Is eBay losing the battle ?

[Wayne M.]

There was a pause there, for a while, but the stolen eBay usernames coupled with stolen previous (and different) ad content is gathering momentum. There's even a '67 offered for a ridiculous "buy-it-now", that (by the surrounding pics) is obviously a previous Mershon car. One guy a few days ago had the chutzpah to threaten to fine anyone $700 who dared to bid without emailing him first.

Of course the common thread in all these fraudulent auctions is to convince you to email a healthy deposit (usually by Western Union) before eBay administration is advised, and subsequently cancels the listing.

It's a riot just to read the fractured english demanding the immediate email, followed by the impecable language of the(stolen) description of the car. One fraud (from France ?) opened an eBay acct. on June 13th, posted his own (hijacked) ad and was cancelled within hours (hopefully with no bidder losing a few grand).

Is there any advice we in the hobby can offer to the eBay administration to curb these illegal activities, hopefully with the culprits being brought to justice ? Do they give a damn ?

[Rick S.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

Did you notice on the two 67's listed today (one blue the other yellow) that there is the same black fence (3 rail) in the background of each ones pictures. Also there is car hauler in one pic with several cars on the trailer. Load em up and move em out!

[Terry D.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

If you have ever had to deal with E-Bay or there so called mediator section, Square Trade, you will quickly learn they only care about the money they make. It is buyer Beware. They let people continue to bid on things that don't pay, Square Trade is a joke, E-Bay will not let them do anything but send e-mails to people and hope we resolve our own differences.

Terry

[William C.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

Frankly, when faced with a Ebay problem, I have had my best luck by obtaining the sellers name and address from eBay and then turning the issue ofer to the local police in the seller hometown. Worked for me...

[John H.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

Realistically, it's a hopeless situation for eBay - they get 126,000 new listings every single day, and there's no way they can filter that stuff; the logistics/manpower needed to deal with "filtering" submissions in that quantity is impossible. "Buyer Beware" remains as the filter, and anyone dumb enough to fall for "Portugal Pete", "Italy Tony", "Romanian Reggie" or any of the rest of the auction hijackers' ridiculously low prices and demands for Western Union deposits probably deserves to learn from the experience.

[Jerry J.]

John... AMEN .. NM..... *NM*

[Joe L.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

John, et al------

Yes, and the other "buyer's tool" of long-standing is the eBay FEEDBACK RATING system. Buying something like a car from a seller with little feedback and/or no feedback relative to sales of a car and/or negative feedback is a "prescription for disaster".

In my opinion, purchasing something like a car on eBay is absolutely NUTS, anyway. But, if one is going to do it, at least make sure that the seller's feedback is CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY evaluated prior to any bidding.

[Wayne M.]

Most highjack the identity (complete w/ feedback)

Most of these scams use stolen eBay username and password (gotten through a phony "urgent request" to update eBay's data base). So the seller looks trustworthy. The fraud artist then combines this username with ANOTHER source of pictures and item description (previously lifted from eBay).

BTW, (IMO) any feedback rating less than (say) 95% is a red flag.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Most highjack the identity (complete w/ feedba

Ebay users with good feedback history may find themselves getting email apparently from ebay saying that they can't accept your credit card anymore unless you update your data base. The link goes to the Skameister's address.

I've gotten a couple such emails...last one I got I forwarded directly to ebays address for suspected fraud reporting. Didn't hear anything from ebay, but I haven't gotten any more email.

[Joe L.]

Re: Most highjack the identity (complete w/ feedba

Wayne----

As I mentioned, I would still want to see a history of car sales from a seller before I bid on any car (assuming that I would bid on a car, which, of course, I'd never do). A seller that had sold miscellaneous, low buck items and was now selling a car wouldn't give me any confidence.

Plus, there's another eBay service available that would eliminate the chance of being defrauded. That is the escrow service. Purchasing a car or any other high dollar item on eBay without using the escrow service is absolute insanity.

Another thing: whenever a seller establishes "rules for selling" which are outside of eBay's established rules and policies, that would be enough, by itself, to make me forget about bidding on ANY item. Things like being "pre-cleared" for bidding (outside of eBay protocols) and, CERTAINLY, the requirement for cash deposits with bids are things that are WAY outside of "normal". Whenever I see ANY seller establish rules that are contrary to eBay rules or policies, I report it immediately to eBay. When I've subsequently checked that seller's listings I usually note that they've "dropped" the offending "rules", so I assume that eBay has intervened. When sellers establish rules that are not specifically at odds with eBay rules and policies but which amount to ADDITIONAL rules, I decide for myself if they are acceptable. Usually, I decide that they are not.

The truth of the matter is that there are ample protections for the buyer available. Folks that pass these up, fail to observe HUGE red flags, or fail to exercise common sense might just deserve what they get----if they don't get fleeced by an eBay "con man", they'll get fleeced by one in "ordinary life".

[Wayne M.]

Agree; but "pre-clear" is a valid eBay "feature"

I couldn't believe it myself, until I saw it a few days ago. Until then, such a request seemed to be the sure-fire "signature" of a fraudulent seller, interested not in bidding, but establishing email contact.

[Bob Simard]

With all of the money I'm getting from a Nigerian

widow, I can get scammed a few times and not worry.

[John M.]

Re: Is eBay losing the battle ?

John,
You are absolutely correct! Anybody that sends several thousand dollars to a foreign lister, for a car he has not even seen, deserves to be taken advantage of. What the hell are these people thinking?
I can't believe that people buy this expensive an item without either looking at it or having someone they trust to look at it. I think that people's greed takes over and they think that they are getting over on some dumb foreign seller. Most such cons rely on people's greed to be sucessful. These sellers must be having some success of they wouldn't still be doing it, but it still amazes me that people would fall for this.

Regards, John McGraw

[Roy B.]

Re: losing the battle ?

I've lived to be 64 so fare and NOTHING surprises me about people any more NOTHING

[Mike Cobine]

Feedback is a joke - forget it.

First, many will not leave negative feedback. Several reasons - the other leaves retalitory feedback, you have the only negative of 500 positive, people are stupid, no one thinks it works anymore, etc.

I've seen far too many get negative feedback for defective parts they sell. The seller turns it around that the buyer was trying to blackmail. eBay does nothing.

I've seen far too many have payment sent months after an auction, yet they give high praise to the buyer.

I had a deadbeat on my trailer in March. From the time he won to the time there was no hope of him paying, he had picked up 25 positive feedback. Most of it is glowing, with how extremely fast at paying he is, how he picks up within 30 hours of the auction end, and so on. My one negative will do what to his 100 positive?

And on the 1 negative and 2 neutrals, he left retalitory negative feedback and followup comments that made it look like the other guy was the bad guy.

I should lose my 100% for a negative on this deadbeat which no one really cares about anyway?

eBay does nothing about this.

Three strikes, you're out. Remember that? Not anymore at eBay. There are many power sellers with more negatives than I have total feedback! Does eBay kick them off? Not with all the fees they generate. Heck with the little guy who got screwed by them.

Two years ago I wanted to start an eBay vigilante service. You have a deadbeat down the street from me, I'll pound his door (or head) for you and you do the same for me if I have one in your neighborhood. Naturally we can't live that way. But the way eBay is doing nothing against the bad guys, unless it hits eBay's pocket, the vigilante idea has more and more merit.

(And if anyone is in Coldwater, Mich. ...)