![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/38151794-145b-4612-bce0-ee567c77912c.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen Mike Winnet accepted a \u00a370 offer for an unsued Lacoste hoodie and shorts set on the resale app Vinted, he thought it was another ordinary sale. Little did he know that he was about to become a victim of a new AI scam.<\/p>\n
The buyer claimed that the item was damaged, submitting a single close-up photo of what looked like a hole in the fabric. The problem, Winnet said, was that the image wasn\u2019t of his clothes at all. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks AI-generated, and my item was in perfect condition,\u201d he said. \u201cThe material looked off and the photo looked fake. But Vinted refunded the buyer instantly, without asking for more proof, and they didn\u2019t make him return the goods.\u201d<\/p>\n
The buyer promptly blocked Winnet and deleted his account. \u201cNow he has a brand new Lacoste co-ord and his money back,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s theft \u2014 and Vinted\u2019s processes are allowing it to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnet, 41, who runs a marketing business, was out of pocket despite nearly a month of back-and-forth with Vinted. After The Times contacted the company for comment, Vinted refunded him.<\/p>\n
Winnet posted his experience on LinkedIn this month and had nearly 700 comments from others sharing similar experiences. <\/p>\n
How does the scam work?<\/p>\n
The fraud hinges on creating fake images of flaws on clothing \u2014 tears, stains, holes \u2014 which are convincing enough to pass Vinted\u2019s buyer-protection checks. Sellers have said the platform often sides with buyers, refunding them on the strength of a single photo while letting them keep the goods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The images used are often close-up photos, making it hard to tell if they are of the correct item<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s worse now than it\u2019s ever been,\u201d said Winnet, who has sold about 50 to 60 higher-end items on the app over the past two years. <\/p>\n
Martyn James, a consumer campaigner, said: \u201cWell over half the complaints I hear about Vinted come from sellers who feel that some unscrupulous customers and fraudsters are gaming the system to get refunds.<\/p>\n
\u201cRefunds should not be given unless items are returned. Sellers should always be given a chance to prove that the item was as described \u2014 which is so easy to do, because there will be photos from before the sale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 I warned Amazon about a scammer \u2014 then it sent them my \u00a310,000<\/a><\/p>\n Scammers on Airbnb too<\/p>\n The problem is not limited to fashion resale. In August The Guardian reported that a London-based academic was accused by an Airbnb host in New York of causing more than \u00a312,000 worth of damage, including allegedly cracking a coffee table, staining a mattress and breaking appliances. <\/p>\n The host supplied photographs that the guest said had been digitally manipulated, pointing to inconsistencies between images of the same table. Despite her appeals and testimony from someone who had been with her at checkout, Airbnb initially ruled against the guest and ordered her to pay the host \u00a35,314. <\/p>\n After she challenged the decision, and five days after The Guardian contacted Airbnb, the lettings platform credited her account with \u00a3500, later offered her \u00a3854, and finally refunded her the full cost of her booking \u2014 almost \u00a34,300 \u2014 while also removing the negative review that the host had left on her profile. <\/p>\n