Selling Online: 7 Rules to Protect Your Bank Account From Fake Buyers and Fake Support

You list an item for sale, and within minutes a "buyer" writes to you. They are friendly, they want to pay right away, and they send a link to "receive your money." Banks warn about this pattern again and again, because it targets the seller at the moment their guard is lowest: when they expect to get paid. This guide gives you seven simple rules that stop the most common tricks.

How the Scam Usually Works

The scammer pretends that the payment is waiting for you, but needs one more step. The step can look like this:

• A link to a page where you must "log in to your bank to receive the payment."
• A request for your card details "so the money can be sent to you."
• A code, such as a BLIK code, that is "needed to complete the transfer."
• A call or a message from "support of the sales website," who say your account must be "verified" before the buyer's money is released.
• A confirmation prompt in your banking app that you did not start, which you are asked to approve "to receive the payment."

Every one of these steps is a way to take money from you, not to give you money. Receiving a payment never requires you to approve anything, enter a code or give out card data.

The 7 Rules

1. NEVER approve a transaction that you did not order

If your banking app asks you to confirm a payment, a login or a change, and you did not start it, refuse. A buyer cannot make you "receive" money by asking you to approve something. Confirmation requests are for actions that you initiated.

2. NEVER log in to your bank through a link sent by a buyer

A real buyer has no reason to send you a link to your bank. Open your banking app, or type the address of your bank yourself. Never use a link from a chat, an SMS or an email.

3. NEVER enter your online banking login on a page opened from a received link

Even if the page looks exactly like your bank, it can be a copy. A page opened from a link is the most common way that logins are stolen. If you already typed your details on such a page, contact your bank immediately, using a number you found on its official website.

4. NEVER give your payment card details to receive money for a sold item

To receive a payment, the sender needs only your account number, never your card number, expiry date or security code. A request for card data "to receive payment" is a sign of fraud.

5. NEVER give anyone your BLIK code

A BLIK code is used to pay and to withdraw cash, not to receive money. Whoever asks for it "to send you a payment" wants to take money from your account.

6. Check the sender's email address

Scam emails often come from addresses that differ from the real one by one letter, an extra word or a different ending. A familiar display name proves nothing. Look at the full address, and do not click links in a message from an address that looks even slightly off.

7. Read the messages shown during authorization carefully

When your bank asks you to confirm an operation, the screen shows what you are approving: the type of action, the amount and often the receiver. Read it before you tap. If it says "payment" and you expected to receive money, stop. A few seconds of reading can stop the whole scam.

Signs That You Are Talking to a Scammer

• A buyer who wants to pay immediately, without asking any questions about the item.
• A request to move the chat to another app.
• A link to "receive payment," "verify your account" or "claim your money."
• A person who says they are from "the sales website support" or "the bank" and calls you about the sale.
• Pressure: "the payment will expire," "do it now."
• A story about an "overpayment" and a request to send part of the money back.

If someone calls and says they are from your bank, you can hang up and call the bank yourself. Scammers can fake the number that appears on your screen, so a familiar name or number proves nothing.

What to Do If You Already Gave Out Data

1. Call your bank immediately, using the number from its official website or app, and block your card or access.
2. Do not approve anything that is waiting in your banking app.
3. Change your passwords from a clean device.
4. Save the messages, links and numbers, and report the case to the police and to the sales website.

If the Buyer Wants to Pay in Crypto

The same logic applies. A payment is real only when it is confirmed and visible in your own wallet, not when someone shows you a screenshot or a link. See selling goods for USDT: how to protect yourself as a seller, fake payment screenshots of USDT transfers and pending USDT that never arrives.

For a wider look at similar tricks, read what a fake KYC verification scam is and crypto scam red flags.

The Bottom Line

Getting paid never requires you to log in through someone else's link, enter a code, give card details or approve something you did not order. Keep these seven rules in mind, slow down at the moment someone says "just one more step" and use only your own app and your own bank's official contact details.