Has AI ruined Vinted too? Not only refund scams, but also fake listings

The success of Vinted may also be due to its more human side. Messaging sellers, haggling over prices, leaving positive (or negative) reviews: these are all dynamics that over the years have helped build a genuine community, even becoming material for memes and social media videos. Unlike competitors such as eBay or Vestiaire Collective, dialogue between the two parties has always been one of the central elements of the digital marketplace the platform has built. Yet today, this very human element seems to be increasingly at risk, partly due to the spread of new scams fuelled by artificial intelligence. We're not just talking about AI-generated listings, but also buyers who edit images of received products to simulate non-existent damage and obtain a refund. But how widespread is this phenomenon?

Ghost shops have already arrived on Vinted

In recent days the topic has returned to the spotlight following an investigation published by the fact-checking website Science Feedback. By browsing Vinted's recommended listings section for just a few minutes, the researchers identified sixteen different suspicious profiles, almost all based in France. Many told the same story, claiming to be run by a brother and sister duo to justify selling both men's and women's clothing simultaneously. The most curious detail, however, was something else entirely: the listed products matched items available on Shein and Temu at roughly half the price.

According to the investigation, the scheme is made even simpler by the existence of AI-based services that allow sellers to transform product photos taken from any e-commerce site into realistic images of a person wearing them. In practice, the seller can create an entire virtual shop without owning a single item, only purchasing the original product after receiving an order. A kind of Dropshipping 2.0 that further lowers the barrier to entry for those looking to set up fraudulent operations.

The new scam involves AI-edited photos

The problem, however, doesn't only affect sellers. As reported by the Corriere della Sera, reports are also growing of a new scam in which buyers are the perpetrators. After receiving a perfectly intact product, some users are allegedly using artificial intelligence tools to add cracks, scratches or other defects to photographs of the purchased item. The images are then sent to customer support as evidence of damage that never existed, in an attempt to obtain a refund and, in some cases, keep the product as well.

The believability of these images is one of the main issues. Generative AI tools have now reached a level of realism that makes it difficult to distinguish a genuine defect from an artificial one, both for automated systems and for human operators. Various cases are already circulating online, particularly on Reddit and in forums dedicated to the platform, while Altroconsumo has also collected reports from sellers flagging suspicious disputes and repeat behaviour by certain buyers.

Is artificial intelligence ruining the second-hand market?

What remains to be seen is just how widespread these phenomena truly are and how much they could affect the platform's future. Last April we reported how Vinted had reached a valuation of 8 billion euros through a secondary transaction led by Swedish fund EQT Growth, with shares sold for a value of 880 million euros. A milestone that confirms the Lithuanian marketplace's golden moment and the growing centrality of second-hand goods in the European economy.

If, however, the proliferation of AI-generated listings and fraudulent disputes were to increase, Vinted could find itself facing a challenge far greater than a handful of isolated scams. Trust is the true capital of a peer-to-peer buying and selling platform, and if users were to begin perceiving it as an unsafe environment, the consequences could be felt not only in its reputation, but also in its economic growth and the company's overall value.