Vinted "anti-bot" campaign - status update (07/28/2025)

[Clement]

Hello everyone!

As you know, Vinted launched a messaging campaign 2 weeks ago targeting users of « automated tools » and « external software. » In other words, users of « bots. »

Here is their message:

We want to give you all the information we’ve been able to gather so far thanks to the cooperation of several of you.

Our initial conclusions:

1) Clemz does not seem to be targeted by these messages
Several hundred people use Clemz every day, and if the tool were detected, we would have received a tsunami of emails and messages from our users.
The fact is that the use of Clemz (which we monitor daily) has not changed significantly: the majority of users continue to re-list, send messages, and exchange views or favorites normally.

With every Clemz bug, and often with every Vinted bug , our customer support is bombarded with messages, questions, and debugging requests (thanks Lucile! ).
This is absolutely not the case here!

In total, only 10-15 users have contacted us after receiving these messages.
Which brings us to our next point:

2) 100% of the wardrobes that received this message have, at some point, used a bot that connects remotely to their wardrobe
Accounts using Clemz have received Vinted’s warning message, and some have been banned. But each time, they were also clients of several other « bots » in addition to Clemz (which is not strictly a bot).
Some of these bots access their Vinted wardrobe remotely to perform actions without their intervention (specifically buying items, re-listing, or sending messages).

They were able to confirm the remote connection of these bots by checking their account’s login activity here: https://www.vinted.fr/settings/security/sessions
The list of connections, each time, showed sessions in foreign countries (Germany, US) or in French regions they do not frequent.

In summary:

These 2 points seem established to us: the vast majority of our users are not reporting any issues, and the 10-15 who received Vinted’s warning message have, at some point, connected their wardrobe to a bot that performs actions from a remote server.

Our opinion:

What we are almost sure of: so far, using Clemz is safe and does not carry a risk of being banned. This does not predict the future, and we cannot guarantee that it will always be the case. But right now, the risk is very low.

What is only a supposition: we believe that Vinted is able to detect Vinted wardrobes that connect to « suspicious IP addresses » used by certain bots.

Clemz does not seem to be detected because it connects via your « normal » IP and does nothing without you launching it yourself.

Conversely, if your Vinted wardrobe is connected to an automated bot on a remote server, even if you are no longer using it, the bot may continue to make connections with Vinted. And if these connections are made from a « suspicious » IP, Vinted will identify you as a potential user of automated tools…

Our advice:

1. Check your Vinted connections here: https://www.vinted.fr/settings/security/sessions
2. Delete unknown connections if necessary
3. As usual, space out your re-listings and for a few hours a day, use Vinted normally in the browser where Clemz is running: this blurs the tracks!

To keep in mind:

This information is the result of everything we’ve been able to gather from our users (Thanks to them !). We don’t claim to know or understand everything, but we’ve done our best!

Also, we cannot predict the future. Clemz could one day be detected and/or no longer usable. No guarantee is possible on that front… but you know we’ll do our utmost to push back the moment it happens

[Kayrima8489]

Hello, I apologize in advance for any errors, but French is not my language and I am using a translator.

I would like to share my experience:

I only use Clemz and have never used other bots or extensions in the past.

For about ten days, I was looking for specific products and realized that some items were often put on sale at very low prices and bought immediately. So I spent part of my free time refreshing the page of the category that interested me with the « most recent » filter.

I managed to buy two items that interested me on two different days, but other times, at checkout, I would get an error message.

Then, on Friday, I made an offer on an item, the seller accepted it, but for over two hours I couldn’t pay. The message simply said to try again later (which I did, without success).

I also received the famous message threatening a ban for bot usage, and I think this « campaign » by Vinted is mainly targeting bots used by resellers to buy the cheapest items as quickly as possible.

I have read several testimonies here and there, and while it is true that most of the people concerned use more advanced automation systems, it is also true that some people have received this message while they don’t even know what automation is, but simply spend a lot of time on the app looking for bargains.

I don’t know if this message can be useful.

I also report that, for about an hour now, there has been a bug preventing users from seeing the latest added items: if you do a search with the « most recent » filter, you will only see items posted more than an hour ago.

[fripwear]

Hello.

You say you’ve never used other bots, but I was wondering: have you by any chance ever used a VPN or perhaps connected to your Vinted account from a country other than your own (even just while traveling)? Because sometimes, Vinted also seems to be wary of unusual connections, especially if they don’t match your usual country. This could explain your situation without necessarily being related to buying quickly.

In any case, thank you for sharing!

[Clement]

Thank you for your interesting testimony!

Among the users of Clemz + other bots who received the Vinted message, some people received it without having purchased or even used a bot for a while. But connections from « unusual » countries appeared on their list.

This led us to believe that the use of suspicious IPs was how Vinted identified them. More so than abnormally fast actions.

Potentially, with what you’re telling us, Vinted could be using a combination of these 2 factors: very fast purchases and/or suspicious IPs.

[Kayrima8489]

So, I am in Italy. No, I have not made any trips or used it abroad. I do not use a VPN or anything else. I only made two trips to Paris, but during a period when I was not using Vinted, as I had stopped for about a year and did not even have the app installed on my phone.

Frankly, I would have no problem admitting to other uses that might have triggered a report from Vinted, but apart from Clemz, I don’t use anything else. And I understood that Clemz was not the problem when I read several testimonials online and saw that I was not the only one unable to buy.

Besides, I hardly ever buy I only made purchases in the last ten days because I was looking for very specific items, and in the end, I think I was put in the same category as reported users simply because I was very active on the platform.

[Giuliano69]

Hello Clément

Thank you for your feedback and the clarifications on the recent bans.
So, I would just like to clarify one point: I sometimes use Vinted (and Clemz) from my holiday location or when I am traveling abroad.
My account is normally targeted at Lyon or the Lyon region, but it can happen that I am temporarily outside of France.
Can this type of travel be misinterpreted by Vinted as suspicious behavior (like a bot or multi-account)?

[Clement]

No, for me it shouldn’t be risky!
Especially if you use the same devices (computer/phone): Vinted will know that you are using a trusted device.
The main risk is if you connect via IP groups with suspicious behavior. This can happen via a VPN, for example. But without a VPN (and of course « automated » bots), Vinted should not sanction you if you change locations.

[Lucile]

Hello everyone!

A big thank you for your new feedback, received by email, since the publication of this post.

We have new sources that allow us to confirm that purchases made too quickly also trigger Vinted’s warning message. Especially when these purchases take place in the first few minutes of an ad’s life.

Feel free to share this forum post with your friends and family too!

[anon90966608]

So it’s the use of V-tools that is in the crosshairs?

[Lucile]

Hello Poggi,

We are not pointing the finger at any particular tool.
Simply certain actions that seem to trigger the sending of the message by Vinted: purchases that are too fast and connections from an IP considered suspicious.