How to Avoid eBay Scams and Fraud

Countless people have been scammed and 
defrauded on eBay. eBay is a fun place to bid on 
items and to sell items – but you must know how to 
recognize a scam, and how to avoid them, them or 
you quickly join the ranks of those who have lost 
their money to eBay scams. Of course, if you are 
scammed, there are some actions you can take the 
correct the situation – but in many cases, the 
scammer does indeed get away! The best option is 
to avoid being scammed.

You can easily avoid many scams with the payment 
method that you use – whether you are a buyer or a 
seller. eBay owns Paypal, and in most cases, 
Paypal is the payment method you should use. First, 
as a buyer, if you are scammed or less than 
satisfied with the item when it arrives, you can 
dispute the charge easily, and demand a refund. The 
seller must reply and show proof that the item was 
shipped, and that it arrived in the condition that you 
expected, or Paypal will return your funds to your 
account.

As a seller, you can protect yourself by only 
accepting Paypal. This will eliminate the chances of 
receiving a bad check or having the buyer dispute a 
credit card charge. Instead, they must dispute the 
charge through paypal, and you of course will be able 
to prove that you shipped the product. You cannot, 
however, prove that the product arrived in the 
condition that was expected. In this case, you should 
demand that the product be returned to you before the 
refund is issued.

Another common scam that buyers use is the 
bidding scam. This type of scam is run either with 
two separate eBay accounts – with one person in 
control of both of them, or with two friends with 
separate eBay accounts. A very small bid is placed 
on your item, using one account. This is followed by 
a very high bid, from the other eBay account. Right 
before the bidding ends, the high bid is cancelled or 
withdrawn, leaving the low bid as the winning bid.
This bid can only be avoided by setting a reserve price
 – the lowest bid that can be placed is the same as the 
reserve price that you set.

If you are an eBay seller, you can further protect 
your auctions by placing a notice on your auctions 
page, declaring that you have the right to back out 
of the sale if you suspect potential fraud. As both a 
buyer and a seller, also beware of spoofed emails. 
These emails appear to be from eBay. The email 
may claim that you need to verify your information, 
and ask you to login to your eBay account, using 
the link provided. If you follow that link, the site looks 
exactly like eBay, but it is actually a scam to get 
your eBay login details, as well as your credit card 
details! eBay will never ask you to do this. If you 
suspect a spoofed email, report it to eBay 
immediately!

Don’t let scammers ruin your eBay fun! Just use 
good common sense, and a reasonable amount of 
caution, and everything should run smoothly. Report 
suspicious activity to eBay, and if a deal doesn’t feel 
right, simply back away from it and move on to the 
next auction.

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