Easy Scams on Ebay You Should Know About!


It’s the old switch trick. You list something in an Ebay auction, someone wins the auction, and you send them the items safely packaged. That’s step one. You did everything right.

Step two. The person complains to Paypal that what you sent them is broken or they say it’s not exactly what you claimed it was in your Ebay auction. Paypal immediately freezes the money in your account equal to the amount of the auction in question. Then they tell the person to send your item back to you, with tracking. Once the item is delivered to you, the money is unfrozen, only to be taken from your account and given back to the buyer.

No big deal. Just sell the item to someone else. Wrong! If you were selling some kind of authentic designer item like a Coach purse, you get back a cheap fake. Or you get back a smashed up broken replica of what you sent.

This happened to me recently with a Bose stereo system in excellent condition that I rarely used. I paid $2,600 for it, and sold it to a guy for $1,000. He complained to Paypal that it was broken, and sent me back an empty envelope with a tracking code. He was supposed to send me back the stereo. When Paypal's system saw that the Bose stereo (really an empty envelope) was delivered back to me, they gave him his $1,000 that he paid for my stereo. What a way to make a living. This guy is still in business scamming people. Hundreds of buys and sells and eBay and Paypal will do nothing about him. Why should they? They make a lot of money on scam buyers. Screw the sellers.

There are many variations of this scam, but the results are always the same. The seller loses everything.

I have no solution for this either. You can’t go exclusively by Ebay buyer ratings to weed out the scammers because the guy who scammed me had over 300 positives and 3 negatives. Who cares that he’s 99% positive, all I know is I lost $1,000 dealing with this guy. That’s all that matters to me.

The only thing you can do, at the very least, is to make sure your paypal account is always empty, or close to it. As soon as the person puts the claim in, paypal freezes the amount their trying to scam you out of. If your account is $0, it will then be minus the amount. I cancelled the credit card and bank account associated with the paypal account. It was a big hassle, but it was either that or just let someone steal $1,000 from me. I wasn’t letting that happen.

Be on the lookout when dealing with Ebay & Paypal.

UPDATE: Months later, I sold a bin rack to someone. It came with 8 middle rails, two side rails, two base plates, etc. The guy got the package and said the box was in perfect condition, but inside the box one side rail was missing, 2 middle rails were missing, one base plate was missing, you get the picture. "Where did they go? Who knows, who cares, send me a new rack." Long story short, the guy files a complaint then sends me back a letter with a tracking code that prompts Paypal to refund his $100. I lose the rack and the guy gets his $100 back. Scammed again....

Out of thousands of eBay sales, I've gotten scammed about 1 out of every 15 sales. That's almost a 7% rate. Consider this just an extra cost of doing business if you want to deal with eBay. And just hope that 1 scam out of the 15 isn't a high priced item.

Update: The more and more I work with Ebay and Paypal, the worse it gets. Why, you might ask, do I even mess with them? They do have a good VERY broad customer base. Basically, you can sell ANYTHING on Ebay.

One tip I will give you is never send anyone an item using just stamps on the box or envelope. They'll steal the item every time, saying they never got it. You have to pay for tracking.

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John J Rogers is one of the foremost money making experts on the Internet. Visit his websites for his free articles and home business opportunities, free christian music, and silver & gold cross pendants.



Comments (3)

Daniel Marner
Said this on 10-7-2010 At 02:08 am

$$$ DOLLARS IN THE MAIL $$$

Legal money!!!!

READING THIS COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE! I found this
on a bulletin board and decided to try it. A little while back, I was
browsing through newsgroups, just like you are now, and came across an
article similar to this that said you could make thousands of dollars
within weeks with only an initial investment of $30.00! So I thought,
“Yeah right, this must be a scam”, but like most of us, I was curious,
so I kept reading.  Anyway, it said that you send $5.00 to each of the
6 names and address stated in the article. You then place your own
name and address in the bottom of the list at #6, and post the article
in at least 200 newsgroups.  (There are thousands) No catch, that was
it. So after thinking it over, and talking to a few people first, I
thought about trying it. I figured: “what have I got to lose except 6
stamps and $30.00, right?” Then I invested the measly $30.00. Well GUESS
WHAT!!… within 7 days, I started getting money in the mail! I was
shocked! I figured it would end soon, but the money just kept coming
in. In my first week, I made about $25.00. By the end of the second
week I had made a total of over $1,000.00! In the third week I had
over $10,000.00 and it’s still growing. This is now my fourth week and
I have made a total of just over $42,000.00 and it’s still coming in
rapidly.  It’s certainly worth $30.00, and 6 stamps, I have spent more
than that on the lottery!! Let me tell you how this works and most
importantly, why it works….Also, make sure you print a copy of this
article NOW, so you can get the information off of it as you need it.
I promise you that if you follow the directions exactly, that you will
start making more money than you thought possible by doing something
so easy! Suggestion: Read this entire message carefully! (print it out
or download it.) Follow the simple directions and watch the money come
in! It’s easy. It’s legal. And, your investment is only $30.00 (Plus
postage) IMPORTANT: This is not a rip-off; it is not indecent; it is
not illegal; and it is virtually no risk – it really works!!!! If all
of the following instructions are adhered to, you will receive
extraordinary dividends. PLEASE NOTE: Please follow these directions
EXACTLY, and $50,000 or more can be yours in 20 to 60 days. This
program remains successful because of the honesty and integrity of the
participants.  Please continue its success by carefully adhering to
the instructions. You will now become part of the Mail Order business.
In this business your product is not solid and tangible, it’s a
service. You are in the business of developing Mailing Lists. Many
large corporations are happy to pay big bucks for quality lists.
However, the money made from the mailing lists is secondary to the
income which is made from people like you and me asking to be included
in that list. Here are the 4 easy steps to success:

