Ophélie Artaud with AFP 14:38 pm, March 25, 2023

A few days ago, the accounts of hundreds of French users of the Vinted platform were hacked by hackers, and their electronic wallets stolen. If the platform has since announced that it has "mastered" the problem, how to know its account has been affected? And above all, what to do if you are concerned?

Money pools stolen, RIB changed, accounts blocked... For several days, many users of the second-hand sales platform Vinted have discovered that the money they had on their kitty had disappeared. On Thursday, Le Parisien revealed that the electronic wallets of hundreds of users had been siphoned off by hackers. But what if you've been hacked?

Money embezzled thanks to a change of RIB

While some users received an email or SMS telling them that changes to their contact information were in progress, others could not even have known that their kitty was being stolen. The method used is quite classic: the hackers managed to modify the details of the victims and simply modified the RIB, to divert the money to their accounts, located in Germany, Luxembourg or Ireland, according to Le Parisien.

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"The login information used (logins, passwords...) were obtained from data consulted elsewhere outside the platform and not related to Vinted," the platform said Friday. "In addition, we can confirm that credit card details are not visible in full when accessing the account," she added. Vinted also blocked victims' accounts at the time the "fraudulent accesses were discovered".

On Friday, the platform also claimed to have "mastered" the problem, while ensuring that victims "will be eligible for compensation in case of money lost on their Vinted wallet".

What can I do to be compensated or to protect myself?

With Vinted having 23 million users in France, how do you know if your account has been affected? The first thing to do is of course to check that the amount that was on it is still the same and that the bank details have not been changed. If the pot is filled, it is also preferable to empty it, and also avoid keeping too much on it. And as with any site, do not hesitate to regularly change your password, and put a complex to find.

For its part, Vinted announced that it had directly contacted the people affected by the hack, but if this is not the case, it is possible to reach the platform directly.