Dyson: a scam between private individuals on Facebook
Internet scammers are using the notoriety of Dyson, the British household appliance company, to set up a scam between private individuals. The aim of this online scam, which has been circulating on Facebook and Messenger for a few days now, is to steal your bank details. To achieve their aims, the scammers promise a Dyson V10 hoover for almost free in their adverts. Although the fact that some people fall for this scam may seem hard to believe, it's actually a good thing. In fact, many people have been duped by this online scam. We explain.
Fake ads on Facebook to fool Internet users
With Internet scams on the increase, the golden rule is always to be wary of overly tempting adverts and sites that could prove fraudulent, before providing your bank details for payment. Some people have learnt this rule first-hand when they were duped by a new online scam targeting the Dyson household appliance brand. In the scam, which is spreading mainly on Facebook and Messenger, scammers are posing as the Dyson brand by sharing ads that state the new V10 hoover model was being offered for free. To take advantage of the offer, users simply had to pay the €1.95 delivery charge.
Although the offer may seem too good to be true, the scammers still managed to convince their victims by justifying the offer with the fact that an additional 6,000 appliances had been handed over for sale throughout France. A link was shared in the ad, inviting them to visit a fraudulent website, similar to the official Dyson site. In order to pay the delivery charges and take advantage of what appeared to be a bargain offer, Internet users were asked to enter their banking and personal details.
Beware of overly tempting advertisements
What the victims didn't realise when they signed up for this offer was that they were signing up for a subscription with a monthly direct debit of €49.80. A technique used to discreetly empty victims' bank accounts. For the first three days after signing up for the bogus subscription, their bank account was debited directly. The same amount would then be debited every month, and would continue to be debited until the victims realised the deception and cancelled their subscription. Of course, they will never see the colour of the new Dyson hoover they were supposed to receive in the next few days.
If you have fallen victim to this or a similar scam, it is essential to stop payment on your card with your bank as soon as possible in order to block the direct debits. To avoid other people falling into the trap, it's also a good idea to report the false advert on the website internet-signalement.gouv.fr.
Secure your transactions between private individuals with Obvy
Be very careful of offers that seem too tempting, because they are common and scammers often use this technique to trick you. Never rely on the number of likes or shares under the publication, as this will encourage you to fall for the scam. Instead, refer to the site's legal notice to check that everything is in order and that it is not a fraudulent site.
What's more, it's a good idea to secure your payments between individuals using a secure payment method such as Obvy, which acts as a trusted third party for your transactions by hand or by delivery. This payment system was created to counter online scams, thanks to the money that is secured in the Obvy safe and released once the transaction between the seller and the buyer has been validated after receipt of the parcel.