Ebay scams

G

greenfreak

New Member
Scam artists prowl online auction sites

WASHINGTON (Reuters) --Teresa Smith discovered Internet auctions in a big way about two years ago, selling $800,000 worth of Apple Macintosh computers through sites such as eBay and AuctionWorks.

Like thousands of other small-time entrepreneurs, Smith found that online auction sites could expand her reach and connect her with customers from Hawaii to Switzerland.

Soon she was hiring employees and tooling around Boston in a new Ford Mustang convertible.

While Smith certainly cashed her customers' checks, unfortunately, she rarely bothered to send out the computers they had paid for.

Ripping off customers
Smith admitted in court in November that she had ripped off 300 customers in what law-enforcement authorities estimate may be the biggest case of auction fraud to date.

While few scam artists operate on Smith's scale, they have for years turned to auction sites like eBay and Yahoo to sell cars they don't own, computers that don't exist and diamond rings without any diamonds.

Reports of auction fraud have skyrocketed from 106 in 1997 to 25,000 in 2001, according to the Federal Trade Commission, far outpacing other common online scams.

Scam artists commonly sell big-ticket, relatively generic items like computers or automobiles, advertising them with pictures downloaded from elsewhere on the Internet, according to Delores Thompson, an FTC staff attorney who focuses on auction fraud.

"They come in, they hit quick, and they disappear," she said.
Click to expand...

More at CNN

Anyone buy or sell on Ebay? I've always been afraid to, especially when I hear about things like this. There really is no way to protect yourself--even Pay Pal itself doesn't guarantee any protection. I guess paying by credit card is better for the fraud protection but I don't want strangers having my credit card number.
 
I've bought before, but only small stuff. The last thing I bought was a non-working 2.5GB HDD that was still under warranty. Sent it back to WD on an RMA and got a 3 GB to replace it. :D
 
I only paid $15.00, plus $6.50 S&H, with a money order. I bought it because I knew that the drive was still under warranty, and it was, at the time, 1/10 of the price of a new 2.5GB drive. I also got it to work...sporadically...before I gave up and sent the drive in for the new one.
 
I bought a little wetsaw. $60.00 with the shipping. It's really cool and a similar one at Home Depot is $200.00
 
I've bought several items from ebay, probably $2000 in total, up to $300 or $400 for a single item. So far, I haven't had any problem, probably because I use common sense and do a bit of research on what I'm buying and who I'm buying it from.
 
What types of payment do you guys use? And did you ever get something that wasn't in good condition? That's the two things I would be worried about; either losing all my money or getting something that wasn't as good quality as they said.

I have a few pieces of Swarovski crystal that are imperfect. I only have about 7 pieces that are in perfect condition and those I'm keeping. I've seen people sell less than perfect stuff for a lesser price and I'd like to sell what I have, then get more pieces with the money I get. I'm just concerned, is all.
 
I only ever use money orders. That way, I have confirmation that it's been cashed, and the seller has zero information about me.
 
Paypal. I'm a little less concerned since I know ebay does have a minimal protection protecting those who are victim to fraud... it might not work well, but it's there which gives some peace of mind.

Of all the things I've purchased, only one was not in the condition I expected. It was a Sony DSS satellite receiver, and had some horrible digital noise in the auido circuitry. It was supposed to be under warranty, so I contacted the seller and was provided all necessary receipts and warranty information. Sony replaced it free of charge with a brand new receiver, so I can't complain much there.
 
i've never personally bidded on ebay for myself (my friends have had me bid on things with their names), but my mom find all sorts of awesome AiW stuff for me, and she buys rubber stamps and craft supplies. she seems to really dig it.
 
I've bought a tent and a video card off of ebay. The tent was a 10 person, 3 room tent that i got for $100, brand new. Killer deal:headbang: . The video card I could have done better on, but that was my own fault for not researching what I was getting. Still no problems with ebay though.
 
PuterTutor, you talking about that Abit video card? I don't think you did so bad (at least on price, the no DDR issue was a bummer though). You paid less than I did for the same one from newegg! Thats not so bad! it seems like bought it within a day or 2 of my order from newegg too!

I haven't bought anything on ebay, but my uncle sold a a few DSS dishes on there. For some reason he decided to buy about 20 of em when they were clearing em out at walmart. I guess he actually made a decent profit on each, so its not so bad.
 
Yeah, that's the one. I'm happy with it, just could have done better for the money. Of course that's about the way it always is with comp parts.
 
I've bought a bunch of computer stuff on ebay. Only one bad deal
though. I got a bad mobo for $15. It was kinda my fault though.
I didn't read the reviews for that seller. Also they did say that
they did not know if it worked, but I kinda missed that part.:(

I've gotton plenty of great deals to make up for that one though.:headbang:
 
I have bought and sold on eBay and Yahoo over 120 times from all over the world in the last 2 1/2 years. Mainly small stuff, but I upgraded Katie's computer from a 300 MHz Cyrix MXII to a 500 MHz Intel Celeron with an ABit Se6 mobo and 128 133 SD-Ram not long ago for less than £100 with no problem. I've had trouble only once and that was with a guy with very little feedback. If you stick to people with plenty of positive feedback there's less chance of a problem. I would never buy a large item at auction unless I used an "escrow" service where the money is held by a third party until you are satisfied with the goods. Anyone who is trying to scam won't want to do that. For small items I use Paypal and Bid Pay for US money orders. Good communication is also essential.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top