The rise of online scams
More and more people in Spain are falling victim to online scams, and one of the most recent and worrying is the ‘potato scam’, which has caught the attention of the National Police.
This deception has become increasingly common on second-hand buying and selling platforms such as Wallapop and Vinted, where scammers take advantage of buyers’ trust to carry out their frauds.
The modus operandi of the ‘potato fraud’
Scammers advertise electronic products at attractive prices, such as smartphones, and once the buyer completes the transaction and payment, they send a package that, instead of the promised product, contains a potato or another object of little value.
The National Police has highlighted the seriousness of this type of fraud, which has increased with the rise of electronic commerce, and has warned users about the importance of taking security measures when making online purchases.
Security recommendations
To protect yourself against ‘potato fraud’ and other similar scams, the National Police recommends buying only from trusted websites, verifying the identity of the seller before making any transaction, using secure payment methods and being on the lookout for offers that seem too good to be true.
These precautions are essential to avoid falling into scams and protect yourself in the e-commerce environment, where scammers are constantly innovating their methods to avoid detection.
