Scams That Target Sellers on OLX and Allegro Lokalnie

Why scammers go after sellers

Every listing tells strangers you're waiting for money, so a message saying "payment is waiting" is what you want to hear. A notice from the Giżycko police and a May 2026 warning from CERT Orange Polska both describe "buyers" writing very soon after a listing goes up.

The script also copies a real service. OLX delivery really does use prepayment and a courier, so a fake courier page doesn't look strange to a new seller. OLX's safety guidance says requests to ship abroad usually come in machine-translated messages. If you write in English yourself, broken Polish won't stand out, so watch for the request instead.

Decision rule: if a message sends you outside the marketplace to receive money, treat it as a scam until the order shows inside the app.

The "courier will collect, click to receive payment" script

The police and CERT Orange describe the same steps:

1. A "buyer" writes quickly, often on WhatsApp, and wants the item straight away.
2. They say they've paid and that their courier will collect, and even pack, the item.
3. They ask for your address, and sometimes your email.
4. A "payment confirmation" arrives by email, SMS or chat, with a link.
5. The link opens a page that looks like a courier, OLX or your bank, and asks for card details or your bank login.

In the Giżycko case, the police say the link imitated InPost and the seller lost nearly 10,000 zł. The notice shows no date. In CERT Orange's example, the "OLX" email came from zh-cns-ninegame[.]com and the bank page copied mBank on a .top domain. CERT Orange notes that no genuine procedure makes you log in to your bank to receive money.

Look-alike Allegro Lokalnie domains

On Allegro Lokalnie, the link can arrive through the marketplace's own messages. In December 2021, Sekurak described fake buyers sending sellers a "sales confirmation" link. It led to allegrolokalnie[.]id798234[.]space, a page asking for payment or login details.

How to read any link:

• Find the text between https:// and the first /.
• Read it from the right. The real site ends in allegrolokalnie.pl, with nothing after it.
• allegrolokalnie.pl.something and allegrolokalnie.something.space are other people's sites.

Allegro's safe-selling help page says you don't need additional links from people interested in a sale. A buyer who sends one has already failed that test.

Moving the chat to WhatsApp or SMS

OLX's 2020 phishing post asks you to keep the conversation in OLX chat, because "only here can we help you". It also tells you to:

• ignore links sent from outside OLX messaging;
• refuse early requests for your email or phone number;
• expect scammers to pose as OLX, banks or payment operators.

Allegro keeps the Allegro Lokalnie chat record for up to 12 months and screens messages for suspicious content. That record is your evidence if something goes wrong. A WhatsApp thread leaves the marketplace nothing to check.

If a buyer insists on WhatsApp, reply in marketplace chat that you only deal there.

How genuine OLX payouts work

With OLX delivery, the buyer prepays through Płatności OLX and pays the Pakiet Ochronny fee on top of the item price. At no point are you asked to send money or card details to get your payout.

Compare that with what the scam claims:

OLX doesn't publish how long the bank transfer takes after it orders the payout, so a slow transfer on its own doesn't mean a scam. An offer to "speed it up" through a link does. Claims, returns and your 120 hours to respond are covered in OLX delivery and Pakiet Ochronny for sellers. Listing rules are in reselling on OLX.pl.

How Allegro buyer protection works

Allegro Ochrona Kupujących (buyer protection) covers Kup teraz (buy now) and auction purchases on Allegro Lokalnie. On Allegro Lokalnie, a buyer can file a non-delivery claim once 14 days have passed. On allegro.pl, the wait is 7 days after opening a discussion with the seller. Allegro's page says compensation isn't always 100% of the amount. A seller at fault can have the account suspended and may have to repay Allegro.

The seller rule comes from Allegro's safe-selling page: don't send the order until the buyer's payment shows in the tab on Allegro or Allegro Lokalnie. A screenshot, a "bank confirmation" email or a link is not a payment.

Account types and fees are covered in selling on Allegro Lokalnie.

What to do if you clicked a link

What matters is what you typed. Go through the list in order:

• Entered card or bank details: call your bank on the number from its official site or your card, block the card, change banking passwords
• Entered your OLX or Allegro password: change it in the official app, not through any link
• Report to OLX: listing ID and URL, the buyer's username, any bank account number given, and contacts used outside OLX
• Report on Allegro: contact form with the sender's login and the link, or [email protected]
• Forward the scam SMS unedited to 8080 (CERT Polska): free within Poland, up to 3 messages per number in 4 hours
• Report a fake website or email at incydent.cert.pl or [email protected]
• File a police report and keep screenshots of the chat, the link and any transfer

If the problem was a fake item rather than a fake payment, that's a buying risk. See how to spot fakes and replica listings.

A seller safety checklist

Before you accept any sale on OLX or Allegro Lokalnie:

• The conversation is in OLX chat or Allegro Lokalnie messages, not WhatsApp, SMS or email
• You haven't opened any link sent by the buyer
• OLX delivery: the order shows in your OLX account before you pack
• Allegro Lokalnie: the payment shows in the Allegro tab before you ship
• Nobody has your card number, CVV or bank login
• Cash pickup: the money is in your hand before the item leaves it
• A request to ship abroad or "verify" with a small transfer: decline

For marketplaces, tax reporting and daily selling in Poland, see reselling in Poland. If you're just starting out, how to start reselling covers the first steps across Europe.