One woman recently learnt a costly lesson after putting her designer handbag up for sale.

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, 28-year-old Lu shared that she listed her Louis Vuitton bag for $3,400 on Carousell on June 21.

She shared another user, who claimed to be interested in buying the bag, messaged her on the e-commerce platform.

"He said that he wanted to buy for his mother," Lu said. "So he asked if I could email him photos of the bag."

Lu shared that the man told her that he had transferred the money through CarouPay and to check her email inbox for the receipt.

"I didn't set up CarouPay and I didn't know the process of doing so," the woman said. "But I trusted the buyer and I thought I received an email from Carousell."

After clicking on a "confirm transaction" button in the email, Lu said that she was directed to what looked like the Carousell webpage.

The webpage stated that the buyer had paid for the item, and provided instructions for the seller to complete the transaction.

But after Lu did so with her banking details, she received notifications from the bank that $9,900 had been remitted abroad.

The woman immediately contacted the bank to freeze her account, which prevented the scammers from making a third unauthorised transaction.

"I found out that such scams have been rampant in Malaysia for some time," Lu said.

After lodging a police report, the police told her that the money could not be recovered since it was remitted to a foreign bank account.

While Lu shared that she cried a lot after this incident, things took a turn for the better.

The bank later reimbursed the full amount to her, which the woman admitted was a surprise to her.

"Hopefully my experience will serve as a warning to others," Lu said.

Sharing a police advisory on its website, Carousell advised users to be wary of buyers asking for an email address or phone number on the pretext that these details are required for them to make an order.

To prevent being caught in phishing scams, the company advised sellers to verify the buyer's profile on online marketplaces by checking the account's verification status, creation date, reviews, and ratings.

Users should not click on dubious links and disclose personal or banking details to anyone, and always verify the information directly with Carousell when in doubt.

"Carousell will never ask for payment, order confirmation, or card details via external sites or email," the company said.

ALSO READ: Victims lose nearly $180k to fake buyers on Carousell and Facebook

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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