Beware Those E-bay Bargains!

[hawk20]

BEWARE THOSE E-BAY BARGAINS!

Here is an amazing e-bay scam from another MB forum.
http://forum.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=156961&highlight=nevada+jack

A guy puts up for sale a brand new car, which is actually on the floor in an MB dealership, and which –of course- he does not own. He advertises it using pictures of a forum member’s car taken from the forum. The nerve! Well worth a read. And as one regular posted

‘Tiffany & Co. sued eBay. The Tiffany lawsuit, in addition to accusing eBay of facilitating counterfeiting, also contends that it charges hundreds of thousands dollars in fees for counterfeit sales. In 2004 Tiffany secretly purchased about 200 items from EBay in its investigation of how the company was dealing with the thousands of pieces of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry. They found that three out of four pieces were fakes. I understand the case will go to trial by the end of this year. If eBay lost, or even if they settled and word got out that they settled, it would mean they would have to begin policing things sold over EBay, which would directly affect their business model.

Some may receive refunds after confronting the seller however eBay refuses to remove hundreds of counterfeit listings. It claims it has no responsibility for the fakes because it is nothing more than a marketplace that links buyers and sellers.’

Caveat emptor.

 

[television]

Thank you Hawk, it makes you think, doesnt it

 

[philharve]

I was scammed on eBay but successfully pursued a claim

BEWARE THOSE E-BAY BARGAINS!

Here is an amazing e-bay scam from another MB forum.
http://forum.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=156961&highlight=nevada+jack

A guy puts up for sale a brand new car, which is actually on the floor in an MB dealership, and which –of course- he does not own. He advertises it using pictures of a forum member’s car taken from the forum. The nerve! Well worth a read. And as one regular posted

‘Tiffany & Co. sued eBay. The Tiffany lawsuit, in addition to accusing eBay of facilitating counterfeiting, also contends that it charges hundreds of thousands dollars in fees for counterfeit sales. In 2004 Tiffany secretly purchased about 200 items from EBay in its investigation of how the company was dealing with the thousands of pieces of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry. They found that three out of four pieces were fakes. I understand the case will go to trial by the end of this year. If eBay lost, or even if they settled and word got out that they settled, it would mean they would have to begin policing things sold over EBay, which would directly affect their business model.

Some may receive refunds after confronting the seller however eBay refuses to remove hundreds of counterfeit listings. It claims it has no responsibility for the fakes because it is nothing more than a marketplace that links buyers and sellers.’

Caveat emptor.

Hi All

I got caught by a scam on eBay last year when I submitted a winning bid for a Tomtom GO910 GPS system. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to record each stage of the transaction and I presented this as evidence to Barclaycard who ordered eBay to initiate a 'chargeback'. My money was eventually refunded in full.

But before I engaged Barclaycard I submitted a claim to eBay and I received a partial refund under their Customer Protection Scheme. However, they wouldn't admit they had made a mistake despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. That's when I involved the credit card company. They could see I had a valid claim. Ebay tried to eradicate all evidence of the transaction when they realised it was fraudulent. However, they hadn't counted on me making copies of all relevant data.

The scam involved 'a third party' stealing another eBay trader's identity and putting up for auction a nonexistent GPS system under their ID. The genuine trader would likely be totally oblivious to this bogus auction. That's why it's always worth contacting the trader to confirm the auction is genuine.

I sunsequently won the auction and remitted using Paypal. Needless to say I didn't receive the GPS and when I emailed the trader about non-delivery they admitted they knew nothing it. Furthermore they were horrified their ID had be stolen. eBay immediately gave them a new account and a new ID. I have no doubt it was the trader's own fault their ID was stolen: they probably replied to one of the great many spoof emails seeking confirmation of trader's details

My Paypal history soon proved where my money had gone. It had been redirected to the far east and not to the UK trader. It was then I realised I had been scammed. I wrote to the far eastern member but never received a reply.

I lodged a claim under the eBay Customer Protection Scheme and got a fraction of my money back. But I wanted all of it. I contacted Barclaycard who were liable for my loss and they ordered eBay to refund me. I had the full amount reimbursed in addition to the money received under the Customer Protection Scheme.

