The Internet has not only simplified and diversified people's lives, but also spawned many new types of fraud. Artful swindlers have found a large number of ways to steal money from honest citizens with the help of deception on Avito. This ad site is one of the most popular, with millions of visitors per day. How to calculate a fraudster on Avito and not lose your hard-earned money? We learn in the article.
What should alert the seller?
Lovers of easy money have long understood the beauty of earning money on sites where people sell and buy goods they don’t need at an affordable price. Of course, it’s very difficult to find naive and gullible citizens now, but scammers come up with new ingenious schemes for luring money every day. Announcements on Avito are full of tempting offers, which are sometimes difficult to refuse even for the most suspicious person. Consider several factors that can help the buyer determine that he is a scammer.
The price of the product
We cannot exclude the fact that the seller urgently needs money, so he sells the item for nothing. But most often scammers are hiding behind such ads on Avito. The calculation in this case is simple - offering goods at a lower price, they cleverly manipulate the feelings of the buyer. A person is much easier to part with a small amount and will not arrange numerous checks to the seller. Most often this applies to the sale of gadgets, branded items or goods that do not require a thorough check. However, sometimes the impudence of fraudsters can go beyond all limits, and an inexperienced buyer can succumb to provocation and transfer a large amount of money for household appliances or a car. Remember: low price should be suspicious!
New account
It is no secret that the site administration regularly blocks violators. Complaints about a seller lead to the deletion of an account, so fraudsters are forced to create a new account. Before you agree to a dubious deal, carefully look at the profile. If the seller has several products, and his account is less than a week old - this should raise suspicion.
Communication method
Specifying a phone number on the site is a must when creating a profile. If the seller carries out correspondence with you via e-mail or social networks - do not be too lazy to dial his number to verify its authenticity. The situation when for a long time you hear the voice of an operator in the handset, which indicates that the subscriber is unavailable or disconnected, should alert you. Fake numbers are often used by fraudsters at once in several private ads on Avito.ru.
Ad Mismatch
There are frequent cases when the name of the seller is in the profile of the seller Tatyana, and in correspondence a person communicates on behalf of a male. Of course, this can be easily explained: the wife, mother, sister, girlfriend filed an ad, and the man is directly involved in the sale. However, this fact should also cause suspicion, with such people should be as careful as possible.
Product Photos
Each buyer wishes to see the goods face before the transaction. But often in the ads you can observe beautiful pictures from advertising posters. This fact should raise suspicion - if the thing is in stock, then why are there no photos from various angles? The seller’s absurd excuses that there is currently no way to take pictures and put them on the network is the first alarm bell. It is difficult to imagine a person who does not have a camera phone or who is familiar with such a gadget.In order not to take risks, refuse the deal.
How to avoid cheating?
If you find the desired product on the site and are ready to buy it soon, then you should know some simple rules. They will help you avoid disappointment and tell you how to figure out a scammer on Avito. Before each purchase, check the seller and the goods for each item, then you will have no problems.
Compare the cost of goods with the price of the manufacturer
Any visitor to the site saw attractive offers to buy iPhone 8 for 3,000 rubles. Each time it is presented as an action of unprecedented generosity and is accompanied by explanations: “Presented for my birthday, I sell it as unnecessary!”. Seriously? Here is such an urgent need to sell a gadget dozens of times cheaper than real value? There are people who believe in such statements and pay money at best for a low-quality fake. At worst - for the air. Fraudsters on Avito are well aware of the natural craving of Russian people for the so-called freebie. Every second wants to get an expensive thing for a penny.
Another thing is if you buy a product that does not have a stable price. This is especially true of thoroughbred animals and rare items. Did you see an ad for the sale of a husky puppy for only 3,000 rubles? You should be alerted by such a price for a rather expensive dog. Most likely, by calling the number, you will find out that the seller evaluated only the documents for the dog at that amount. And the puppy itself will cost you another 40,000 rubles. This is a good deal. If it’s bad, they will literally force you to pay an advance payment and wave your hand.
As for rare and expensive items: free ads on avito.ru are full of offers to buy a unique thing at a fabulously low price. A set of artifacts and rarities can be the most diverse - coins, vinyl records, stamps, jewelry, furniture, clothes and much more. It’s easy for a person who knows such things to identify fraudsters. But there are people who are ready to buy such a little thing as a gift and simply do not know its real value. Before you make a deal, consult with experts on sites dedicated to this topic. You can just get stuck with any cheap stuff under the guise of a rarity.
