Scams: how the fraud works
A scam is a sequence that repeats itself, often across several sites and channels. Here you find how it starts, how to spot it and what to do if you have already paid. The details for each scam name their sources.
Scams described
Sequence
- Reply to the ad
- Move to messenger
- Report on a given site
- Payment
- Contact stops
- Targets
- Private individuals selling a car online
- Amount per sources
- usually 20 to 40 euros per report
More scams on the blog
We have not yet written these scams up as pages of their own with a full sequence. The articles give the signs, the sources and the next steps.
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Scam or fake shop
Fake shop
- A site offers goods
- You order and pay
- The goods do not arrive
A site that offers goods and does not deliver after payment. The person who orders there loses money.
Scam pattern
- Someone approaches you
- You end up on a site
- You are led to pay
The sequence around it: how someone is approached, led to a site and made to pay. A scam can also hit sellers and often uses many sites in turn.
How scams and the shop check fit together
The shop check also compares every site against the scams described here. If a site matches a scam, the report names it and links to this page.
You came across a scam that is missing here? Report the site. We review every report before it goes public.Report a site
Has someone sent you to a site?
Check it before you pay. The report names a matching scam if we recognise one.