EBay Scams - Protect Yourself!

Ebay is a great source of products and people. You can find the rare and unique items from years ago or those items that were only manufactured a few times. You can find your childhood favorite toys, if you wanted to. You can, even, find bulk items, as well as, other items that you've been searching for.

On Ebay there are a large number of products as well as an even larger number of sources to find the prodcuts, which are usually for a cheaper price than the store price.

It sounds great right?

It is....

Most of the time...

Fraud and scammers are all over Ebay. You have to protect yourself from scams because they are everywhere, and the scams are far and wide.

Nigerian scams are everywhere online. In many cases you will receive an email asking for money to be sent to a bank account. This can apply to Ebay on a different level. For example, if you sell an item on Ebay, and receive and email from the wining bidder, in which the buyers is trying to get you to get the information to shipping to Nigeria or some other country, usually an Africa country, in order so that he can send you the money. But, it's not real money.

DO NOT click any links in the email, as the link(s) will lead to fake paypal and ebay websites. When you click on the link and sign in to the fake site, you will be handing the scammer all your information. Once they get a hold of you password and log in name, they will take over your account. Once your account has been hijacked, you will not able to log into your account for a day or so which gives the scammer time to post one day auctions for multiple, expensive items.

Make sure that you DO NOT send the item for any reason, EVEN you got their paypal payment because their payment is fake, as mentioned before, the money is not real.

In some cases, sellers may receive money orders or checks. Even still, do not send out the item until you can get the check examined. In this case, you should take the check or money order to a bank; they will be able to check it out, and tell you whether it is real or fake. In most cases they will be fake, especially if they are for extremely high dollar amounts for items that really aren't worth that extreme. In these cases, the scammer will continue to bid, driving the auction to a ridiculous amount for the particular item. They will contact you immediately to get your address in order to send out the payment. If you give them your address, don't always trust the check or money order even if the buyer is prompt and conversational.

In some case, the Nigerian scammers will be more aggressive by threatening the seller in hopes that the seller will back out and send the merchandise anyway. Don't do it.

Sometimes, the scammers will tell you that they are being investigated by the FBI for fraud for not shipping the goods to Nigeria. Don't be intimidated. If you have any doubt, you can contact the police or just ignore it.

Do NOT reply to the email because by replying to the email(s), the scammer will get your email address. Once they have you email address, they can sign up for various things online such as porn site and gambling sites and they can send you a fake paypal and ebay email. Either way, they can spam up your inbox.

Make sure to report the situation to Ebay. Open a new internet browser. Sign in to you account. Click "Help," which is located on the top right of the ebay page. Click "Contact Us," which is located in the middle, left section of the page. Then choose "Account Security" in order to report the situation. By reporting the scam, you can help to protect other Ebayers.

Sample Email:

I just came across your item on eBay and I was looking for an exact gift to a relative of mine, who is in Nigeria. I hope that your item is as good in its condition as you have described at your auction off eBay. I will like you to get the cost for the shipment of this item to him. As soon as you got the price for the shipment, please kindly get back to me, and add the amount to the cost of the item and sent it with the invoice at paypal or eBay. I would to make the payment of this item via paypal. Paypal protects both the buyer and the seller, so I will like you to send me your paypal email account so that I can direct the money to your account today okay. And remember that you are to ship the item via USPS GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL, or EMS 3 to 5 business days for the delivering.

In many cases, this particular scam is more closely related to Square Trades, but you can find the scam at Ebay, so you should understand what's going on.

In these scams, you may get a person who says they are using Square Trade, or Ebay, with a "third party" so that you can get your money back if the deal goes wrong or if you become unsatisfied.

Niether Square Trade or Ebay accepts cash, store goods, or works as a "third party" for any deals that have not gone through completely.

In some cases, the person will email you via a personal email instead of using messages through the website, saying that they would prefer you to wire them the money to them.

You should, always, remember that neither Square Trades or Ebay do not email you in order to certify a seller or ask you to wire money to someone. In many cases, your "Ebay Invoice" will ask you to send the money via Western Union.

Example email addresses that you may see can include support@transaction-squaretrade.com and support@transaction-ebay.com.

These people tend to live in other countries, so prosecuting them becomes a complication.

These scammers tend to be the sellers in the auction. Sometimes they can be the buyers, but usually they are the sellers of larger, higher priced items.

You must remember that Ebay never emails you to update your information. So when you get these emails, you should delete them right away.

Do not respond to the emails.

Do not click on the links.

If you do click on the link, just to verify that it is not Ebay, you should always check the URL address. True ebay urls, in which you will update or change your personal information will appear as https://www.ebay.com...... Make sure that you see the 'S' after the 'http'. Otherwise, do not enter you information because as soon as the scammer gets you log in name and password, tons of damage can occur.

A new version of the Email scam is that the scammer will reproduce an auction listing or an Ebay page. In this instance, the scammer will then send an email through Ebay, asking the seller if he has another item similar to one in the listing. When the seller is directed to the fake page, where he logs in, the scammer will have access to the seller's log in name and password.

A very common scam on Ebay is the Second Chance Offer scam, as it is a world-pool filled with scammers. The scammer check out top winning tems that were sold for high dollar. They then send the second top bidder a second chance to win the item.

The scammer does not have the item, they just want your money.

The best way to check to see whether or not the Second Chance Offer is real or if it's a scam is to check your 'My Messages' in your ebay account. The only way an Ebay seller is able to contact bidders is via Ebay, sending a message to the bidder. So if you do not have a message in your 'My Messages' folder, then definitely do NOT bid accept the Second Chance Offer, as it's a scam.

To accept a real Second Chance Offer, you will need to purchase the item from the Ebay website. Which means, you will need to log into your account and go to your 'My eBay' page or to the listing, itself. The Second Chance Offer will have a different auction ID number than the original listing, so don't let this alarm you.

But remember, if you attempt to reply to a fake Second Chance Offer, more than likely, the auction ID number will be the same as the first, original listing.

Because Ebay is widely used and loved by many innocent people just looking for a place to buy new and gently used products, it becomes a cesspool for fraud and scams.

The most common scams tend to involve higher priced items to include those found in Ebay Motors, as well as televisions, video game consoles, popular cell phones, and the various rare and unique items.

Some of the more common Ebay scams include:

• Shill Bidding- seller uses an alternative account to raise the bid
• Fake money orders or bad checks.
• Switching items- after payment for an item, seller sends a lesser item or bootleg.
• Escrow Scam- fake emails from Paypal or fake bank accounts.
• Claim Jumper- after buyer bids, he will receive an email offering the same item at a better price from a scammer, using the sellers Ebay ID.