Vinted scams that target sellers, and how to avoid them

Updated 19 October 2026 · 5 min read

Most Vinted scam stories are about buyers, but sellers get targeted too, and the tricks are predictable. Almost all of them try one of two things: get you off Vinted, or get a refund for an item they keep. Here are the ones to know, with the rules from Vinted’s help centre, read in October 2026.

The scams aimed at sellers

• “Confirm your sale to get paid.” An email, text or chat message says a buyer has paid and links to a page where you “confirm” the sale or enter your card details. It’s phishing. Vinted says you never need to leave the site to confirm a payment, and its UK emails only come from an address ending in @vinted.co.uk.
• “Let’s continue on WhatsApp” or “send me your email”. The buyer wants to move the chat off Vinted, where the fake links and payment requests follow.
• Paying outside Vinted. A bank transfer, a payment app or “I’ll pay cash with the courier”. Nothing paid outside the Buy now button is protected, and pushing buyers to pay outside Vinted can get your own account blocked.
• A QR code to scan. Vinted lists QR codes in messages among the ways phishing arrives.
• Fake damage photos. The buyer receives your item, then reports stains or holes with photos that were edited or made with AI, hoping for a refund without sending anything back. The OECD logged this as an AI incident on Vinted and other shops in 2026.
• The swapped return. The buyer claims a problem, you ask for the item back, and what arrives is an older copy, a different size or an empty box.
• “Your account is blocked.” A message outside the app says your account or your money is frozen, with a link to unlock it. A real block shows up when you open Vinted. Our guide to blocked accounts covers the real thing.

Red flags

• Urgency or threats: a link that “expires”, an order that will be cancelled, an account that will be blocked.
• Any link, form or QR code you need for payment. The money arrives in your Vinted balance on its own.
• A sender address or website with small differences from Vinted’s own, such as extra letters or numbers.
• Someone asking for your bank details, card number or login in a message. Unless you contacted support yourself, nobody needs them.
• Official Vinted messages come from the Vinted account with its badge, not from a member.

Habits that protect you

1. Keep everything inside Vinted: the chat, the Buy now payment and the shipping.
2. Ship only after the sale shows in the app, to the address and with the label from that order.
3. Photograph the item and the packed parcel before you send it. Vinted names these photos as useful evidence if damage is claimed.
4. Keep the proof of postage until the sale is completed.
5. List flaws honestly, with close-ups. A stain you showed can’t be claimed as a new one.
6. Turn on two-step verification and use a password you don’t use anywhere else.

When a buyer reports a problem

Don’t refund out of panic. The order is suspended and the money waits. If the claim looks wrong, compare their photos with yours, and ask for the item back instead of refunding while they keep it. You have 14 days from the suspension to dispute a claim, with your listing photos, packing photos and proof of postage. When a return arrives, check it within 2 days: after that the refund goes out automatically. Our guide to returns and refunds has every step.

If you’ve already been caught

• Report it to Vinted with Contact us, with screenshots and the member’s username. Forward phishing emails to phishing@vinted.com.
• If you typed in card details, call your bank, freeze the card and ask whether the payment can be reversed.
• Change your Vinted password and any account that used the same one, and turn on two-step verification.
• If money left your account, report it to the police.

Your photos are your evidence

In almost every seller scam, the dispute comes down to what the item looked like when it left your hands. Clear daylight photos of the real item, flaws included, are what Vinted compares a claim against. If you add a worn photo made with AI, keep your own photos in the listing too. Vintsee makes the worn photo from your own photo and keeps the colour, print, logos and wear the same, so it matches what the buyer receives.