Two different messages end in the same place.
On Messenger: My bank limit ran out, can you send me a BLIK code? I’ll pay you back tonight.
On WhatsApp, after an ad: I’ve paid, please confirm the payment at this link, the courier is waiting.
Both times someone wants a secret from you: a code, a password, or approval in the banking app. The reason sounds ordinary. There is supposed to be little time. Saying no is meant to look like a lack of trust, or like getting in the way of a sale.
Three things that repeat
The words change, but these three parts are almost always there:
- A new place to talk. Messenger from a taken-over account, WhatsApp instead of the ad, a text from an unknown number.
- A rush. “Within 10 minutes”, “the courier is on the way”, “I can’t talk right now”.
- A secret at the end. A BLIK code, a text-message code, a bank login, approval in the app.
When you see all three, stop. You do not have to know straight away whether it is a scam. It is enough not to send the code before you check.
How to check without an argument
A call to a number you already had checks the person. It does not judge them. You can say it plainly:
I always call before I send a code. Give me a minute.
A real friend will understand. A scammer will start explaining why they cannot pick up.
For an ad, the check is the ad itself. Open OLX or Marketplace the way you usually do — through the app, or by typing the address yourself. Not through the link in the message. If the payment is there, you will see it. If it is not, the WhatsApp link changes nothing.
What helps once something has gone out
You can set a limit on BLIK codes, and a notification for every payment, in your own banking app. They help when the first code has already gone, because the second will not go through, or you will see it at once. They do not replace a call to the person who is supposed to be asking.
A message from a friend and a payment link describe the two cases separately, with example conversations. The lists: the friend, the payment page, when the code has already gone.