THIRTEEN RED FLAGS TO WARN OF A FRAUDULENT
TRANSACTION
(Adapted from the post by jenny_lake on the eBay International Trading
Discussion Board post Bidders - Red Flags Warning of Fraudulent Transaction.)
Updated on Tuesday, January 24th, 2006, to
Revision 3!
Updated on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006, to Revision 4!
The most up-to-date version can now be found on the Official Red-Flags
About-Me Page at members.ebay.com/aboutme/red-flags!
Thank you, Jenny_lake! ^_^
THIS VERSION HERE IS OUT OF DATE. Problems stumping eBay's technical support are preventing me from posting an updated version. Thank you, Jenny_lake, for letting me know the list of red flags was updated. Everyone, hop on over to the Official Red-Flags About-Me Page for the updated list. Stay current. Stay observant. Be a customer of a good eBay seller, not a victim of a bad eBay scammer.
Most people who are defrauded are victims of their own greed. When a
transaction appears to be too good to be true, it likely is. If three or
more of the following relate to your transaction, applying common sense
can preserve your money.
- A popular item is offered at a significant
discount.
- The price seems too good to be true.
- Expensive items — cars and vehicles of all types,
computers, electronics, jewelry, musical instruments, or event
tickets.
- Moderately expensive items have increasingly become involved,
after eBay established a dominant position in several enormously
populated Asian markets. Electronics, all kinds of designer
clothing and accessories, cameras, coins, jewelry, athletic
shoes, golf clubs and equipment, and antiques are frequently
involved.
- Multiples may be offered in the fixed price format.
- The only payment options accepted provide
no security or sub-optimal security for the buyer.
- Never pay for an item using Western
Union (WU) or Moneygram
Instant cash (non-bank) wire transfers. They are
specifically not permitted for eBay transactions.
- WU and Moneygram Instant cash wire transfer was created for
sending money to someone you know and
trust.
- WU and Moneygram Instant cash wire transfers are
untraceable and unrecoverable after the
thief picks up the money, which is typically very soon after
it is sent. In an attempt to provide the illusion of
safety, the seller tells the buyer to send the money to a fake
name or to use a secret password, which the buyer will change
only after receiving the item.
- Do not confuse WU or Moneygram cash wire transfer with bank-to-bank transfer, often
known as bank wire
transfer, or bank cash
transfer, which is legitimate, and is the customary
and preferred payment method in many countries.
- Greenzap.com, e-gold, and Stormpay payments are untrustworthy
and specifically not permitted for eBay transactions.
- Cash is obviously high risk. It offers no protection against
loss in mail or fraud.
NOTE:
Some criminals deceptively display the PayPal logo on the auction
page. When the buyer opts to use PayPal, the seller makes an excuse
for not presently being able to accept PayPal, and insists on
payment by a non-secure method.
Useful eBay Links:
On eBay Help: Online Security and Protection: Sending Payments: Benefits and Risks
on eBay Help: Rules and Policies: Safe Payments Policy
- Misleading claim of transaction security
(buyer protection). The seller (criminal) claims that
purchase protection is guaranteed by Square Trade or some other
official sounding but non-existent division of eBay and often sends
faked emails to support these claims.
- Fraudulent names that have been used include Square Trade Seal
Program, Secure Trade, the eBay Safety Board, Trade Secure
Division, eBay Transactions, eBay International Safety, or
similar.
- Square Trade is not a division of eBay. Square Trade neither
provides escrow service no facilitates transactions. Square
Trade does not initiate emails to prospective buyers.
- Criminals have created a remarkable number of Square Trade
look-alike and sound-alike websites to which victims are
directed. The fraudulent site indicates that the seller is
adequately insured against fraud for a more than sufficient
amount and an instant cash wire transfer is specifically
sanctioned.
- A bidder/buyer who is doubtful and undecided may receive a
spoof email, appearing to originate from eBay, vouching for the
seller and security of the transaction, which advises the buyer
to complete the transaction.
- These fraudulent emails often assert that the seller has
placed a multi-thousand dollar security deposit with
eBay.
- Some further claim that the item will be shipped from an
eBay warehouse. eBay neither holds security deposits, nor
confirms or guarantees the safety of transactions. eBay
does not own any warehouses in which merchandise is
stored.
