PEOPLE looking to earn money on the side by selling items, property or services online on classifieds websites and portals are being urged to remain vigilant to ensure they do not fall victims to scammers using them to part with their hard-earned money.
According to Interior Ministry’s anti-economic crimes directorate’s financial crimes division director Major Mohammed Al Abdulla, scammers operating outside of Bahrain are attempting to trick people in the country to give up their private information on websites such as Dubizzle (formerly known as OLX).
“Be careful when you put something up for sale on such websites,” he said.
“Scammers will pretend they are interested in what you are selling, and will try to steal your data, including your bank account details, in order to transfer money out of your account and out of the kingdom.”
Classified websites such as Dubizzle are used to sell first and second-hand goods online. People post several things for sale such as cars, sporting goods, domestic services, properties, electronics and even pets.
Such websites are especially commonly used by people to sell unwanted goods in order to gain extra money.
Maj Al Abdulla states sellers posting anything on such websites need to stay vigilant, as the fact that they are selling and not buying may lead to complacency setting in.
“They approach you and tell you they want to buy the product, they may negotiate a price with you, but that is not necessarily the case,” he said.
“They may also just outright tell you that they like the price, and want to buy the product.
“Next is when the con begins. They will claim that they are attempting to send money to you, either through BenefitPay or bank transfer, but it just will not work for some reason.
“If you ask them to meet face-to-face to exchange the product for cash, they will make up excuses as to why they cannot do so.
“Instead, they will send you a link to an online ‘money transferring website’ and they will swear by it, that they always use it.
“Once on the website, people will be asked to enter their private information such as debit card details, and use them to transfer money out of the accounts and usually out of Bahrain as well.”
People who are target of such scams are usually Bahrainis who post on such websites a lot, most between the ages of 25 to 30.
They are also the target demographic as a majority of older buyers usually tend to prefer meeting in person as they have less trust in technology, and prefer to deal with cash for small to mid-transactions.
Younger people usually prefer to buy things on more familiar and reputable websites such as Amazon instead.
Maj Al Abdulla has some advice for people in order to protect their money while selling products on such websites.
“Always meet face-to-face with the potential buyer,” he said. “Does not matter how busy they claim they are, if they want the product, they will want to meet you in order to get it for themselves.
“Hand over the product only once you are sure you received the money, whether by BenefitPay or cash.
“Do not click on any link, it does not matter what it says, even if it is under the name of a legitimate website.
“Do not hand out any private banking information, without it, they cannot do anything.
“Finally, ensure you are up-to-date with all scams in order to protect yourself from their methods.”
Maj Al Abdulla also urged people to join the Financial and Cyber Crimes WhatsApp groups, available in Arabic and English. People can join the group by going to the @acees_bh Instagram page and clicking on the link in the bio.
A warning was also sent notifying people that cybercrimes tend to spike around holiday times. People have been urged to not click on any links sent by SMS messages or on social media. Those who have had their private information compromised should contact their banks immediately.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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