Depop & Vinted Scams: 8 Crimson Flags To Look For 

Secondhand style has develop into top-of-the-line methods to make a fast buck. Apps like Depop and Vinted present a platform for aspect hustles and wardrobe spring cleans alike.

The place client demand grows, nevertheless, scammers additionally flock. This week, a Which? survey of 1,300 consumers discovered that 32% had been defrauded up to now two years. Depop was the worst performing app. 57% of customers instructed Which? they’d skilled a rip-off on the location.

Under, we record eight tell-tale indicators that may assist you to identify and keep away from widespread secondhand shams on apps like Depop and Vinted.

How will you spot a faux market itemizing?

It’s simple in charge the sufferer with regards to on-line fakes. However when buying small ticket gadgets which can be beneath £10, many purchasers will let their guard down.

Depop does supply Depop Safety for Consumers. For those who purchase an merchandise on the app and it doesn’t arrive or isn’t as described, you’ll be eligible for a full refund. Nonetheless, being scammed could be a traumatic expertise for consumers and, ideally, it wouldn’t happen in any respect.

I’ve personally been the sufferer of a Depop rip-off once I bought a pair of trousers in 2020 that also haven’t arrived. Once I appeared again on the vendor’s profile, I used to be annoyed to see many crimson flags that I simply hadn’t thought to search for. These can embody:

🚩 Inventory imagery

In line with the Which? survey, the commonest fraud skilled by 66% of consumers was buy scams (the place fraudsters promote non-existent merchandise at discounted costs).

Eager consumers can spot this fakery by analysing the supply of the picture. As a result of they don’t have actual gadgets to {photograph}, crooked sellers will typically put up inventory pictures or screenshots from ecommerce websites to faux an inventory.

Google Lens can be utilized to conduct a reverse picture search that may normally let you know if the vendor has nicked their imagery from a web-based store or one other app person.

🚩 Not replying to DMs

If you actually need that pair of Nike Dunks it’s tempting to simply go forward and purchase an merchandise. However a very good litmus check to confirm an inventory (significantly when it’s an costly product) is to talk to the vendor first by way of Depop’s or Vinted’s on the spot messaging operate.

In the event that they reply in a well timed method, nice. In the event that they don’t reply in any respect, or simply sound a bit “off”, err on the aspect of warning. It’s normally an indication that they’re a malicious actor.

🚩 A number of sizes of the identical merchandise

Whereas not essentially a faux itemizing, a considerable amount of the identical merchandise may imply the vendor is partaking in dropshipping scams. The responsible occasion will buy tons of of discounted gadgets from a wholesaler and promote them disguised as a costlier product.

Discovering out that the high-quality t-shirt out of your favorite retailer is definitely a poorly-made Shein or AliExpress dupe is massively irritating and arduous to dispute. Keep away from the upset and evaluate market listings with third-party websites to make certain you’re paying the best worth.

🚩 Requests to repay the app

The easy rule for avoiding secondhand gross sales scams is to by no means, ever repay the app. Most secondhand gross sales apps (together with Depop and Vinted) have pre-approved, in-app fee strategies corresponding to PayPal, Apple Pay, and Klarna for a cause. They’ve partnered with these corporations as a part of their purchaser safety packages.

By no means settle for financial institution transfers or cheques by way of the put up. Finishing a transaction away from the app will disqualify you from any safety the corporate can present.

The customer may say that their app is down and they should message you by way of Instagram as an alternative. They could ask for photos to be despatched to their private quantity. These seemingly innocuous requests are widespread fakes, and might result in your account being banned for those who comply.

How will you spot a faux purchaser on marketplaces?

Which?’s analysis reveals that consumers usually tend to be scammed than sellers on preloved marketplaces. Round 1 / 4 of these promoting on Depop (23%) and one in 10 (11%) of Vinted sellers mentioned they’d skilled a rip-off within the two years to January 2024.

Depop Safety does exist for sellers. Nevertheless, gadgets want to satisfy particular standards to be able to qualify for it (for instance, gadgets should be despatched inside 5 days of the transaction).

Phoney consumers know these necessities and can attempt to bend the foundations to make sure you can’t report them to the app. Right here’s 4 warning indicators {that a} buyer isn’t who they declare to be:

🚩 Their e mail handle doesn’t exist

At the beginning, for each sale you make by way of {the marketplace}, examine the e-mail handle that’s been equipped. If the person’s e mail handle doesn’t exist or shouldn’t be a website identify you recognise, this could immediately elevate suspicions.

Equally, for those who obtain an e mail supposedly from the app — for instance, asking you to ship cash or referring to a sale that you just haven’t made — that doesn’t use the official domains ‘@vinted.co.uk’ or ‘@depop.com’, it is a rip-off. Delete the e-mail with out clicking something.

🚩 They’ve despatched a hyperlink to your DMs

Typically a purchaser will fake they’re having a difficulty with an inventory (for instance, they’re struggling to view an merchandise in-app) and can ship over a hyperlink to a third-party web site as an alternative.

It is a widespread kind of phishing rip-off and is designed to steal your data. When you’ve exited the app, you’ll then be requested to share private particulars like a cellphone quantity or e mail.

Keep away from clicking on any hyperlinks despatched by way of direct message and block the client who sends them.

A Depop spokesperson particularly referred to as out any such deceit in its response to the Which? survey, advising clients and sellers “by no means to share private data with different customers [and] to be very cautious about following hyperlinks to different websites.”

🚩 They’re asking for a partial refund

Some consumers will lie and say they didn’t obtain an merchandise, forcing you to shell out for a refund. Paying a bit further for postal monitoring when transport the merchandise ought to assist to keep away from this end result as you’ll have proof their parcel was delivered.

It appears like overkill, however filming the product earlier than it’s despatched may also stop consumers from having the ability to declare they obtained an empty field (one other recognized sham tactic). We’d advocate this particularly in case you are promoting huge ticket classic gadgets which can be arduous to exchange.

🚩 They’ve requested to vary the handle

Whereas not essentially proof of malintent, a purchaser asking to vary a supply handle post-transaction ought to elevate eyebrows.

Most marketplaces particularly state that an merchandise should be despatched to the handle the client’s profile is listed to. Scammers may technically declare that you just despatched the merchandise to the flawed handle even when they’d requested it to be modified, so it’s a doubtlessly dangerous transfer.

If you’re requested to edit a postal handle final minute, check out the client’s profile extra intently. Mixed with different suspicious data, it could be safer to reject the sale.