Watch out: e-Bay scam

[Terry D.]

Re: eBay scam & other things

Did you catch the one day auction from a guy supposedly from Hawaii? He had a 62 red automatic and a 56 Aztec Bronze frame off restored car, was e-mailing with him and discovered neither car had a VIN number, but he kept saying it was free shipping to anywhere in the US. Fired up my other computer and alerted E-Bay. The guy wanted just one thousand wired to his bank Western Union, he would then ship the car free, let you examine for 5 days then you send the remainder of the money. Of course he wanted nothing to do with an Escrow exchange. Later that day I got an e-mail from E-Bay stating the auctions had been removed and they were going to pursue fraud charges. Somehow he got some poor persons E-Bay account and posted the cars for sale.

Terry

[Wayne C.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Rob, I'll have to assume you haven't been signed up at PayPal very long. After an introductory period of time, they insist on having you authorize them to take the money directly from your checking account; that way they get the money immediately and can earn interest on the "float" before the seller collects the money. At that point, there's no longer a way to "contest" the charge.

[Rob A.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

That's interesting....I've been using Paypal for over a year now. My charges come through on my mastercard, and not my checking account. What you are describing sounds like the way it works if you give them a debit card. I have never given Paypal any information regarding my checking account.

[Terry M.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

I suggest you be wary of PayPal. There are several sites on the net which post horror stories regarding what appear to be PayPal resolution issues which resulted in loss to the payee. A Google search will bring them to light.

[Rob A.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Thanks for the heads up. With only a credit card on file with Paypal for payment, if the charge has not been paid, any disputes are handled directly with the merchant, according to their guidelines, with no involvement from Paypal. I'm sure, however, that if you've already paid the charge on your statement and then have to dispute it directly through Paypal it's different. Maybe that's when the trouble begins. Maybe accepted methods of payment with Paypal have changed recently. Thanks again for the warning...

[John M.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Rob,
I have been using PayPal for years and am a verified member (this means I had to supply them a valid bank account as identification). Every time I pay for an item, the default source of funds is my bank account, but I allways switch it to my VISA card. You have the option of paying from whatever source you desire, but obviously PayPal prefers to draft your account since they don't have any fees associated with such a transaction. I would never use the account draft method as that will take away you ability to protest a charge to your credit card provider. You can operate as an non-verified member only until the total of your transactions total $1000 then you must verify your identification.

Regards, John McGraw

[Rob A.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Thanks for the info, I guess I haven't reached the $1000 total yet. Funny, you'd think that the longer you've been a member and the more you have spent, the less need there would be for addition verification.

[John M.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Rob,
I belive it has something to do with finacial laws that PayPal and other fainacial institutions are obligated to comply with. It has to do with proving you are truly who you say you are.

Regards, John McGraw

[Wayne C.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

That's a good point; it may have to do with tracking the possible use of PayPal and/or eBay as a money laundering scheme or terrorist money transfer system, etc.

I didn't know I had the option of using a credit card rather than electronic transfer, I'll have to muck around in PayPal to see how that's done, because it isn't immediately apparent.

[John H.]

Re: Watch out: e-Bay scam

Not so - I've had PayPal for at least three years, and when I buy an item using PayPal, I always click on the "optional funding" button and have them charge it to my credit card rather than the "direct from the bank account" default method they prefer; that way I can dispute it if necessary.

[Tracy C.]

Great idea Wayne..If you need some practice

transfering Paypal funds from a credit card, email me off-line and I will provide my Paypal address and you can transfer as much and as often as you want into my account....