Scams on Bazos and through Whatsapp: How not to be fooled?

The fraudsters on WhatsApp will not rest even in 2022. This fraud is already so widespread that fraudulent news has already come to almost everyone who advertises on the Bazoš.sk advertising portal. Members of the MojeAndroid editorial staff also received these messages several times. The police constantly draw attention to fraud on their Facebook page Hoaxy a fraud – Police of the Slovak Republic.

How does this scam work?

Basically, it’s very simple. The seller will call an unknown person with a foreign number and pretends to be interested in the offered goods. There are also additional questions aimed at increasing the creditor’s credibility. He asks about the condition of the goods, there will even be a subtle effort to reduce the price. Finally, he nods and writes that he will buy the goods from the seller.

However, he does not forget to point out that he lives far away. Either somewhere in Slovakia or abroad, or he is quarantined due to COVID-19. He will allegedly pay by “secure payment” via Slovenská pošta. However, Slovenská pošta has such a service she doesn’t and never has. She also knows about this type of fraud and has informed about it on her website, where she warned customers. Fraudsters use not only WhatsApp, but also SMS messages or e-mails.

If the victim agrees to such a payment, the fraudster will send it link to the fake website of Slovenská pošta, which requires the victim to pay a certain amount in order to subsequently be able to take over the alleged payment for the goods from the fraudster. Only one thing is needed to complete the fraud. To pay.

How to recognize a scam on WhatsApp?

Every experienced internet user will recognize that this is a scam. But not everyone is experienced enough and has the necessary knowledge. Since fraudsters do not stop, it is likely that people will be deceived in this way often. And yet they do not have enough to detect this fraud. Several factors need to be considered.

The fraudster usually starts by sending a message that contains a link to the ad and asks if it is up to date. This is not the first sign of fraud, but for example we were able to recognize it after this first message (on the screenshot above). If you receive such a message from foreign number, you should definitely note.

Problems with Slovak

The fraudster usually communicates in fragile Slovak with a number of errors, which is another indication that this may be a fraud. Not even that adds to his credibility asks questions that have long been answered in the ad. For example, whether the goods have accessories, what the price is and so on.

The main indication that this is a fraud is the already mentioned “secure payment” of the Slovak Post, which does not provide such a service. It states on its website:

“Slovenská pošta also does not provide a payment gateway service and any money sent through any service or bank will always simply arrive, there is no need to accept payment by entering any data. We recommend that you always verify the information provided on the official website of Slovenská pošta. We also recommend never clicking on any link in the suspicious emails. ”

If you have reached the last point and you are required to pay, it is also relatively easy to find out that this is a fraud. All you have to do is, for example notice a website asking for your money. They get used to it grammar mistakes a url does not start with “posta.sk”. On the screenshote above you can see that the url of the fake website of Slovenská pošta is “posta-sk.paydeal.host…”, which definitely does not add to the credibility.

If you have sent out money, you can contact law enforcement authorities, but there is a high probability that you will never see your money again, because tracking down fraudsters is not easy.

Most Slovaks already know this scam

Thanks to the work of the Slovak police and regular information about this type of fraud, no one will be caught. But there are still many Slovaks who have had no idea about this fraud. Those who expose the scam are accustomed to praise the police, who share their conversations on their Facebook page.

Richard: Hello, I don’t know if it will help you, but I’m forwarding a photo of the fraud attempt with the phone number from which it was written.

Robo: I didn’t get fooled, but I don’t want to fool other more trusting people.

Mates: Good evening, I want to report suspected fraud.

“WHATSAP’S FRAUDERS TAKE YOUR HAIR EVEN IN THE NEW YEAR: THANKS TO OUR WARNINGS, YOU SEND THEM TO WARM COUNTRIES”, police write on a social network.

Scammers also use mail for other types of fraud

We have only recently reported another fraud, but with the same aim. Get money from the victim. Fraudsters send SMS messages or e-mails under the heading of Slovenská pošta that you have a package and that you should pay for it. The scam is still going on, be careful. Again, the post office never asks customers to pay to pick up a shipment over the Internet. You can find more detailed information about this fraud in the article The fraud abusing Slovenská pošta continues.