Scam Artists are Alive and Well on eBay – How to Avoid Them
As with virtually any venture, there are always people out and about trying to exploit and take advantage of honest, hard workers that are using legitimate means to make income or otherwise improve the quality of their lives. The eBay company was established in the 1990’s and is an online auction website that is used by individuals in order to sell and purchase different new and used items for the personalize use of the individual. However, there are certain scam artists that are trying to, and who have been able to, use the system to their own benefit. Still, there are ways in which an individual can avoid being taken advantage of by the scam artists which may be using eBay in order to meet their own malicious needs involving money or reputable goods that the individual wants.
It is very important that individuals not take part in Buy It Now purchases through individual emails. Because the process takes place outside of the eBay community, if a person does not receive their item, there is no way to leave negative feedback about the experience. As a result, other consumers are not warned and an individual can be taken advantage of if they do take part in this procedure with a less than reputable partner. Also advisable to consumers is that they not use Western Union or other wire money transfers. Western Union expresses themselves as a third party in the proceedings, and therefore they assume no liability for any fraud that may come as a result.
Additionally, using Western Union or another wiring service can be expensive as compared to other payment methods that are available to the individual. eBay also has an approved escrow service to use in order to make sure that the trading partner or seller is legitimate. The online auction site eBay also encourages individuals who are involved in a transaction in which the individual insists that the potential consumer use a specific escrow service to do a check decline the purchase with that individual and report that seller to eBay to investigate. This is because there are many fake escrow services out there, which will not give the individual a truly accurate portrayal of the seller.
There are sometimes emails sent that say they are from eBay, but these are emails that are actually from scam artists who are trying to get your billing or bank account information in order to use the funds in the bank account belonging to the unsuspecting recipient. It is important to go to eBay.com and investigate the likelihood of the email being legitimate. If it is, there will be corresponding information on the eBay home page. An individual can also contact eBay and forward the email to them in order to assert the validity of the email. Do not give out personal bank information, eBay will not ask for this information. Some emails also claim to sell auction items at incredibly low prices, and it is important not to fall for this scam, whose purpose is to lure individuals into sending money outside of the eBay community.
It can also be beneficial to be wary of short 24 or 48-hour auctions for expensive items. This is because certain scam artists hijack other users’ accounts and use them in order to exploit money from unsuspecting consumers with no penalty to deal with on their own accounts and personas after the fact.
While the FBI has noted that 62% of all Internet crimes are made up from false and fraudulent online auction scams, there are many legitimate individuals that are involved in the online auction scene. Individuals simply need to be aware of popular scams and how to stay away from them. They are not impossible to avoid, it simply necessitates that the consumer be educated and responsible.
Don Guindon |