STEP 1:
Get 6 separate pieces of paper and write the following on each piece
of paper  ”PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR MAILING LIST.” Now get 6 cad $5.00
bills and place ONE inside EACH of the 6 pieces of paper so the bill
will not be seen through the envelope (to prevent thievery). Next,
place one paper in each of the 6 envelopes and seal them. You should
now have 6 sealed envelopes, each with a piece of paper stating the
above phrase, your name and address, and a $5.00 bill. What you are
doing is creating a service. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY LEGAL!  You are
requesting a legitimate service and you are paying for it! Like most
of us I was a little skeptical and a little worried about the legal
aspects of it all. So I checked it out with the Post Office
 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlightingand they confirmed that it is indeed legal! REMEMBER,
IF YOU DON’T SEND THE MONEY TO PEOPLE THE “SYSTEM” WON’T WORK AND
NOBODY WILL GET MONEY.Mail the 6 envelopes to the following addresses:



#1) Wyatt Williams 75 Chapman Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4B 1C6
#2) Connie Bantan 1484 Inwood Avenue # 6B Bronx, NY 10452
#3) Brad Anderson 1505 Roberson Conroe, TX  77301
#4) Vannie lewis 74 Carrie Cresent, Brompton, Ontario, Canada, L6Y 4Y6
#5) Joe Campbell 25 Brucewood Crs., #701 Toronto, on.,M6A 3C9, Canada
#6) Taylor Kennedy 42 leroy grant drive, apt# 1101 kingston, Ontario, k7k 6w8 Canada
STEP 2:
Now take the #1 name off the list that you see above, move the other
names up (6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, etc…) and add YOUR Name as
number 6 on the list.

STEP 3:
Change anything you need to, but try to keep this article
as close to original as possible. Now, post your amended article to at
least 200 newsgroups. (I think there are close over 35,000)  All you
need is 200, but remember, the more you post, the more money you make!
This is perfectly legal! If you have any doubts, refer to Title 18
Sec. 1302 & 1341 of the Postal lottery laws. Keep a copy of these
steps for yourself and, whenever you need money, you can use it again,
and again. PLEASE REMEMBER that this program remains successful
because of the honesty and integrity of the participants and by their
carefully adhering to the directions. Look at it this way. If you are
of integrity, the program will continue and the money that so many
others have received will come your way. NOTE: You may want to retain
every name and address sent to you, either on a computer or hard copy
and keep the notes people send you. This VERIFIES that you are truly
providing a service. (Also, it might be a good idea to wrap the $5
bill in dark paper to reduce the risk of mail theft.) So, as each post
is downloaded and the directions carefully followed, six members will
be reimbursed for their participation as a List Developer with one
dollar each.  Your name will move up the list geometrically so that
when your name reaches the #1 position you will be receiving thousands
of dollars in CASH!!! What an opportunity for only $30.00 ($5.00 for
each of the first six people listed above) Send it now, add your own
name to the list and you’re in business! —DIRECTIONS —– FOR HOW
TO POST TO NEWSGROUPS————

Step1)
You do not need to re-type this entire letter to do your own posting.
Simply put your cursor at the beginning of this letter and drag your
cursor to the bottom of this document, and select ‘copy’ from the edit
menu. This will copy the entire letter into the computer’s memory.

Step 2)
Open a blank ‘notepad’ file and place your cursor at the top of the
blank page. From the ‘edit’ menu select ‘paste’. This will paste a
copy of the letter into notepad so that you can add your name to the
list.

Step 3)
Save your new notepad file as a .txt file. If you want to do your
postings in different settings, you’ll always have this file to go
back to.

Step 4)
Use Netscape  or Internet explorer and try searching for various
newsgroups (on-line forums, message boards, chat sites, discussions.)

Step 5)
Visit these message boards and post this article as a new message by
highlighting the text of this letter and selecting paste from the edit
menu. Fill in the Subject, this will be the header that everyone sees
as they scroll through the list of postings in a particular group,
click the post message button.  You’re done with your first one!

