Filenews 2 September 2022
The Police continue to receive several complaints from citizens about online fraud related to the sale of products through marketplace-type online shopping websites. These are essentially e-commerce websites on which citizens intend to sell their products.
In particular, the complaining sellers stated that after the posting of the advertisement for the sale of their products on the various websites, fraudsters with the intention of fooling them showed interest and proceeded to the alleged purchase of the goods by sending a virtual receipt of a remittance of money to an IBAN account of the seller.
In most cases, the alleged buyers, "deposit" an amount greater than the price of the product and then ask for a refund of the difference back to the buyer. In this way, they fool the sellers and proceed to the refund of a virtual purchase for which in reality the amount was never remitted, thus securing money with false representations.
The public is urged to be particularly careful in such cases (mainly from interested buyers from abroad) and not to make any payment of the amount. It is better to have as much contact as possible with the interested buyer and if payment has actually been made, to wait for the amount to clear up.
The public can consult the Police for such frauds through the official pages of the Police www.police.gov.cy, www.cypruspolicenews.com and the Office of Combating Cybercrime www.cyberalert.cy and for the submission of complaints visit the District Crime Detection Departments (ICF).
