Shortly after opening Vinted Pro – which allows sellers to operate as sole traders – Vinted was forced to close the upgrade function after the National Insurance details of hundreds of users was made public
The sensitive data of hundreds of Vinted vendors has been exposed on the second-hand selling site.
Shortly after opening its new professional selling platform, new members were banned from signing up, after some users’ had their National insurance numbers listed on their profile.
Vinted Pro was launched last week which allowed them to register as sole traders. But the profiles were listed with the NI number, meaning they were left vulnerable to potential fraud.
Fraudsters have ways of using your NI number to commit identity fraud, which is why HMRC advised Brits against sharing it with anyone.
A probe into the breach has been launched, with the Independent Commissioner’s Office investigating what happened after being alerted by several vendors.
A spokesperson for the ICO told The Sun: “We can confirm that we have been contacted regarding Vinted and are currently assessing the information provided.”
Users are temporarily unable to upgrade their account to Vinted Pro while the company fixes the issue.
A spokesperson reportedly said: “For a small number of Vinted Pro members, their NI number was visible on their profile page. While our teams were working on fixing the issue completely, we temporarily halted the ability to upgrade accounts to Vinted Pro. We apologise to anyone that was affected and encourage members who have questions to reach out to our member support team.”
Despite the apology, several enraged users took to social media to vent their anger over the blunder.
One wrote on Reddit: “An absolute disaster – I am currently going through the same issue here, so I had to Holiday Mode my shop until I hear back from them, which could be quite a lot of lost revenue judging the amount of time they take to get back to me.”
Another chimed in: “I’ve deleted my account because of this, I hope they have reported themselves to ICO? It’s quite serious!” However, dozens of members have taken to social media to express their fury over what happened.
One angry Vinted user posted on forum Reddit: “An absolute disaster – I am currently going through the same issue here, so I had to Holiday Mode my shop until I hear back from them, which could be quite a lot of lost revenue judging the amount of time they take to get back to me.”
Another added: “I’ve deleted my account because of this, I hope they have reported themselves to ICO? It’s quite serious!”
Another furious user who spoke with The Sun said he is a huge Vinted seller and has already earned £25,000 through the site this year, but is now planning to switch to eBay. They have messed up big time with Vinted Pro, I have emailed their CEO and will be ringing the ICO,” he said.
Earlier this month, a thrifty woman revealed how to rake in some serious cash on Vinted using a few clever tricks. For those with wardrobes brimming with unworn fashion, selling online can be an efficient solution. While eBay, Depop, and Facebook Marketplace have dominated the online marketplace for shedding second-hand wears, Vinted has now surged as a front-runner for selling off unwanted items.
Top sellers often divulge their secrets for success, and Robyn Mort, an HR worker moonlighting as a ‘side hustler,’ aims to bag £10,000. Savvy Robyn clocked Vinted could help her make extra cash. She made £1,528.01 through the app and credits specific strategies for her swift sales.
On her TikTok channel, @budgetingrobyn, Robyn shared: “I’ve made £1,500 on Vinted since last year and there are definitely tips you need to know to do well on there and to get quick sales.”
She argued for regular uploads to catch buyers’ eyes stating: “If you have 30 items to put on Vinted, do not upload them all at once. Upload five every day consistently. I don’t know why, but it boosts the algorithm on Vinted and more people end up seeing your items.”
Robyn added: “I take all of my pictures, I leave them on my phone, I do five a day and it’s super easy to do.”
