March 11, 2023, 6:36 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Stealing data, scamming buyers, swindling money: Cybercriminals make the internet unsafe. Distrust and caution often help to expose the fraudsters. But it’s even safer to know their tricks.
Consumer advocates and police are currently warning about internet scams involving PayPal, the KfW development bank, and Facebook. If you fall into one of these traps, you should report it to the local police or through the online police station of the respective state. To prevent it from getting that far, here are the three dangers at a glance.
PayPal Phishing
It’s one of the most widespread scams on the internet: On classified ad sites, fraudsters pose as interested buyers for an item, fake payment problems, and then claim to have sent the purchase price, including shipping costs, via a supposedly new PayPal service.
Next, they send a link allegedly created by PayPal, which includes the name of the fictitious “buyer.” You are supposedly able to request the money through this link. However, you should never click on it but instead pull the plug and break off contact, advises the consumer protection portal “Watchlist Internet.”
Because anyone who clicks on the link ends up on a fake PayPal page, where login details for the payment service and even SMS confirmation codes from PayPal are phished. Anyone who continues and follows the instructions loses money.
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Phishing at KfW Development Bank
Fraudsters misuse the name of the KfW development bank and promote a fictitious “Special Funding Program ISFP-01” in fake emails, which is supposed to protect against upcoming cost increases due to inflation.
Anyone who clicks on the “Apply Now” button in the email is taken to a professionally designed page that looks deceptively similar to the KfW site, warns the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Lower Saxony.
Insidious: Many links on the fake page lead directly to the real KfW website, such as the imprint link. However, the addresses of the fake (“kfwfoerderprogramm-portal-start-id…com”) differ significantly from the address of the real KfW website (“www.kfw.de“).
Anyone who continues with the fake application process eventually reaches a form where the data the criminals are after is to be entered: name, address, phone number, ID number, bank name.
Also interesting: Beware! Fraud targeting customers of Sparkasse, ING, DKB, and Postbank
Facebook Scams on the Internet
Facebook is a popular marketplace for concert tickets, especially for events that are already sold out. The willingness of many fans to pay high prices for rare tickets attracts criminals.
The fraudsters are everywhere you would look for tickets on Facebook, warns “Watchlist Internet”: in the event’s discussion forum, in the comments below, on the Marketplace, or even in special groups for concert tickets.
With fake profiles, the criminals comment on posts with requests or post ticket offers themselves. To build trust, the fraudsters often send a copy of an ID, which is actually a stolen copy of a third party’s ID.
Also read: What to watch out for with the special termination right for internet contracts
In return, the supposed sellers also demand a copy of your ID. The rule here is: Never send a copy of your own ID. It will be misused by criminals for future scams.
According to reports, sometimes only half the ticket price is demanded in advance, plus the ID copy as security. The rule here is: Never transfer money or pay with the PayPal “Send Money to Friends & Family” function. In both cases, the money is gone if the seller turns out to be a fraudster.
What’s a better approach? The safest option is a personal handover, consumer advocates advise. If that’s not possible, you should carefully examine the seller’s Facebook profile and pay using the PayPal “Send Money for Goods and Services” function, as buyer protection applies in case of problems.
And the ticket itself should also be given attention: E-tickets that are self-printed should ideally not be bought from third parties. There is a risk that they have been printed multiple times.