverse the payment. They promise to transfer the advance payment the next day, because they don’t have time on this day.

The method is similar to the previous one in psychological terms - a performance is played out for the victim, and the first notification of funds being credited is false. The consequences are much more serious, since fraudsters gain access to a bank account and completely withdraw money from the linked cards. The victim may not notice this immediately.

Fraudulent scheme on Avito involving a third party

The method is fraught with unpleasant impressions for the victim, not only from the loss of money. As a result of fraud, the seller becomes suspected of involvement in fraud. The buyer performs actions similar to the previous methods - he reports the wrong amount, but in practice, at the same time as the seller, he keeps in touch with another person - the client.

An Avito scammer puts up an ad with a similar product at a reduced price, gives the buyer the seller’s details, and then asks the buyer to return the erroneously transferred funds. Having received the money, the deceiver goes into hiding, and the real user and buyer await an acquaintance and a police investigation, which may drag on, since it will not be possible to immediately prove non-involvement.

Offer to transfer money to a card

A simple scam on Avito is to transfer money to a card. It is designed for people who have little understanding of the security of bank accounts. The buyer contacts the seller and during the dialogue offers to transfer money to the card. The translation actually arrives, which lulls one's vigilance. The scammer calls to ask for the code from the subsequent SMS about the crediting of funds. Having heard the treasured numbers, the person disappears along with the seller’s access to the account.

It turned out like this - the buyer made a transfer of funds and registered using the card number on the bank’s website. To log into his account, all he had to do was get the numbers from the message.

Please tell me the code from SMS

There is another scenario in which the scammer asks for a code from an SMS message. In this case, they are deceived not for full access to the victim’s finances, but for the sake of a one-time payment on a third-party site. This happens due to the policy of some banks that provide simplified access to funds transfer operations - it is enough to know the card number and code from SMS.

Please note: a simplified form of payment is also found in some online stores and services. To link a card to such a trusted payment system, you need to know the number and exact amount of the last transaction. Requests for this information should be treated with suspicion.

Transfer of personal data to Avito

The attacker’s main prize is information on the victim’s card:

• number;
• Owner's name;
• validity;
• security code on the reverse side.

There are many schemes that allow you to find out information:

1. A story about a transfer from a bank branch that requires you to provide this information to confirm the transaction;
2. A call from an employee of the victim’s financial institution with a message about the need for full authorization for verification;
3. A confusing explanation about the impossibility of making a money transfer without providing card information.

Please note: everything except the card number is considered personal data. You can safely report it. However, under no circumstances should you send the expiration date and CVV code.

Prepayment for non-existent goods

Fraud on Avito with prepayment is the simplest and most common method of scam. This scenario accounts for more than half of all frauds. The buyer is now the victim. The seller, citing lack of trust, extreme busyness, a large number of applicants, and so on, asks to transfer the deposit to him. With the exception of rare cases, this scenario is another scam on Avito with prepayment to the card.

Most often they offer to pay for the guarantee in the form of a conditional amount to a mobile phone number. A seemingly simple operation will have unpleasant consequences - it is almost impossible to return the money in the event of such a transfer.

It is worth constantly keeping in mind the possibility of deception. The form of the conversation, the interlocutor’s arguments and his stories can be completely different - it is important to be able to notice the essence in them in time. The ultimate goal will always be to obtain money or access to it.

They do not confirm the money transfer and do not return the goods

Another scheme involving a courier. The seller insists on courier delivery and offers to send payment by his own courier .

But suddenly, before the transaction, the seller calls back and says that the courier has been working for the second day, so he is not trustworthy , transfer the money to the card. Not now, but when you inspect the product.

The courier actually arrives, you inspect the goods, transfer money to the owner. But the courier does not deliver the goods - he calls the boss, and he says that the payment did not go through .

But everything was written off for you. It turns out that you transferred money to the wrong card! This means that no one will give you your purchase. Write a letter to the bank and demand the money back.

What actually happened: the fraudster ordered the desired product from a store with a “seryak” and said that payment would be made by transfer from card to card . The store sent a courier to you with the goods.

The courier arrived, but the money did not actually arrive in the store owner’s account from you. You sent them to scammers.

Conclusion: do not hit the courier, he is not to blame. By the way, it’s really worth writing to the bank. At the very least, to make life more difficult for scammers.

Where to contact a victim of Avito fraud

List of authorities you should contact if you have suffered from scammers on Avito with transfers to a card:

Example of an application to Roskomnadzor about fraud on Avito

The application form to Rospotrebnadzor for committing fraud is available here

Application to the bank for the return of illegally withdrawn money

They replace the product with a fake, refuse it and send it back

The buyer offers to send the goods by cash on delivery. But then for some reason he refuses to take it.

