A Mercado Livre seller, a criminal action resulting in the loss of almost 300 thousand BRL. After stealing the seller’s account on the sales platform, the scammers advertised the PlayStation 5 for R$2,500 and sold dozens.
According to SlopeThe victim, who chose not to be identified, has been using Mercado Livre for two years to sell leather goods, not electronics. And while criminals demanded advances, they were able to withdraw money on every payment made by people who thought they were buying cheap video games.
In terms of giving an idea, according to the price comparison tool Zoom, the lowest value of a PS5 in the last 6 months was R$3,986. Currently, the lowest price of the product in Brazilian online stores is R$4,649 (cash payment).
The crime with the Mercado Livre seller was committed at the end of last year, and the false PS5 announcement was live from 10pm on December 30th to around 2pm on December 31st.
It is not known how many purchases were made, but it was possible to calculate the value of R$300,000 obtained by the scammers if they were only on sale. 120 console units were sold for R$2,500.
The incident was resolved yesterday (05) after making an impact on social networks. Adding to the headache, the victim said she has suffered losses from suppliers as one of the suppliers stopped receiving R$9,000 on 29 of them.
modus operandi your blow
The case is still being investigated, but the Mercado Livre seller is likely Victim of SIM Swap scam. In it, scammers, for example, clone the number of victims and manage to gain access to messages and calls. The data is sufficient to change the passwords of banks, social networks, emails and accounts such as Mercado Livre.
The criminals used the seller’s cloned number to change the address, payment method, and other details on the Vivo operator used by the victim. After the changes made on the 29th, the seller continued to receive notifications of a R$1,400 transaction at Mercado Livre.
Mercado Livre even asked the sales site to suspend the account as it took several hours to analyze orders. Meanwhile, scammers have probably advertised and sold over a hundred PS5s.
“When I regained access to the account, I told Mercado Livre, who noticed the video game fraud. But they refunded the buyers. The debt [de R$ 300 mil] stayed for me I’m in a situation where I don’t know what to do”, Mercado Livre reported before closing the debt.
“There’s a feeling that everything we’ve built in recent years has been destroyed, wasted,” the victim’s wife added.
Other side
Alive
In a note sent Slope, Vivo reported that it will initiate an administrative process to verify what happened. The operator has repeatedly argued that it has invested in anti-fraud technologies to protect customers.
The company also reinforces that it maintains a page on its website where guidance and procedures regarding fraud are clarified in order to warn internet and digital service users against fraud attempts that may occur in the digital environment.
free market
Mercado Livre also reported in a note that it launched an investigation as soon as he activated the platform, saying that the merchant had cloned his mobile number and his data had been stolen.
“Following signs of third-party fraud, the company moved quickly to assist the user in recovering their account blocked by security. In addition, the company has informed the user that as a favor, it has reduced the entire debt incurred as a result of the fraud,” the statement said.
The e-commerce site, arguing that it invests in digital security, recommended that customers never share their personal data and that they “activate service channels as soon as possible to take security measures” in case the data is exposed.
Source: Tec Mundo