If you are buying expensive parts or even whole vehicles on eBay it's vitally important that you satisfy yourself that the named seller has the item for sale. Make screen dumps of any relevant information if you cannot save it any other way. Use a credit card, if possible. Don't let eBay or Paypal wriggle out of their commitments if the transaction goes bad and it's their fault. They will claim that trading on eBay is safe and secure. No it's not! Let the buyer beware!!!

I did buy a Tomtom GO910 on eBay from a trader after I confirmed they had the item for sale. I saved over a GBP100.00 into the transaction too.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[hawk20]

Interesting that yet again e-bay showed little interest in you getting your money back. Either they are in denial or just don't want to admit the problems that occur.

BTW how do you do 'a screen dump'?

 

[benzo]

Interesting that yet again e-bay showed little interest in you getting your money back. Either they are in denial or just don't want to admit the problems that occur.

BTW how do you do 'a screen dump'?

Press <Ctrl> + <Print Screen> simultaneously to put the whole screen in your clipboard

OR

Press <Alt> + <Print Screen> simultaneously to put just the active window in your clipboard

You can then open up Word or Paint and paste the contents in and save.

HTH

ps I generally avoid ebay. When I have to make purchases online I try as much as possible to buy from the online 'branch' of a well established retailer.

 

[hawk20]

Many thanks Benzo. Never use Clipboard. Dare I ask how to find it?

 

[Cnics]

The clipboard is an integral part of the operating system.

Its there all the time, your copy and paste function are part of it. By pressing your print screen button you are effectively taking a snap shot of the screen and placing it on the clipboard, going into a piece of software like word or photoshop and clicking the paste function should give you this screenshot as an image which you can then save.

You also use the clipboard whilst browsing your computer, Ctrl X cuts the file or files/folders and places them on the clip board, you can then go to another directory and paste them using Ctrl V which moves the files from one place or another. the copy utility makes a straight copy when you paste.

Rob

 

[stats007]

The clipboard is just an area of memory reserved for copying data to - be it text, a screen dump or whatever. You can either use the keyboard shortcuts:

CTRL-A - select all
CTRL-C - copy
CTRL-V - paste
CTRL-X - cut
CTRL-Z - undo

or highlight text etc and click the right mouse button to select copy / paste etc.

 

[hawk20]

Thanks Rob and Stats.
Tried it and it works fine.
Saving the screen is often useful. Thanks.

 

[hawk20]

Here is an odd one. If I press the windows Start button (next to Ctrl and next to Alt i.e between them) and print screen it does screen dump. And if I use Ctrl Print Screen it also works.

 

[stats007]

You don't need to press CTRL-Print Screen. Print Screen just works on it's own (depending on the keyboard).

 

[hawk20]

You are right. :grin::grin::grin: Easy peasy.
Back to the thread but thanks both. Very useful.

 

[jberks]

I think we are a bit harsh with Ebay. After all, they can't be expected to police every transaction.

However I do think that paypal have some responsibility to identify anyone paid through them.

Perhaps paypal should offer an extended insurance against fraud at the time of the transaction. After all, if you had the option of paying, say an extra 1% per transaction for peace of mind, you may well take it and if not, ceveat emptor. After all, we happily pay the Post Office an extra insurance fee to cover us against their staff stealing your property.

A trader could also submit to more extensive paypal checks which would result in their accounts being "formally verified", perhaps signed off by their own bank (who should know them best), providing even more safeguards.
Whatever they did, there is certainly more they can do anyway.

As far as Ebay allowing fakes to be sold, again, caveat emptor. Most fakes are obvious anyway, if simply by price or country of origin. After all, if you buy a 6 month old £2000 swiss watch from a Hong Kong seller for £100, what do you honestly expect?? Its exactly the same as these guys selling cheap laptops out of the boot of a car, it could be genuine but not very likely.

I've looked at many ads over the years and backed off because they sounded a bit too good to be true or the details weren't quite right. Maybe I missed out, but then again, maybe I didn't.

 

[stats007]

eBay own Paypal :twisted: - they do very little to be proactive with fakes or suspending accounts. I've reported numerous auctions for illegal copies of software etc - why don't they flag their account to check for new listings?

I agree with Caveat Emptor though.

 

[Blobcat]

Google "paypal sucks" and have a read some time

 

[rf065]

I think we are a bit harsh with Ebay. After all, they can't be expected to police every transaction.