To be honest, employees of transport companies, postal and courier services do not always carefully monitor how the buyer inspects the goods. So replacing a real iPhone with a Chinese fake is a piece of cake.

If you have received an item returned, please inspect it carefully. If something goes wrong, write a statement to the transport company and demand that they look into the situation.

How to return money that ended up in the accounts of Avito scammers?

After a divorce on Avito with money transferred to a card, you can return it in two ways.

1. Contact the bank and inform them in detail about the incident. Please note that the financial institution is not obliged to cancel the payment upon request. It is not his responsibility to prove that fraud has occurred. We need the most detailed description of the problem and evidence base.
2. During the judicial investigation. Depending on the amount of money stolen, fraudsters will be held liable either under an administrative article or under a criminal law. It will be possible to receive funds only after the attackers are caught.

The proceedings may drag on - this is normal for situations where the payment was transferred voluntarily.

Is it possible to withdraw money knowing only the card number?

No, knowing only the plastic number, it is impossible to do anything with the money in the account. Although some articles, for some reason, give some magical examples from some cabbage soup that supposedly this can be done.

The card number is the main detail by which transfers are made. That is, if Vasya wants to transfer money to Alena, then it will be enough for him to know the card number. The bank account also has other details: account number, INN, BIC, etc. But they are necessary in very rare cases.

You need to understand that a bank card is just a tool, or more precisely, a key to an account. Using the details on the card, you connect and manage the money in your account. That is why, no matter how anyone claims, the card number can be safely given to buyers or sellers for transfer.

How to protect yourself from attackers on Avito

The best way to save money and stress is to learn to recognize scams before they happen. The following tips will help protect yourself from theft of funds.

Characteristics of a scammer

There is a list of suspicious points characteristic of scammers:

1. Selling goods and services at a reduced price. Good parameters and favorable conditions at a price lower than that of similar products are the first signal that something is dirty.
2. A user who has recently registered on the site. A fresh profile is often a one-time account used by scammers.
3. Minimum information about the seller on Avito - only contact information is indicated.
4. Compliance. The person does not bargain and is ready to immediately buy the goods, pay for delivery, imposing a wire transfer.
5. Lack of interest in the product. The absence of questions about the product, its quality, the reasons for the sale while discussing in detail issues related to payment is a reason to think.

You can recognize deception by the way the counterparty speaks. Haste, excessive fussiness, attempts to put the interlocutor in the same hasty and nervous mood are common tricks of scammers.

Checking your account phone number

A simple way to be on the safe side is to check the phone number provided by a suspicious participant in the transaction. It is enough to type it into the search engine - if it was used previously in any fraud, most likely there will be reviews from the victims. You can turn to portals that have access to the database of scammers’ phone numbers.

Consultation with a lawyer

If the details of the transaction are in doubt, and there is no confidence in the mandatory provision of any information, you should seek a free consultation with a lawyer. It will help determine the rights of the parties to the transaction and protect against possible wrong steps.

They create a fake hype and ask you to book for ₽

Probably the most popular scheme. You find a product that costs less than its analogues . For example, an iPhone X for 30 thousand rubles, or a one-room apartment within the ring for 25 thousand per month. Naturally, call and chat with the owner.

But the seller/landlord says that there are more than enough people interested, so he will prefer the most interested one. Want to get a good deal? Leave a deposit of a thousand or two, and you will be first in line.

It is clear that after this they will neither send you an iPhone nor show you an apartment. Particularly inventive scammers go further - for example, they can call back and say that someone is ready to give a larger deposit.

Avito blacklist

Avito gives users the opportunity to independently fight against alleged scammers. The administration has created a blacklist that allows you to block a user. This is done as follows:

1. In a conversation or correspondence, click on the menu in the upper right corner.
2. Select "Spam".
3. The user will be moved to the blocked list - this will prevent him from sending messages.

More impact can be achieved by connecting with other people on the site. Tell about the scammer, substantiate suspicions and file a collective complaint against the user. The Avito administration pays attention to such precedents and conducts investigations - often they end in account blocking.

What else to read:

• What to do if scammers deceived you on Avito - how and where to complain (samples of complaints and statements)
• Popular methods of fraud with bank cards on Avito and methods of combating scammers (sample statements)
• Working schemes for fraud on Avito - attracting scammers for deception (black list, phone numbers of scammers, sample complaints)

Provide a toll number for feedback

Ads or personal messages sent via instant messengers may contain a paid phone number. The cost of a minute of conversation on it amounts to hundreds of rubles .

Another option is for the buyer to dial you several times and hang up. Then an SMS comes with a request to call back , the money in the account has run out.

The “treatment” is simple: Google the phone number. Usually, information about such divorces quickly spreads across the Internet.

You can also try contacting via Viber or WhatsApp. For real buyers, messengers are often connected to their main number.