COMBATING FRAUD ONLINE - Tips

BUYER BEWARE! Beware of fraudulent auction listings. Have you ever seen a seller selling an item for pennies of its actual cost or worth? Many fraudulent sellers will  target high-end products to specifically target the buyer for the highest amount  possible in the shortest amount of time. There are however, very sophisticated  scammers who sell less expensive items on any site they can.  What follows are just a few scammer tricks to be aware of.

Typical Warning Signs of Fraudulent Listings

• When you look at an auction listing that looks credible, ask the seller questions. (most sites offer a feature named something similar to ‘Ask Seller a Question’ or provide a contact button) always ask specific questions that pertain to what the seller is advertising for sale: If the seller states that they have ‘all receipts’ then ask to see them. There is no harm in asking this. Ask if they can email you a copy of the sales receipt and ask for additional photos of the item if the listing doesn’t provide photos that you would like to see.
• TIP: The more sophisticated scam artists will post seemingly authentic auction listings on many alternate auction sites at the same time. As a time management tool, the scammers will often reuse the same item, description and images on several websites, - it’s a numbers game with them. The more their listing is seen by the public at large the better the odds become to generate a successful sale (successful for the scammer that is).
• Phishing: A huge masquerade and nothing more. ‘Phishing’ costs the online user millions of dollars every year. There are many forms of ‘Phishing’ techniques used by the scammers today. Among the techniques used are:

• Always look at a Sellers Other Items: if the seller is listing other high-end items like automobiles, expensive jewelry or electronics to name but a few, this is a red flag.
• Read Sellers Feedback: read what other users have experienced with the seller in question. If the seller has never sold items of similar value and suddenly has expensive items for sale – the odds are high and quite probable that the seller may indeed be a fraud.
• Seller states: “Buy Now” option without a “Buy Now” button or link on the listing! Most auction sites have a strict policy for sellers who want to list a “Buy Now” listing. If a listing in any way states “Buy Now” or similar wording, there must be a “Buy Now” link or button available to the buyer. Please keep in mind, the site you are buying/selling on may have renamed their “Buy Now” feature to something different but you get the idea. Remember, if you see an auction listing an item that would normally sell for thousands of dollars "10 available “Buy Now” for only $500" this should raise another red flag! “If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.”
• Short Auction Durations: as a general rule, it’s been our experience that an authentic seller will list an expensive item for a minimum of 7 to 14 days - the longer the auction is available, the higher the potential for a successful sale. On the other hand, a fraudulent seller normally will not risk such a long auction duration. The risks involved are much too high.
• Email Addresses: Many fraudulent sellers will place their email address or other off site contact information within the listing itself. The reason they do this is to entice a potential buyer to contact the seller outside of the auction site. Be Warned! Contacting a seller outside the confines of any auction site is never recommended. Without a doubt, a fraudulent seller will offer to sell the item to you off site which is a whole different ball game. The potential buyer (you) will lose your ability to receive assistance from the auction/shopping site involved. Any effort to resolve a dispute via the website goes out the window. An additional issue will also arise: Auction site fee circumvention (see the site policies for your auction venue). Your legal rights may also diminish and in many cases the transactional event becomes a civil matter.
• Be Aware: Many fraudulent sellers will list their products in the wrong category. We’ve seen listings for consumer electronics in the Health & Beauty category on eBay!
• Free Shipping Scams: You’ve probably seen it – sellers who have a shipping price of $9.00 for a 90 pound product. As stated earlier, honest sellers will not list or sell their more expensive items and offer free or reduced shipping. It just doesn’t happen.
• Highest Bidder Hidden or User ID Private – A Scammers way of keeping a user ID hidden so an honest buyer hasn’t a clue. This also opens up the door for shill bidding which means scammers often bid-up each others auctions to artificially inflate the bid amount. (be aware that just because a user’s ID is private doesn’t necessarily mean the listing is a fraud.)
• Sending a Payment: Most auction sites who wish to offer their members a fraud free environment in which to buy and sell do not allow cash payment transactions to take place. A red flag should be immediately apparent to you if a seller requests payment via Western Union, Money Gram or a request of cash by Wire Transfer. In addition, if you pay by Personal Check, Cashier's Check or Money Order - you are still not guaranteed a refund if the seller is a fraud. Many scammers are outside the United States and therefore may be ‘untouchable’ by your local authorities. At the time of this writing, the payment processor WorldPay is experiencing this very same issue. If you pay by PayPal or another payment processing company, be sure your backup funding is a Credit Card, just in case your item doesn’t arrive (it won’t if you’ve paid a scammer) you can contact your credit card company and file a claim.
• Never agree to pay via unknown Escrow Company scammers have been known to create fake websites for the sole purpose of defrauding buyers. Many of these cloned sites look authentic. Be Warned!
• Contacting the seller: Ask the seller if you can phone them. If you are able to get a phone number be sure to perform a free reverse phone number check. By doing this you will see if it is truly correct geographically as to the sellers stated location.