Watch out, there's a scammer about!

You'd better believe it but scams abound  relating to eBay. Hopefully this guide will help you recognise any that come your way and enable you to steer well clear of them.

Scam 2nd chance offer

Some thieving scammers look for high-value auctions that have ended and then send you a fake 2nd chance offer if you were one of the bidders. These scams can look very convincing and include all the eBay standard terms and graphics. But one thing you won't have is an email in your eBay message box. If you get an email that appears to be from eBay and there isn't a copy in your message box then almost certainly it is not from eBay. What I do is write an email to the seller using the link on the auction page - not in the received email and check whether the second chance offer is genuine.

Western Union Scams

I don't know about you but I've probably received over a dozen scams of this sort - and nearly fell for the first one. The only thing that alerted me was that the supposed seller was overseas (while the item was in the US) and wanted to be paid by Western Union. NEVER pay for anything bought on eBay by Western Union or sooner or later you'll regret it. I know, you may miss out on that incredible bargain. But if it seems too good to be true - then it probably is! Western Union is great for sending money to people you know. If you use it to send money to a stranger you cannot track them and have no recourse if the goods don't arrive or are faulty.

Scam multiple account access email

If you ever get an email seemingly from eBay or from PayPal informing you that your account may have been accessed multiple times by users other than you - whatever you do, do not click on any links in that email. It will ALWAYS be a scam. Were your account to be hacked and eBay needed to get in touch with you they will have theiur own way which will leave you in no doubt. Remember, every email that eBay sends you, they put a copy in your account message box. No copy in your message box will prove that you have been sent a scam. If you are ever in doubt though, feel free to contact eBay (or PayPal). But type the site name in yourself into your browser and then find a help or contact link for yourself. Never use any links in emails. By the way. All this applies too if someone emails you telling you your bank account or your online trading account has been compromised. No company will ever ask you to click in a link to verify your information. This will always be a scam.

High value item & low feedback score

Seriously consider not buying anything of high value from anyone with a feedback score of less than 50 or so. And always be very wary of anyone with a score under 10. I know, we all started out with 0 feedback and worked our way up from there. But I bet almost all of us sold low value items we had around the house or something like that. There was very little risk for the first purchasers, maybe a few bucks. But once an eBayer has a feedback of, say, over 50 then they have a reputation they want to protect. If you really must buy that item, though, consider using an escrow service such as eBay's own escrow.com. You send your payment to the escrow company who do not release it to the seller until you notify of safe receipt of undamaged goods.

Beware fake escrow sites

Oh dear, it seems there's always something else. Yes, I'm afraid there are many, many, many crooked escrow sites. If a seller asks you to use an escrow site, your warning flags should go up unless it's escrow.com. I only ever use escrow.com because it is owned by eBay and entirely trustworthy. Yes, there are some good other escrow sites out there, but the bad ones have such similar sounding names I just steer clear of them all except escrow.com. Now, I know, there is a fee to pay for the service. But that's what you pay for peace of mind. Consider it insurance for your large purchase.

Fake Cashier's Checks

Yup, that's happened a lot. You sell a car or something and take a Cashier's check as guaranteed payment. The purchaser drives off and you never see them again. Meanwhile three weeks later your bank bounces the check. Why? Becuase it was a forgery. How can you avoid this happening to you? Simple. Don't take Cashier's checks - EVER. Although there is one possible exception. If you accompany the purchaser to the bank and stand with them while the bank writes out the check. If the bank hands it over it has to be a good check.

Bundles of Cash

So, you don't want to take a check and you have a buyer for your antique piano worth several hundreds or thousands of dollars. They want to pay you with cash so that you'll have peace of mind. But hang on. How will you know they are not forgeries too? Well, you don't. You can use marker pens and UV light to see if they change the wrong color, and to ensure the hidden water marks are there. If both are there and they notes look like real cash, then they might be. But some forgeries are really good. My advice is use escrow.com for high value items. You are always protected that way.

Buyer pays TOO MUCH

What the? Too much? That's right. Some buyers have been known to send a check for too much. Then they apologise and give some excuse like it was the minimum they were allowed to make it out for and they ask you to wire the difference back. Sometimes it's a Cashier's Check too. You can wait a week and a cashier's check won't necessarily have cleared (or been spotted as fake). It can take several weeks. So you wire the difference back and mail the goods - and a few weeks later you discover you are without the goods AND the check you were paid AND the money you wired. In every case that someone offers to pay more if you will send some back don't - it's a scam.

Private Bidders

This is a legitimate feature of eBay. But do beware. Sometimes scammers use it so that bidders can't talk with each other about how they have been scammed. Just use caution and common sense when you see an auction is set to private like that. Find out the reason for the private auction. A legitimate seller should have a very good reason.

Strange emails

So you get an email that seems to come via eBay from someone who says something like. "Hey, why did you give me bad feedback on that item I sold you". Or maybe it will say "Why are you contacting bidders in my auction offering to sell the same item cheaper?". It may say something else, but always it's a strange or weird email that you think "That's not right - it's nothing to do with me". That's what they want you to think. They hope you will click on the Respond to this email link in the email. Whatever you do, don't! It's simply a way to wind you up and try to get you to log in quick to deal with it. All they are doing though is linking to a scam site where they will harvest your login and password. Just ignore such emails unless a copy is also in your message box - in which case use only the message box links to reply.

Summary

The golden rule always has been and always will be: "If it seems too good to be true then it is" - you have been warned!

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