IMPORTANT!
- To determine if an email which appears to be sent from eBay is
genuine, remember that every email from eBay will appear in the
My Messages section of My eBay. Unless a message from eBay
appears here, it is fraudulent.
- The item is no longer listed on eBay
- A fraud victim forfeits all eBay fraud protection by
participating in an off-eBay transaction.
- Please report an offer to transact off-ebay by using the
embedded "Contact eBay to report an off-site email offer
from a seller" link on this page: Offers to Buy or Sell Off-Site.
- Inability to locate the auction by searching for the item number
indicates that eBay deleted the listing and purged the auction
from the eBay server because eBay determined that the listing
was fraudulent or the seller was guilty of an infraction.
- The seller's location may be a clue to
a fraudulent transaction.
- The seller is registered in a country (China and Romania are
prime examples) which has a reputation for being a refuge
for Internet criminals.
- The seller's location, the item location, and the eBay site
on which the item is listed are inconsistent. Why would a
seller who registered in China and whose item is located in
China, list on the Ireland site over 10,000 miles away in
euros when the auction specifies that their item is
available only to the U.S., U.K., and
Europe, but not to nearby Asian countries or to
Australia?
- After an item is won, the seller directs the winner to send
payment to a different location.
- An unsuccessful bidder may receive an unsolicited offer to
sell an identical item at a huge discount in an off-eBay
transaction, typically from a person in a country thousands
of miles away.
- Fraud victims often purchase non-existent tickets to high
profile sporting events and concerts in this manner.
- The bidder needs to be pre-approved, or
the item is listed in a private auction.
- When the bidder email the seller for pre-approval, the seller
offers instant sale (usually off-eBay) at significantly less
than market value.
- Some private auctions (which means the bidder IDs are kept
private) are fraudulent. After placing a bid on a private
auction, the bidder receives an emailed offer to transact
off-eBay.
- Shill bidding (the seller using another eBay account or
colluding with another user to artifically increase the price)
is impossible to detect on a private auction.
- The item is listed on a hijacked
account. Some characteristics of hijacked accounts:
- Seller has excellent feedback which was acquired solely from
buying or from selling items unrelated to the expensive item
being offered.
- Private feedback. (Inconclusive when considered
alone.)
- The feedback is primarily in a language which is inconsistent
with the seller's location. For example, a seller registered in
China whose feedback is primarily in German.
- Items are suddenly listed on a dormant account.
(Inconclusive when considered alone.)
- The auction page indicates that the item is located in, or will
be shipped from, a country other than the country in which the
seller is registered.
- A hijacker may offer a creative reason for being in a foreign
country.
- There is a prominent statement on the auction page that email
contact through the conventional eBay "Ask seller a question"
link is unavailable (various excuses are used), consequently you
must email the seller by using an unconventional "email me"
hyperlink embedded in the auction. The seller may claim that
they have already reached their email limit. A hijacker doesn't
want the account owner to be tipped off by receiving an email
about an auction the owner didn't list.
- There is no conventional "Buy It Now" button, but the auction
terms state "Please email me for the Buy It Now price," or there
is a phony Buy It Now button embedded in the auction.
- The seller does not respond to questions. (Inconclusive when
considered alone.)
- The payment option provide little or no security for the buyer.
(Inconclusive when considered alone.)
- The payment methods listed on the auction page include the
customary choices — PayPal, money orders, checks, etc.
When the seller contacts the buyer, only non-secure poyment
methods, such as cash or instant cash wire transfer, abruptly
become the only accepted payment methods.
- The auction description is well-writted, polished, and
professional, but the shipping and payment details are unnatural
and obviously not composed by the same person. This signals
that the description was stolen from a legitimate auction, with
the terms of sale replaced by an account hijacker.
- After a potential victim indicates serious interest, in order
to reduce the opportunity for tha authentic account holder to
detect the fraud and notify eBay, the hijacker may end the
auction early.
To report a suspected hijacked account:
Click on the Help link at the top of an
eBay page, then click on Contact us.
Tick the Account Security button and
click Continue.
