Across France and Germany, a wave of viral social media posts has alleged that child traffickers are using the second-hand marketplace Vinted to sell children through coded advertisements. The claims, amplified by TikTok videos, Reddit threads, and unverified screenshots, have prompted official investigations — but so far, concrete evidence remains elusive.
Vinted, founded in Lithuania, has become a dominant player in European online resale, particularly in France where it has overtaken Amazon as the leading clothing retailer. The allegations suggest that traffickers disguise children as ordinary products, using inflated prices and coded descriptions to signal availability. One French TikTok creator posted a video, liked over 900,000 times, showing a screenshot of a plush toy listed for €30,000 with a note that the buyer must collect it in person. “These are the coded listings they use,” the creator claimed. Similar videos in German and English have accumulated millions of views.
Investigations and a Lack of Hard Evidence
Euronews' fact-checking team, The Cube, could not find active listings matching the screenshots circulating online. During their own search, they discovered three unusual listings — including a “Blue stuffed animal” with a picture of a cloth, priced at $1,575 and described as “2yo”, “Healthy”, and “Blonde” — which were removed within ten minutes. The sellers did not respond to inquiries.
French newspaper 20 Minutes conducted its own probe, inquiring about an air conditioning remote control listed for €20,000. When the journalist asked for the item's gender, the seller replied “girl” and suggested moving to an encrypted messaging app. The next day, the outlet updated its story: the seller was 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,” inspired by another viral video.
Germany's Hessian State Criminal Police Office (HLKA) told The Cube it continues to assess public reports but has found “no reliable evidence” linking the listings to child or human trafficking. Many reported listings appear fake, and previous allegations on classified platforms have not been substantiated. Reports have increased since 23 June, following the spread of the claims on TikTok and Reddit, where users encouraged each other to “catch” paedophiles.
France's Interior Ministry confirmed that prosecutors in Nanterre have opened a preliminary investigation. The country's High Commissioner for Childhood, Sarah El Haïry, referred the matter to Arcom, the digital regulator. “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 wrote on X. The opening of an investigation does not imply wrongdoing.
Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt noted that while it is technically possible to advertise anything on a marketplace, running a child trafficking operation through a mainstream platform like Vinted would be “logistically” difficult due to stronger moderation compared to anonymous services.
Platform Response and Broader Context
Vinted told The Cube it had “thoroughly investigated” the listings and found “no credible cases linking them to child trafficking activity.” The company is cooperating with authorities and removing listings deliberately created to fuel claims. It has also seen an increase in harassment directed at sellers of expensive items, as well as users creating fake listings to “catch” suspects or threatening to report sellers 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 said.
Some users have reported similar experiences. One Reddit user who sells collectable plush toys said they had been “bombarded with messages” after listing rare, high-value items. Both police and Vinted have urged the public not to spread unverified claims, warning that fake listings and speculation can hinder proper assessment.
These allegations are not new. Similar claims circulated in France in 2023, when TikTok videos alleged children were being sold through coded Vinted listings. They were challenged by fact-checkers then as well. The current wave underscores the tension between genuine concern for child safety and the risks of viral misinformation. As the EU debates new rules on child safety online — including the proposed message scanning law that has faced deadlock — the Vinted case highlights the difficulty of balancing vigilance with due process.
