Marktplaats teams up with police, banks to fight payment fraud

Marktplaats teamed up with the police and banks in the fight against payment fraud. From now on the online market place will warn users if they are sent to an unknown or unofficial payment page, the police announced on its website.

The police noticed an increase in reports of scams via payment requests. "Fraudsters try to lead victims to a site via Marktplaats that looks like a well-known payment page", the police explained. "People trust that and enter their login details to transfer an amount. Behind the scenes, however, the scammer can view what the victim types in on that page. They then use that information to log into the victim's bank account and withdraw money."

Marktplaats therefore decided to implement an extra measure to combat this type of phishing. "Marktplaats checks the website address that a seller sends to a buyer", a Marktplaats spokesperson explained. "If that is the right address for a payment environment of a well-known bank, you will be forwarded right away. If it is a different address, Marktplaats will give you a warning that you should pay attention and that you may be dealing with a phishing site."

A Marktplaats spokesperson told NU.nl that this measure is mainly about informing its users about this type of scam. "But we are also continuing to work on technical measures to combat fraud", the spokesperson said to the newspaper.