Demand to remove the goods on video
Feel free to ask the seller to show the item from all angles and in expanded form. An ordinary person will not be embarrassed by such a request, if he is confident in the quality of his goods. If there is no way to meet in person and inspect a future purchase, then the video will help you understand why you will pay money. The fraudster will most likely not agree to such conditions. Instead of wasting time explaining with you, he will go looking for a more trusting buyer.
C.O.D
One of the most practical schemes. The risk of running into a fraudster is practically zero, despite the fact that it will take very little time. Refuse advance payment and ask to send the goods by cash on delivery. You pay the declared value and you can immediately open the box and check the contents. In case of any discrepancy, you can get the money back by refusing to send. If the purchased item completely suits you, then the amount goes to the seller by postal order. When using a cash on delivery scheme, fraud on Avito is practically eliminated.
Be vigilant
If you have a sympathy for the seller, and you are confident in his honesty, then it will not be out of place to ask for personal data. This can be a photo of a passport or a driver’s license. You can do without this - just contact by phone and ask to dictate the data. If a person is engaged in sales at Avito, then such an approach to business will not confuse him. You will have the opportunity to check his pages on social networks or check his status on the website of official bailiffs. Fake accounts can be easily recognized - they are usually registered recently.To lull the buyer’s vigilance, scammers fill the page with reposts and pictures, imitating violent activity. Of course, a person has the right to refuse to disclose personal data to you, but even then you are not obligated to make any prepayment to a stranger.
Good check
Found a product you like, but the seller lives in another city? In order to dispel all doubts, pay attention to the information in the profile. The ad contains the location of the person. You can call back from another number and offer to buy goods. If the seller willingly agrees to meet and demonstrate a future purchase, then you are lucky and you can safely make a deal with him. But if he begins to come up with excuses and refuses to meet in person - break all the agreements. This will help avoid buying spoiled, defective or defective goods.
You can also view information about already completed transactions of the seller. All sales data on Avito are stored on its page and are available to any user. There is no such data in the scammers profile. Basically, this applies to sellers offering popular products, the assortment of which is replenished regularly.
Types of cheating on Avito
If you think that only sellers can circle your finger, then you are deeply mistaken. In addition to the product, the site has a huge variety of job ads. You open the section and immediately see an incredible offer - a large salary for simple work in a clean and comfortable office. Such an announcement is immediately noticed and the most interesting stage begins - communication with the employer. All the benefits are communicated with you and painted - a social package, a free work schedule, transport will pick you up right from the entrance, free breakfasts, lunches and dinners, paid sick leave, bonuses and incentives, trips and many other attractive bonuses.
A naive job seeker is ready to run right away with documents to the office of the company. And they are ready to accept it under one condition - you need to pay for training materials and insurance. Sometimes they offer to give money for weekly classes. You will be brought up to date and taught all the necessary skills. Only after you pay these "necessary" documents and training, you will no longer hear the employer. Particularly arrogant can even open offices for some time and really conduct a couple of classes to divert their eyes, but the result will be the same - you will be left without money and without work. This scheme of cheating on Avito is very common, so you should avoid such offers! Remember: the employer never requires money when applying for a new employee.
Prepayment
This type of fraud is very common on the free classified ads site avito.ru. You can run into such a swindler in any section. Consider the most popular extortion schemes - in other words, this can not be called. Let's say you saw a tempting offer to sell a car. You were satisfied with the technical specifications and appearance of the machine. It remains only to negotiate with the seller. You call or write to the contact person and find out that the vehicle is already practically sold. But! Especially for you, he will make an exception and refuse the previous buyer. You only need to transfer any 30, 50 or 100 thousand rubles to the specified account. This is to confirm your serious intentions regarding the purchase.
It would seem that there is nothing criminal in this proposal. A person just wants to make sure that you don’t change your mind tomorrow. In fact, as soon as you transfer the indicated amount, the announcement will immediately evaporate from the site, and the number will always be unavailable or disabled. Prepaid cheating on Avito is very popular among scammers, and they well know what strings to pull a naive buyer.
There is an even more scary scheme. You are invited to meet to sign a contract of sale, transfer of money and at the same time a full inspection of the car.In order not to cause suspicion, scammers choose a crowded place. At the appointed time, they arrive and offer you a drive to the garage for inspection and business conversation. Then everything is according to the scenario - money will be taken away, and in the best case they will be beaten very badly. What will happen in the worst - and so it is clear. Immediately inform that you do not carry money with you, and the transaction will be completed only in the presence of a notary or other authorized person.
