Latest Scam Alerts

Scammers Impersonating Buyers on Online Auction Platform
2024-11-29



Defrauding Tricks

Posing as buyers on Carousell, scammers claimed that payment was secure on the platform.  Scammers said that if sellers had never accepted goods payments through the platform, they had to provide their email addresses beforehand and submit their information according to instructions.  Since the sellers weren’t familiar with the platform’s functions, they provided their email addresses.  Some of them even provided scammers with their phone numbers.

 

Later, sellers received fraudulent emails saying that buyers had made payments and asking sellers to click on “continue” hyperlinks to submit information and receive the payments.  In reality, the hyperlink was a link to a fraudulent Carousell website.  Scammers taught sellers to input their personal information, online banking usernames and passwords, and one-time passwords into the website.  Scammers told them not to log on to their mobile banking apps, but to receive the said one-time passwords by just selecting “receive SMSs” on the transaction web page.

 

In this way, sellers’ bank accounts were completely controlled by scammers.

 

After sellers completed the above procedures and thought that they would receive goods payments, scammers withdrew all of the sellers’ bank deposits.

 

How Carousell Ensures the Platform’s Security

Seller Protection

As a seller, you are absolutely not required to leave Carousell’s auction platform, send your email address or mobile phone number to receive payments.  If someone asks you to enter your credit card/debit card details in order to receive payments, please stop the operation and report to the official website immediately.

 

Genuine Carousell’s URLs:

  • carousell[.]com
  • carousell[.]sg
  • carousell[.]com[.]hk
  • id[.]carousell[.]com
  • carousell[.]com[.]my
  • carousell[.]ph
  • tw[.]carousell[.]com
  • carousell[.]app[.]link
  • carousellluxury[.]com

 

Remember!  Even a website’s URL contains the word “carousell”, it doesn’t mean that it’s a genuine website.  Don’t be trapped!  Phishing websites may use URLs containing the word “carousell” or similar words, e.g. carouseli[.]com, carouse11[.]com, caruosell[.]com, hkcaroucell[.]com and carousull-tw[.]com, but they aren’t genuine official ones.

 

For more information on how to protect yourself from phishing websites, you may consult Carousell’s official website (link).

 

Our Advice

  • Don’t log on to any suspicious websites by hastily clicking on hyperlinks embedded in emails, SMSs or web pages;

  • Don’t input your personal information, online banking usernames and passwords, or one-time passwords into unknown apps or websites;

  • For more safety tips, please check out the scam advisories on the official web page of Carousell;

  • You may enter suspicious information and URLs on “Scameter” of CyberDefender or “Scameter+”, the mobile app of “Scameter”, for security check;

  • If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries.