First, let me say that I've had my first 22 eBay transactions in the last 10 weeks, 14 as a buyer and 8 as a seller. Just in this short timeframe, I've experienced 1 fraudulent seller and 1 fraudulent buyer. The reason I'm writing this guide is to give a fresh perspective of:

• How an eBay newbie encounters 9% scam transactions
• How I didn't fall a victim by using common sense and reading eBay's resources
• How I turned in these scam artists to eBay and PayPal

I found a 55" French Range that was being advertised as an ex-display and in excellent condition, but under shipping terms, it said "contact seller" so I clicked on "Ask seller a question" about how much it would cost to ship. No response, so the following day, I "Ask seller a question" again because the auction is ending the day after.

• Mistake #1 - Bidding on an item without first determining the shipping costs. Since the range was advertised as being located in California and I'm in California, I figure that the shipping charges couldn't be that much, right? Wrong! If I win the auction, I would be stuck with WHATEVER amount the seller decides to charge, reasonable or unreasonable.
  

After I win the auction for $8600, the seller e-mails me directly (he does not use eBay Messaging) and tells me that the range is now in Florida, even though when he listed it 10 days ago, it was supposedly in California.

• Scam sign #1 - If such a large item travels cross country during an auction period, it is probably because the scammer is trying to prevent the winning local bidder from coming to pick it up. He had no idea what state the winning bidder would be in, but as I turned out to be in the same state that he first chose as the item location, he had to switch gears and "move" the item across the country. Report the seller for violating eBay's Item Location Misrepresentation policy.
  

In the same e-mail, he tells me that he cannot use his PayPal account for a month and a half, so I would pay "directly" to him. However, in his listing, he advertises that he accepts PayPal.

• Scam sign #2 - If a seller advertises that they take PayPal and then tells you otherwise when you are ready to pay, DO NOT PAY THEM. Instead, report their violation of eBay's PayPal Payments Policy.
  

Since his suspect e-mail takes me by surprise, I have many questions that I want to ask him directly over the phone, such as:

1. What is the serial number of the range? I tell him it's because I want to call the number in to the manufacturer to verify any warranty that I might be eligible for.
2. Would you take more pictures of the range, specifically the inside of all the ovens and a top view? This ensures that the seller really does have the range, if they are able to take the specific photos that you request.
3. What is the name of the store that the range was a display in? Knowing that the city of the advertised location has a small, mostly residential population, I was even doubting that there was a high-end appliance store located in that city with a 40,000 population. If there were, chances are there would be just one store and I would have called to verify.
4. If you will not accept a PayPal payment, would you go through Escrow.com? As I did research on buying high-dollar items that exceed PayPal's limitations, I learned that it would be more beneficial for both parties to use Escrow.com (do NOT use any other escrow service besides Escrow.com, though!)
   

I then Request Contact Information to obtain the seller's phone number, which happens to be a New Jersey area code (remember he used to live in California and just moved to Florida) and as it turns out, it is an invalid phone number.

• Scam sign #3 - If an eBayer's contact information is invalid, especially in conjunction with other suspicious actions, report their False or Missing Contact Information violation to eBay.

At this point, I am sure that my line of questioning has scared off this seller as he has not replied to my e-mails. Sellers must respond to buyers within 3 business days, so I reported him to eBay for Seller Non-Performance.

• End result - The seller is NARU (Not a registered user) and I am no longer obligated to pay for the item, nor can the seller Report An Unpaid Item Dispute or give me negative feedback.

I sold a lot of 2 cell phones for $91.00 to a buyer with a 124 feedback rating of 100% positive, who had also been an eBay member for 6 years. This would otherwise have probably been a great transaction...if this member's eBay account had not been hijacked!

• Scam sign #1 - After I send an invoice to the buyer, I receive an e-mail asking me to ship the item to Nigeria. In my listing, I advertise that I only ship within the USA. Do not EVER ship anything to Nigeria, it is the leading scam capital of the world! Also, the e-mail is full of grammatical and spelling mistakes that a native English speaker just wouldn't make...and with a name like "Simon Rust" it just adds to the fishy smell of what's already boiling in the pot.
  

• Scam sign #2 - In the same e-mail, he says he will pay me extra money for the international shipping. It turns out that the "extra money" is $509.00! When a buyer supposedly pays an exorbitant amount for shipping, IT IS A SCAM! They either think you are stupid enough to be so happy to get so much extra money, you will scamper off and ship the item brainlessly -OR- they want you to "refund" them the difference. Yeah, uh-huh...RIGHT!

• Scam sign #3 - I immediately receive an e-mail with the subject line "Simon Rust has sent you an Auction Payment with PayPal (Routing Code: C840-L001-Q999-T5365)" and the sent-from e-mail address shows it as being from a non-PayPal e-mail address. When I look at the original message header, it shows that the e-mail actually originated from a Gmail address! One more thing: I use different e-mail account for eBay and PayPal, so when this fake PayPal e-mail arrived in my eBay e-mail account, I already knew it was a fake before I even looked at it.

My subsequent course of actions:

1. I "Contact buyer" via eBay Messaging and ask them if they did indeed send me the e-mail asking me to ship the item to Nigeria (I also include a copy of the e-mail). I had heard of hijacking accounts, so I decided to contact the buyer via eBay Messaging instead of replying to the e-mail directly.
   
2. I Request Contact Information to obtain the buyer's phone number, which happens to be a Michigan area code (BTW, the buyer's shipping address is in California) and as it turns out, it is an invalid phone number.
3. I report their False or Missing Contact Information violation to eBay.
4. I Report fake eBay e-mails or Web sites and include the full message header of the e-mail that was intended to look like it came from PayPal.
5. I also report that Buyer paid or attempted to pay with fake/stolen funds.

• End result - eBay cancels the listing due to bidding activity that took place without the account owner's authorization. They are working to restore the bidding account to its rightful owner and also to prevent any additional unauthorized activity. My listing fees will be credited so I may re-list the item again and eBay will notify all previous bidders so they can bid again.