She was trying to sell a play tent for $40. It ended up costing her $1,250


A woman in the Lush Valley on the island of Vancouver wants to warn others about an online phishing scam through Facebook Marketplace after a sale that would allegedly reported $ 40 cost him $ 1,250.

When Severine Nichols was getting rid of her daughter’s tent last week, she did what many people would do: she published it in a local purchase and sale group through Facebook Marketplace.

Soon an online buyer appeared, asking if I could send an electronic transfer to ensure the article and then pick it up later.

“I checked his profile. It was a local profile. I had a photo. I had children. It wasn’t a new profile, so I felt quite well with that,” Nichols told CBC News.

When the electronic transfer reached its entrance tray, Nichols says it seemed legitimate and did not raise any suspicions.

Then he clicks on the link and took it to a page where he chose with which bank he was, as he usually does. Nichols says he checked the URL and seemed normal. Then he entered his bank data, as he would normally.

“It seemed exactly like a normal electronic transfer when I send and receive things in my bank,” he said. “There was nothing different, nothing strange, nothing strange, no alert sign.”

Vancouver Police says the suspects published items for sale but stopped communicating with buyers after receiving electronic transfers. (CBC news)

But after Nichols entered his bank information, an error screen appeared. He sent a screenshot to the buyer and canceled the sale.

Minutes later, says Nichols, received an email confirming an electronic transfer for $ 1,250 to someone who did not know.

“The shock and then the tears, and then immediately … I began to have a panic attack,” he said.

The scammers are “very good in this”: RCMP

As a student who works part -time, Nichols says that financial loss was significant for her. That sum was equivalent to more than half of his rent and almost all of his biweekly salary.

Nichols published about his terrible experience in a local Facebook group. Some people responded by saying that the same had almost happened to them or someone they knew.

The Canadian Antifraude center has also issued an alert warning people about this type of scams. says ESPEASTORS They know that they send false messages. Electronic emails to Websites that then steal the bank information of the people so that they can access their accounts in what is known as Phishing scam.

Const. RCMP. Monika Terragni says that this is the third case of this type in the Lock Valley so far this year.

“The scammers and scammers that exist at this time make a living doing this and are very, very good in that,” Terragni told CBC News.

“They are increasingly improving the way to convince people to click these links and provide their information.”

Reduce speed or meet in person

Terragni recommends that people go slower before accepting an electronic transfer and take their time to verify that everything is legitimate.

If that is not possible, recommend meeting in a public place and accepting only effective.

“I think people should also keep in mind that when they make transactions on Facebook and are in Marketplace, sometimes the legitimate accounts of Facebook are pirate,” he said.

“So it may seem legitimate. It may seem that is that person who has been on Facebook since 2008.”

As for Nichols, he is working with the owner to pay the rental for installments. He says he is not sure what else he could have done differently and now he wants to warn people so they don’t go through the same.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through this,” said Nichols. “I don’t think there is enough protection for us out there.”



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