They have just dismantled a scam that was being carried out on Wallapop with advertisements for the sale of high-end mobiles for which the victims paid money for Bizum and at the moment of truth they did not exist, and after the transaction the supposed sellers disappeared and it is practically impossible to recover the money.
The Civil Guard has arrested a couple who have managed to defraud five people from Alicante, Barcelona and the Basque Country. Wallapop and milanuncios are the usual areas where these types of scammers carry out their scams.
According to the official statement, the scammers published ads on these second-hand buying and selling networks. The ads were for high-end mobile phones at attractive prices. After receiving an offer from one of the victims or when they started the conversation through the app, they gained the trust of the person, to whom they offered the mobile at prices below the market.
The investigation began last December and received several complaints of fraud in the province. In the same statement they detailed that “the unbeatable price of the terminals caught the attention of buyers, who took the bait“.
The modus operandi is to gain people’s trust and start chatting on WhatsApp to avoid commissions from sales platforms or other excuses.
From then on, buyers were invited to make the purchase through Bizum and, yes, after payment they disappear.
The problem with the Bizum platform is that the operation cannot be canceled in a reasonable time as the Civil Guard comments: “but Bizum operates instantaneously, so in most cases it is not possible to cancel the payment made“.
After tracking down the evidence, a couple has been arrested in the province of Alicante and has been placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction number 9 of Alicante, which finally decreed his release with charges.
It is clear that Bizum is not a recommended means of payment for this type of transaction due to the few protection measures it offers.