Scams Against Buyers
Part 1:
Intro - Scams against Buyers
Part 2: The Empty Box Shipping
Scam
Part 3: The "Expensive
Phone Book Scam" or "Reach Out & Rob Someone"
Part 4: Shill Bidding
Part 5:
Wrong Descriptions: The Old Bait and
Switch routine
Part 6: Bid Siphoning
Part 7:
The
Overpriced Shipping Scam
Part 1: Scams against Buyers
According to the
National Fraud Information
Center, there was over 14 billion dollars worth of internet scams reported
in 2002. How much of this was auction fraud?
Well, you've heard of the Nigerian
e-mail scam, right? This is the one where someone, supposedly from Africa,
wants to give you tens of thousands of dollars if you'll just help them handle a
sticky bank deposit. Of course, all you gotta do is fork over your bank
account # and other info. If you did, you got ripped off. You may
have even personally received one of these ridiculous e-mails. And if you
did, like most folks, you probably hit the delete key after a few sentences of
reading garbage. So, since you're most likely familiar with this famous
con, how much of that 14 billion in fraud do you think it represents? Only
4 percent.
Now according to the
NFIC, how
much of that fraud amount was due to auction fraud? Would you believe 90
percent? In other words, almost 13 billion dollars was defrauded from
persons during online auctions. And although it's rare on an individual
basis to most buyers and sellers, as an aggregate amount, auction fraud is
growing at an alarming rate.
Part of the reason for this, is as
online auctions have become more and more popular over the last few years,
criminals have flocked to this medium due to it's anonymity and immediacy.
Plus, they can operate internationally with relative impunity as laws in one
country (like the United States) don't apply globally.
In the first couple years of
auctions, before ebay was a household word and people would discuss their
feedback level over drinks before dinner, the
auction scam as a common criminal
enterprise was still relatively new. The worst you might expect from
another auction user, was a mistake or a sloppy deal. Then, the
professional con artists entered the game, and everything changed- now, you have
to constantly defend your wallet and use common sense when you bid or sell
online.
It's still safe and very fun to
use online auctions,
if you use common sense and know what your'e doing. Just don't become a victim!
We'll help teach you ways to spot different types of auction fraud, and possible
ways to stop it.
Read Part 2: The Empty Box Scam
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the Bidlab Anti-Fraud Center
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