Belgian Man Loses €3,400 in Online Nintendo Switch Scam, Petitions to Shut Down Marketplace

"The transaction did not go through, so I tried again myself without more success," says Azziz Boutkabout, whose wife had just been the victim of a scam. She came across an offer posted on the site 2ememain.be last Friday. After negotiations with the seller, she receives a link to make the purchase, reports Het Laatste Nieuws. The only problem: she ends up on a fake payment platform and enters her bank details, including her secret code.

Another attempt at the operation failed. The couple checks their account on Monday and realizes that 400 euros have disappeared from their account. "Using my details, they then transferred an additional 3,000 euros from a bank account that I manage for a third party," Azziz confides.

The couple filed a complaint with the police. Evelyn Tiebos, spokeswoman for the Voorkempen local police, confirms that "a report has been drawn up", and that it is ’phishing’, a well-known and widespread fraud technique on online sales sites. "While the investigation is ongoing, Azziz Boutkabout has launched a petition for "the site to be taken offline, until users have sufficient security guarantees."

"Azziz is not the first victim. Other online marketplaces and social media are also affected by ’phishing’. We are fighting this fraud technique and taking many measures. But if we communicate too openly about it, cybercriminals are made aware of our arrangements and we lose our lead," defends Aleksandra Vidanovski, press officer for the 2ememain.be site.