Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play
your favorite news station every one will become very aware of the
"call" online fraud - specifically related to eBay.
Definition of Fraud: "In a broad definition strokes, fraud is a
deliberate misrepresentation which causes another person to suffer
damages, usually monetary losses."
Like many, I've had bad experiences one eBay. However, I have also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real world. The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of society in real life, where 99.9% of people are good nature.
Have you had a bad experience on eBay? I spoke to someone recently who said a "fraudulent eBay experience" ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform. "That
seems a little immature, do not you think? Just a couple of weeks ago
my nine year old daughter left her shorts on a sun while swimming in the
pool (in a resort recognized holidays nationally). When he returned, his shorts were gone. Someone stole his shorts. The fraud and theft.
How should my nine years of age respond? Should Never swim in a public
pool again?
Of course not. But she can learn a valuable life lesson in how to protect themselves and their property. And so we discover the purpose of this article. How can we protect ourselves from fraud on eBay?
Fraud
on eBay, though small in proportion to the number of transactions
taking place, is a real problem for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow these points to reduce the possibility of fraud on eBay on their adventures online trading.
Fraud Tip # 1: Understanding Phishing
A new word to the dictionary of Webster 'for 2005, has become # 1 in the upper regions of Fraud Alert in internet history. Here is the definition from dictionary.com :. "A
method of identity theft carried out by creating a website that seems
to represent a legitimate company site visitors, thinking they are
buying something from a real business, send your personal information to
the site. The criminals then use personal
information for their own purposes or sell the information to other
criminal parties. "In specific terms, which can be related to their
membership eBay, PayPal account, bank account, credit card or other
account that requires an identification, password and / or personal information.
Fraud on eBay can occur when a phishing email that sounds 100% legitimate received. It
could come from: support @ ... And looks like this: "Dear eBay user,
you have received this notice because we have strong reason to believe
that your eBay account was recently compromised and could be used by a
third party without your permission . In order to prevent any fraudulent activity that occurs we
are required to open an investigation into this matter. To accelerate
this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following
the link below. "
a. This
is what happens: when you click the link, you are taken to a website
that looks exactly like the login page - for example, you are assured
that you are in the session eBay page. You are asked for personal information, including your ID and password, etc.
How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other safe place NEVER ask for your personal identifying information in an email. What should you do? Delete the email and it says that you will not fall victim to a phishing scam.
A high percentage of online fraud and eBay is simply eliminated by understanding phishing and how to deal with it.
Fraud Tip # 2 Only buy from sellers with a feedback score Established
Love or hate eBay feedback system, but it has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can eliminate potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing your feedback score. Pay special attention to the last 90 days and be sure to read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages. A testament rated sellers feedback is increasingly important, if you are buying a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following this advice Fraud.
Fraud Tip # 3. Never pay with Western Union
The possibility of fraud on eBay has been reduced through eBay own internal monitoring of payment options buyer. If you are going to pay for an item that you buy on eBay - always
use PayPal as you are covered by the program PayPal Buyer Protection.
Here is the latest "policy of insurance payments eBay:
"Permitted
on eBay.com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including
Mastercard / Visa / Amex / Discover, debit cards and bank electronic
payments online shopping eBay Sellers can also offer to accept transfers
bank
to bank, often. known as bank transfers or cash transfers from banks.
Sellers can accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash in person
transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through CertaPay and
Propay. The Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments.
Are not permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may not solicit buyers send cash. Sellers
may not ask buyers to send cash through money transfer services instant
cash (no credit, cash transfers from point to point), such as Western
Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy. "
With
respect to cash on eBay, "The US Postal Service says it is unsafe, and
now eBay is telling everyone that it's not safe," said Matt Halprin,
vice president of global policy eBay. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [are]
encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller list."
eBay Fraud, which represents only a small fraction of one percent of
all transactions can be considerably reduced by using PayPal.
Fraud Tip # 4. Preventive Measures - Tips for protection
The
IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that
includes a page of tips on where to go to read about Internet Auction
Fraud, non-delivery of merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud,
Nigerian Letter Scam, and commercial fraud.
In
a perfect world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but
unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others.
The Internet offers a tremendous opportunity - like anything else, use it wisely.