E-Bay had to compensate me when I was scammed by another e-bayer. This one had not had their identity stolen, though they did list wrong address and phone number. It was quite easy to get this info from other sellers who had sold to them before using their feedback list, which they soon made private once they knew what I'd done.

The interesting point to all of this, is despite E-Bay compensating me, the seller is still trading and still picking up negative feedback. Why does e-bay continue to allow them to use the site I wonder?

Russ

 

[jberks]

The interesting point to all of this, is despite E-Bay compensating me, the seller is still trading and still picking up negative feedback. Why does e-bay continue to allow them to use the site I wonder?

Russ

I'm amazed people buy from traders with negative feedback - its the first thing I check before bidding. Any notes like 'goods not received', 'not as described' or 'emails ignored' and I walk away.

 

[philharve]

How to prevent being ripped off on eBay

Hi All

Despite my experiences of eBay and Paypal I would like to say that I've had some fantastic bargains over the years.

The number of bad experiences I've had can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is based on over 200 transactions to date.

I agree that if the price of an item seems to good to be true then, on balance, it probably is. This is where communication with the trader will often reveal whether they are genuine or up to no good.

I have occasionally risked purchasing expensive items from Hong Kong / far eastern traders, mainly new photographic equipment (lens, filters, converters, flashguns, other accessories) and I've never been let down. However, there is always the risk that the British Customs & Excise will examine the items when they arrive in the UK and slap import duty on them. However, thankfully these occurrences are quite rare and I've always come out on top, financially speaking.

My most vexing experience was the one related earlier. The problem was initiated by a genuine eBay trader revealing their account details to a third party who then altered the trader's Paypal account and arranged for all payments from the bogus to be redirected to the fraudster's own account in the far east. THIS REDIRECTION PROCESS SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE ALL MEMBERS ACCOUNTS MUST BE VERIFIED, ACCORDING TO PAYPAL. I caught them napping and I sent a copy of their own records of the transaction to Barclaycard as evidence.

It was Barclaycard that ordered the chargeback after examining the evidence. What Paypal subsequently did was perhaps more alarming still. They accessed the fraudster's account and transferred the money back to my account. Paypal don't need permission to do this, they just do it. Could they do this to any member's account? Yes!

This was where the fraudster's luck ran out. They should have closed their account immediately after receiving my money. However, I suspect they left it active because they had a number of scams running simultaneously. Man bites dog!!!

The moral of this story is the importance of contacting the trader before concluding the transaction and keeping records.

I've risked several hundred pounds on eBay transactions but I would never risk an amount that I could not afford to lose. I know that some members of this forum have risked considerably more and purchased whole cars, not just components. I'm not sure I would be brave or foolhardy enough to risk thousands of pounds upon a car purchase but there is obviously a process to follow to prevent being ripped off. Buying cars from abroad must present the greatest risk of all?

Would any members who have purchased cars on eBay care to let other members know what process they followed to ensure the transaction went smoothly and without mishap?

Conversely, have any members been ripped off and would they care to inform other members where they think they went wrong?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Schtum]

I'm amazed people buy from traders with negative feedback - its the first thing I check before bidding. Any notes like 'goods not received', 'not as described' or 'emails ignored' and I walk away.

I agree and beware the powerseller. They are by far the worst IMO. I'm sure they right off a percentage of the sales and use that to prop up their profit margins. I would much rather buy from a private seller and in 5 years I've not been done yet.... Yet....

Paypal is OK if you know how it works and bid with care!

BTW. I bought my VFR (in deepest-darkest winter) from a Honda dealer at the trade price through eBay. What a deal that was...

 

[rf065]

I'm amazed people buy from traders with negative feedback - its the first thing I check before bidding. Any notes like 'goods not received', 'not as described' or 'emails ignored' and I walk away.

In my case, they did not have any negative feedback when I bought, that only came later, from myself and another buyer at about the same time. Before that they had 100% feedback. Since then, they seem to buy loads of cheap items to get their feedback up to say 99.5%, then they put an iten up for sale and along comes another negative and so the process continues. E-bay don't seem to care despite me pointing out the pattern that has appeared, and feedback comments are no longer available for view. If I now see someone with private feedback, I lose interest straight away and look elsewhere.

Russ