In Step 1, choose Report fake eBay emails
(spoofs) and unauthorized account activity.
In Step 2, choose Report another user's
account as stolen.
Click Continue.
Ignore the content on the next page. Click on the email link to
forward the report to eBay.
- The seller offers free shipping, often
premium (very expensive) shipping, from a distant country
- Imagine the cost of overnight shipping for something like a
horse trailer from Romania, a tractor or automobile from Greece,
or a motorcycle from Spain, to a buyer who lives over 5,000
miles away.
- There is no actual photo, or just a
generic photo.
- The auction ad shows no pictures of the actual item, but it may
show an illustration taken from a catalog or website. (This
by itself is inconclusive in the absence of other red
flags.)
- A one-day or three-day auction, often
ending on a weekend.
- While 1-day auctions seem to be favored by scammers, this is
inconclusive in the absence of other red flags.
- An unbelievable bargain is frequently a
counterfeit item (or simply does not exist).
- Realistically, it is impossible to buy new genuine items for a
fraction of the retail price.
- Many imitation products are listed by sellers registered in
China, which has a well-earned reputation as the counterfeit
capitol of the world. They are often offered by sellers in
other countries as well, including the U.S.
- The manufacturers of many elite luxury designer brands
distribute their products only through exclusive and
fashionable retail stores, so it is impossible to obtain
them at wholesale prices.
- Among the counterfeit items which account for a sizeable number
of complaints on the user boards from disappointed or embittered
buyers are:
- Consumer electronics
- Designer clothing, purses and bags. Handbags may come
complete with a counterfeit dust bag, forged documentation
of authenticity, and even a phony receipt from a company
store — all of which are liberally available in
wholesale quantities on the Internet.
- Jewelry, particularly diamond jewelry and Tiffany
items
- Cameras and camcorders
- Watches, especially Rolex
- Shoes, particularly athletic shoes
- Athletic equipment, especially golf clubs
- Musical instruments
- DVDs — the vast majority of bootleg DVDs are All
Region or Region 0 [zero] (but all Region O [oh]
DVDs are not counterfeit). Legitimate Region 1 DVDs made
for the North American market will not have Chinese
characters on the cover.
- Chinese antiques — Residents of China are forbidden by
law from exporting genuine antiques.
- A feedback red flag is often a reliable warning of a listing for
a listing for a non-existent or counterfeit item. Beware if the
seller has exchanged positive feedback for cheap items with
several users during a brief time frame. If scrutiny reveals
that the auctions ended, were paid for, shipped and received,
and positive feedback exchanged within a few minutes, consider
it to be solid evidence of a fraudulent seller.
- Another frequent potential red flag for a counterfeit or
non-existent item is greatly inflated shipping and insurance
cost. This by itself is inconclusive in the absence of other
red flags.
- The seller recommends an escrow service
other than escrow.com.
- Fraudulent escrow sites are created daily by thieves for the
purpose of attempting to defraud unsuspecting users. Several
hundred phony escrow sites exist.
- Use only Escrow.com or one
of the international escrow sites listed in the Using Escrow page in eBay's Online Security and Protection
section of eBay Help.
- How to spot a fraudulent escrow site: https://www.escrow.com/fic/ficspot.asp
- Second Chance Offers (SCO)
- To ensure that Second Chance Offer is legitimate, go to
www.ebay.com, click on the My eBay
link. Sign in and make sure the Second Chance Offer appears in
My Messages.
- Legitimate Second Chance Offers are sent directly from eBay and
appear in My Messages with a blue
background and subject stating: Second
Chance Offer for Item ...
- eBay will never send a Second Chance Offer email with the
subject line: Question from eBay
Member.
- If you receive an email pretending to be a Second Chance
Offer with that subject line, it is fraudulent.
- Do not respond to it.
- Please report a fraudulent second chance offer by using the
embedded "Contact eBay to report an off-site email offer
from a seller" link on this page: Offers to Buy or Sell Off-Site.
- REPORT THE CRIMINAL!
- Help to make eBay safer for yourself and
others.
If you receive an offer from a "seller" to transact off the eBay site,
please report it by using the embedded link in this eBay help
page: Policy - Solicitation of Off-site Sales.
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