How scammers target teen buyers and sellers on Vinted, Depop, and eBay — and what to do if your child falls victim.
Marketplace Scams is fraud on buying-and-selling platforms where children are tricked into paying for goods that never arrive or handing over money or personal details.
Online resale platforms such as Vinted, Depop, and eBay are popular with teenagers as a way to make money from unwanted clothing and accessories. Scammers specifically target inexperienced teen sellers using tactics including fake overpayments, phishing messages impersonating platform support, and requests to move transactions off-platform.
Fraudsters contact sellers with an offer, then introduce a complication — an overpayment requiring a refund, a "mandatory" verification link, or a request to complete the sale via bank transfer. Once money or personal details are handed over, the scammer disappears. Victims often feel embarrassed and may delay reporting, which reduces the chance of recovery.
In your child's behaviour
On their device
Always use the platform's own payment system
Never accept bank transfers, PayPal Friends and Family, or cryptocurrency for a resale transaction. Platform-integrated payments offer buyer and seller protection; off-platform payments offer none.
Never move communication off-platform
Scammers routinely ask to move to WhatsApp, Telegram, or email. Staying within the app's messaging system provides a record and the ability to report the other party.
Verify before acting on any payment notification
Log in directly to the platform or payment app to confirm money has genuinely arrived before posting an item. Do not trust screenshots or emails as proof of payment.
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Myth: If a buyer sends a screenshot or email showing the payment has gone through, it's safe to post the item straight away.
Fact: Action Fraud's guidance on online shopping and auction fraud warns that criminals posing as buyers routinely send spoof payment confirmations, and in some cases have even shown a faked banking app in person, before the item is handed over and the promised payment never arrives. A screenshot or email is never proof of payment; the only reliable check is logging into your own bank or platform account directly to see cleared funds before you ship or hand over anything.
Myth: As long as both people seem honest, moving to a bank transfer or WhatsApp to avoid platform fees does no real harm.
Fact: This is exactly the request Action Fraud and Take Five to Stop Fraud warn sellers to refuse, because a scammer's whole plan usually depends on getting the conversation and the money off the platform, where the platform can no longer step in and there is no protected payment to trace or reclaim. Whoever suggests it and however reasonable it sounds, the safest response is to keep both the chat and the payment inside the platform's own system.
Myth: PayPal Friends and Family is just a cheaper, still-official way for a buyer to pay for goods.
Fact: PayPal's own guidance is clear that a Friends and Family payment is treated as a personal gift between people who know each other, not a payment for goods, so it carries no PayPal buyer or seller protection and no dispute process at all. This is precisely why scammers ask for it by name; a genuine buyer paying for an item should always use the platform's standard payment method instead.
At this age, any buying or selling is likely to happen on a family account or under close supervision, often clearing out old toys, clothes, or collectables. Keep control of the account's payment details yourself, and make it a fixed rule that you look at any message from a buyer or seller together before your child replies or agrees to anything. Treat a request to move outside the app, or a claim that payment has already been sent, as a signal to stop and bring it to you.
Teenagers at this age often start buying and selling more independently on apps such as Vinted or Depop, sometimes to earn spending money from unwanted clothes. Agree as a family that all payment stays within the app's own system and that they will never move a conversation to WhatsApp, text, or a bank transfer, however reasonable the other person's excuse sounds. Make clear they should come to you before posting anything if a buyer sends a screenshot or claims a payment is 'pending', since neither is proof that money has actually arrived.
Young people at this age may be selling higher-value items, running a small side hustle, or buying more regularly, which can mean larger sums are at risk. Make sure they understand that PayPal Friends and Family and bank transfers carry no protection at all, and that a payment can only be confirmed by logging into their own account or banking app, never from anything the other party sends them. If money has already gone, encourage them to contact their bank and report to Action Fraud straight away, since quick action gives the best chance of a Faster Payments recall.
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