Congratulations…THAT’S IT! All you have to do is jump to different
newsgroups and post away, after you get the hang of it, it will take
about 30 seconds for each newsgroup! **REMEMBER, THE
MORE NEWSGROUPS YOU POST IN, THE MORE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE!! BUT YOU
HAVE TO POST A MINIMUM OF 200** That’s it! You will begin receiving
money from around the world within days! You may eventually want to
rent a P.O.Box due to the large amount of mail you will receive. If
you wish to stay anonymous, you can invent a name to use, as long as
the postman will deliver it. **JUST MAKE SURE ALL THE ADDRESSES ARE
CORRECT.** Now the WHY part: Out of 200 postings, say I receive only 5
replies (a very low example). So then I made $25.00 with my name at #6
on the letter. Now, each of the 5 persons who just sent me $5.00 make
the MINIMUM 200 postings, each with my name at #5 and only 5 persons
respond to each of the original 5, that is another $25.00 for
me, now those 25 each make 200 MINIMUM posts with my name at #4 and
only 5 replies each, I will bring in an additional $125.00! Now, those
125 persons turn around and post the MINIMUM 200 with my name at #3
and only receive 5 replies each, I will make an additional $626.00!
OK, now here is the fun part, each of those 625 persons post a MINIMUM
200 letters with my name at #2 and they each only receive 5 replies,
that just made me $3,125.00!!!  Those 3,125 persons will all deliver
this message to 200 newsgroups with my name at #1 and if still 5
persons per 200 newsgroups react I will receive $15,625,00! With an
original investment of only $30.00! AMAZING! When your name is no
longer on the list, you just take the latest posting in the
newsgroups, and send out another $30.00 to names on the list, putting
your name at number 6 again. And start posting again. The thing to
remember is: do you realize that thousands of people all over the
world are joining the internet and reading these articles everyday?,
JUST LIKE YOU are now!! So, can you afford $30.00 and see if it really
works?? I think so… People have said, “what if the plan is played
out and no one sends you the money? So what! What are the chances of
that happening when there are tons of new honest users and new honest
people who are joining the internet and newsgroups everyday and are
willing to give it a try? Estimates are at 20,000 to 50,000 new users,
every day, with thousands of those joining the actual internet.
Remember, play FAIRLY and HONESTLY and this will really work.

anonymous
Said this on 5-12-2010 At 11:00 am

The bottom line is it sucks to be ripped off but eBay is always SELLER BEWARE. Anything of value is not worth selling on eBay ever. If it's not a scam asking you to send the item to nigeria(or somewhere else far out) then it's a "unhappy customer" who will send the item after they have done a few rounds on it with a crowbar.

I closed my account after far too many rip offs and recently sold a netbook on my friends account. Oh no, a netbook, yup you guessed it "not as described" claim. She's not very happy at me or at him even though I did nothing wrong but it's my fault for once again selling on Ebay.

Paul
Said this on 3-1-2009 At 05:40 am
I have several comments:
1) did you contact the police about the Bose stereo? This person has committed a crime, and you had his name and address, so pass the details to the police and let them investigate it.
2) a suggestion how people can protect themselves against this scam - if someone says what you sent them is damaged and Paypal tells them to send it back to you with tracking, then you know to be on the look out for a parcel to be delivered to you that needs signing for. So, don't sign for anything until you've checked it out. If you expect a big parcel to be returned to you, then don't sign for an envelope! Also, check who sent whatever you sign for (presumably they have to put their name and address on the parcel/envelope). If it's not the person you sent the original item to, or someone you know, or are expecting a signed-for item from, then refuse to sign for it. Or, if it is the original parcel you sent out, then open it in front of the postal worker to check it (before signing - explain to them why you're doing this, and i'm sure they won't have a problem!). And, if necessary, call Paypal right then and there and explain what's happened and tell them that not to unfreeze your account until they've investigated the matter further!
3) I do think there is a relatively simple solution that could easily be put in place by Paypal, especially if people like you, who have been victims of scams like this, complain to Paypal and tell them they should implement these measures. In fact, everyone who uses Paypal to receive payment for items sold on Ebay, etc., should write to Paypal and insist they implement this system! So, the solution - instead of Paypal using what seems to be an automated system that automatically unfreezes the seller's account once their system detects delivery of a tracked item, all they need to do is change it so that the system automatically sends the seller an email asking them to confirm that they received the returned item, and giving you up to 48hours to respond before they then unfreeze your account. This could probably stop almost all of these types of scams - the person can't just send you an envelope, or an empty box, cheap fake or broken replica, because you'll spot it and then reply to Paypal that you didn't receive the item back, at which point they could then freeze the buyer's account and investigate they and not pay any money back to them unless they send you back the original item. Also, to minimise the scammers chances of fooling you with a broken replica, take photos of the item before you send it to them; you could even mark the item with an invisible marker (as long as it won't damage the item in any way!), and then check if the broken item returned to you is also marked.

Hope my suggestions help!
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