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Too good to be True - a real story of a scam - Part 6/6
illustrated guide by Avi
[9.] In this case, reviewing the same auctions after few days revealed some interesting information:
a. All auctions were ended normally without any eBay interference. (it was reported to ebay, remember ? ) ;-(
b. All auctions had bids and winners and I guess some buyers also made the payment.
Amazing how people are so naive....
c. Seller now appears as "Not A Registered User".
This means either seller was blocked by eBay or took the money and run away.
d. If you'll try now to check his buying and selling through Advanced Search, you'll get a "Feature Unavailable" note.
You can not see anymore this seller activity as a buyer nor as a seller.
My guess is that eBay blocked this seller, unfortunately this was done too late and too late for some naive buyers that placed bids and probably also paid for their purchase.
[10.] Yes, I criticize eBay. Keeping eBay clean and honest is a TOP priority goal and 6 hours from reporting this should have been enough time to review and stop this seller on time.
Stopping scams BEFORE auction ends is much easier, more secure, cheaper both to eBay and to buyers and eliminates buyers from contacting and transferring funds to a thief.
This example shows that eBay unfortunately failed in protecting us in time. I hope this guide will also be read by Trust and Safety people and that they will improve quickly as thieves are getting better and better.
BTW, I reported this scam on Sep.26, 2006 and only 15 days after, a laconic (as always) reply arrived from Trust and Safety
saying: "We are concerned about violations on the site and have thoroughly investigated your report. Please be assured that we have taken appropriate action in accordance with our site policies..." . Feel free to think whatever you like on this...
[11.] If eBay is such helpless, why not use us as Trust and Safety 'temporary employees'?
I'll repeat here what I have suggested few months ago to eBay:
eBay should compensate each member who report a scam, encourage us to investigate suspicious auctions and report it.
If a report turns to be a real scam, than eBay SHOULD PAY $5 or such for every auction this report led to its removal. (if seller had 20 listings that eBay removed, eBay pays 20x $5 etc.)
Indeed more reports will be sent to eBay but it will SAVE A LOT of money spent now for insurance, lawyers, enforcement personal, paperwork and time. Don't forget those poor buyers that were deceived , are frustrated and probably will never buy again on eBay.
I wonder if eBay will ever publish statistics of how many deceived users left eBay or stopped buying. Think of how much money this idea might save to all. Payments by the way should be made in a form of eBay fees credit so it will STAY in the system and encourage users to use eBay.
Sounds reasonable? Try convincing eBay with this idea...
This guide showed you a real case of a scam. This scam is unique since its seller did not asked to contact him directly through an outside eBay email address. This suggests the scammer is either the original user or the scammer took over both eBay and PayPal accounts of this poor seller so he/she felt safe to list auctions that looks as legitimate.
This point is VERY important since in most of accounts takeover you'll find that seller is asking you to contact him directly, but not in this case.
The true hides behind the small details, you should read and view carefully auction details.
Conclusion:
- If it is "Too good to be True" than it is NOT !
- Be always suspicious with such auctions and spend time investigating it.
- If you feel an auction has some weird information in it, avoid it !
- You'll always find a new offer and it is better to stay away from a scam.
- You can't always trust eBay to remove scams on time so follow your instincts and avoid such auctions.
Remember - eBay is a wonderful place to shop but ONLY if you are careful !
Thank you.
Avi
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