What's behind the viral claims of child trafficking on Vinted?

A remote control listed for €20,000 and a toy priced far above its value. Ages outlined in product descriptions. For social media users in France and Germany, claims that children are being sold on Vinted have gone viral.

The Lithuanian-founded online second-hand marketplace has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly in France, where it has surpassed Amazon as the country's leading clothing retailer.

The allegations, driven largely by TikTok videos, Reddit threads and unverified screenshots of unusual listings, claim that traffickers are disguising children as ordinary products sold on the app, using inflated prices and coded descriptions.

One French content creator posted a TikTok video that has been liked more than 900,000 times, pointing to a screenshot claiming to sell a plush toy for €30,000.

“And once again, the buyer has to collect it in person. It's happening right in front of us," the TikToker says in the video. "These are the coded listings they use: they'll post an ordinary item at an outrageously high price, then hide small clues in the description to show if it's a boy or a girl, their weight, et cetera."

Another French TikTok user said he posted a fake listing for a toy car priced at €30,000, and received numerous suspicious questions about the listing.

Similar videos have been posted in German and English, accumulating millions of views on TikTok.

The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking team, could not find evidence that the screenshots posted in the videos were still active on the Vinted app.

During our own search of the platform, we found three similarly unusual listings. In one, described as a "Blue stuffed animal", there was an attached picture of a piece of blue cloth. The price is listed as $1,575 and contains descriptors such as "2yo", "Healthy" and "Blonde".

Both were taken down within 10 minutes of discovery. The Cube contacted the sellers, but received no response.

Despite the virality of these claims, the evidence gathered by outlets, police and the platform so far points to a more complicated picture, and a lack of evidence.

Online sleuths and an uptick in reports

French newspaper 20 Minutes published its own investigation into the matter, in which it described enquiring about an air conditioning remote control, listed at €20,000.

When the journalist asked the seller for the control's gender, the seller replied with "girl", before offering to switch to an encrypted messaging service off the Vinted platform.

The next day, the outlet updated the story explaining that the person behind the listing was in fact a 17-year-old high school student who posted the listing "for a laugh" and to "make a little money off the backs of paedophiles", according to 20 Minutes.

He was inspired by another viral video in which a user said he also posted an ad to try to catch paedophiles.

The explosion of reported listings has prompted responses from authorities in France and Germany.

Germany's Hessian State Criminal Police Office (HLKA) told The Cube it was continuing to assess reports submitted by the public, but that there is currently no reliable evidence linking the listings to child or human trafficking.

Police said that many of the listings reported to police appear to be fake, while previous allegations involving online classified advertising platforms had not been substantiated, and not all screenshots circulating on social media have been verified as authentic Vinted listings.

Reports linked to the claims have increased nationwide since 23 June, police said, following the spread of the allegations on TikTok and Reddit, and users encouraging one another to "catch" paedophiles.

France's Interior Ministry confirmed to us that French prosecutors in Nanterre have also opened a preliminary investigation into the case, with the country's High Commissioner for Childhood, Sarah El Haïry, telling outlets she referred the matter to Arcom, the country's digital regulator.

The opening of an investigation does not imply there is any wrongdoing.

"You can never be too careful: I would rather adhere to a strict precautionary principle than see even one child left at the mercy of their tormentors," she said in a post on X.

Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt told The Cube that while it would be technically possible to advertise anything on an online marketplace, running a child trafficking operation through a mainstream platform such as Vinted would be "logistically" difficult, because mainstream platforms have much stronger moderation than more anonymous services.

Fake listings fuelling claims

Vinted told us it had "thoroughly investigated" the listings circulating online and found "no credible cases linking them to child trafficking activity."

The company said it was cooperating with authorities while they conduct their own investigation and that listings deliberately created to fuel claims are being removed.

Vinted also said it has seen an increase in harassment directed at sellers of expensive items, as well as users creating fake listings intended to "catch" suspected offenders or contacting sellers while posing as buyers and threatening to report them to police.

"This kind of behaviour amounts to harassment, makes it harder for us to moderate the platform effectively, and can interfere with genuine investigations, putting members at risk," a spokesperson for the company said.

Some users have reported similar experiences online, with one Reddit user who sells collectable plush toys saying they had been "bombarded with messages" after listing rare, high-value items.

Both police and Vinted have urged users not to spread unverified claims, warning that fake listings and speculation can make it more difficult to assess reports properly.

Such allegations against online platforms are not new.

Similar claims circulated widely in France in 2023, when TikTok videos alleged that children were being sold through coded Vinted listings.

They were challenged by fact-checkers and described by the France-based organisation Conspiracy Watch as a conspiracy theory.

These rumours, according to a podcast by the organisation, were reminiscent of a conspiracy theory surrounding the US furniture store website Wayfair.

At the time, some accused the store of listing furniture with suspicious names and prices. These allegations turned out to be unfounded.