Services
An equally common way to lure people into money. The service can be any - a plumber, a tutor for a child, a nanny, freight. An experienced fraudster will ask you to transfer the necessary amount to him on the card. Perhaps this will be only a percentage of the total cost of the service. You will not suspect of deceit of a person who asks now to transfer 500 rubles, and in half an hour he will drive up and fulfill his duties with subsequent full payment. Not so much money? Now imagine - how many of those who want to use the service can be in a few hours? One hundred, one thousand or even ten thousand people, if it is a large metropolis. Always pay only upon the provision of services, because when transferring money to a card, it will be practically impossible to prove a fraud on Avito.
"Follow this link"
Often, ads contain an offer to see the product more carefully using a third-party site. For the convenience of the buyer, the seller leaves a link where you can go through and consider all the little things and details of a future purchase. Of course, such an offer will interest anyone - after all, this is an additional guarantee that the product actually exists. However, as soon as you click on the link, a virus or malicious code will be installed on your computer. With it, scammers will receive information about all your credit cards, accounts and electronic wallets. Through simple manipulations, they will be able to withdraw any amount without your participation. Before clicking on such links, you should check whether an antivirus program is installed on your computer or phone.
“Provide your card details”
This type of fraud is not very popular, in this case the seller himself becomes a victim. Let's say you sell a car and a buyer is found. He is so interested that he is ready to transfer a significant amount to the future transaction. All you need is your card number. You give him the necessary information without a second thought, but it turns out that this is not enough. When transferring money, the bank asked to enter the code on the reverse side and the numbers sent in the SMS message. Inexperienced people do not even suspect that at that moment all the money was already withdrawn from their card. This is done so quickly and simply that then it is not possible to prove the involvement of a third party. Remember: in order to transfer money from a card or other payment device to a card, you do not need any data except the name and the number itself.
Only today and at a great discount!
We decided to buy a funny little animal and found an interesting offer on the site? Cheating on Avito when buying animals has already acquired colossal proportions. And you will not even guess that you were circled around your finger. Did you find a kitten of unusual coloring and breed? Be prepared for the fact that after the first bathing, he will become a simple street Barsik. Animals are not only painted, but also shaved. Think you buy a sphinx if the cat has no hair? She can grow in a couple of days! You will be provided with fake documents confirming the pedigree, and even certificates of vaccinations! All this can easily be printed at home, having a printer and Internet access.
To distract attention from the animal itself, you will be chatted with stories about medals and achievements at the exhibitions of its relatives. And if this is not enough, they will also offer a good discount, as a kind and good person! Do not rush into the purchase - examine the animal from all sides, try to walk along its coat with a damp cloth, check the skin for cuts.You already know how not to run into scammers on Avito, so do not be shy in your actions - they are legal and cannot cause resentment from the seller.
Calls to Toll Numbers
A fairly well-known type of deception on Avito. The seller indicates the phone number and places an advertisement for the sale of an inexpensive item. Many will want to get such a product, and the number of calls can be in the thousands. In fact, after the first beep, a round sum will be deducted from your balance, and you will not hear the seller’s voice. In order not to fall into this situation, you should pay attention to the number of digits in the number (there must be eleven along with the country code). If something bothers you, refuse the call.
Payment terminals
If the seller offers you to pay for your purchase using a terminal or electronic wallet - think about it. Fraudsters prefer such a scheme, because in this case the buyer will not be able to return the money legally. Cheating on Avito using virtual currency is now very common. Scammers come up with different stories in order to lure the right amount from gullible people. They can tell the story that the courier will bring the goods to you, and he does not have the right to take money for delivery. Immediately refuse such offers.
Stop by and live!
Another favorite way for scammers to fool citizens is to rent apartments. Let's say you urgently need to rent an apartment in another city, and you have found a suitable one. Call the landlord and discuss the conditions and cost. Everything suits you, you say that this option is suitable, that you are ready to meet to sign the contract. At this moment, the performance begins - a woman (and most likely even a grandmother) tells you that she herself is from another city and will not be able to come in the near future. But she hears in her voice that you are a good person and ready to rent you an apartment without a contract. You just transfer money to her account and you can take the keys from a neighbor. Only the most callous and pragmatic person can suspect a dear old lady. Most immediately agree and transfer the money. But at the specified address you will be met by angry owners, whose grandmother died already many years ago. A curtain.
Conclusion
Cheating on Avito when buying or selling should not be left without punishment. You have every right to complain not only to the site owners, but also to the police. You are required to accept a statement, to investigate this incident. This is a criminal offense and such precedents cannot be ignored. The more indifferent or disbelieving citizens are, the more often holes will appear in your budget after dealing with fraudsters. Tell all your friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives about these methods of cheating. Always check the seller or buyer before making a transaction and remember - anyone can cheat, no one is safe from such situations.
