Of the millions of transactions that transpire on eBay each day,
only an infinitesimally small percentage are fraudulent.
However, even that small percentage means that fraud does still
occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming the victim of a
scam? By recognizing common signs of fraud:
1. “Phishing” expeditions. According to eBay guru Skip McGath
(http://SkipMcGrath.com),
“phishers” send out mass emails, posing as eBay, or any company,
and asking the recipient to confirm their password, which they
use to hijack their account.
* Advises McGrath, “Any email that’s really from eBay will be on
your My eBay page under your My Messages, NOT in your inbox.”
* Always log into eBay — or any password protected site — by
going to the site from your favorites bar, or by typing in the
URL yourself. Never log in on a page you opened through an email
link. No matter how authentic the page looks, there’s a good
chance you’ve been redirected to a phony site.
2. Unauthorized suppliers. You need to verify your suppliers –
not everyone that claims to be selling wholesale products is
legitimate.
* If someone claims to be selling you wholesale items, but
doesn’t require your Tax ID number, they’re not legitimate.
* If you see a drop ship site with name brand logos plastered
everywhere, they’re very likely NOT an authorized dealer –
accounts with large brand companies are extremely difficult to
establish, and the logos are copyrighted material.
* If you’re using a new supplier, start out with a very small
order to test their service and examine their products. If you
find they’re fakes, you’ve learned your lesson at a minimal cost.
3. Counterfeit cashier’s checks and money orders. Be
particularly careful with international buyers who need you to
send an expensive item to an “agent” along with an exorbitant
fee.
* Before you send out a buyer’s item, or forward any “agent’s
fees” from their check, take that check to your bank and have
them call the issuing bank and verify the check is good. If it’s
not, you’ve saved yourself a lot of money. And if they tell you
it’s good and turn out to be wrong, you aren’t the one taking
the loss.
4. Sites or auctions that don’t accept PayPal or credit cards.
* PayPal performs very thorough background checks and is
committed to going after perpetrators of fraud; and credit cards
let you file charge backs.
* If a supplier insists on being paid with a cashier’s check or
money order, that may be an indicator that they’re not a good
product source.
Don’t let a few dishonest people scare you off of eBay
altogether. There are plenty of genuine suppliers there, and not
every user is trying to cheat you. You just need to be aware of
what’s out there, and proceed with caution. The vast majority of
transactions that happen on eBay are completely above-board:
it’s one of the safest eCommerce platforms around. Assures
McGrath, “You can buy $10,000 Breitling watches on eBay that are
perfectly legitimate. Just take those steps, and make sure you
know who you’re buying from.”
About the author: Chris Malta
Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and
Rob Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The
Internet’s Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers
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August 8th, 2007 at 3:02 am
The best tip I ever had was from the credit card fraud guy at the bank when I opened my merchant account. He said “be suspicious of urgency”. Phishers use the “reply in the next ten minutes or we’re closing your account” technique all the time – but also be suspicious of buyers who want their item shipped IMMEDIATELY and don’t care what the shipping costs are: it can be a sign that both shipping and item are being paid for with someone else’s money.
If someone claims to be selling you wholesale items, but doesn’t require your Tax ID number, they’re not legitimate.
This is only true if you and they are both in the USA. US wholesalers who don’t know what they need to do to export to e.g. European retailers are missing out on a huge market: I’ve been dealing with one recently who just keeps bleating at me “but I need your Tax ID number” – and even my French company registration number isn’t good enough for her because “it doesn’t look like a Tax ID number”. Well duh, that’s coz it’s not… off to buy from her competition
August 9th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Great article. I’m relatively a new user to eBay – only having purchasing two items so far – but hopefully these tips should help a lot of people. Cheers.
Steve
August 12th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
One thing I have seen alot lately is emails portraying themselves as Paypal Security or Paypal Account verification, saying it is about to be cancelled but I discovered they are phishing for my info and are fraudulent.
September 1st, 2007 at 1:30 pm
[...] Of the millions of transactions that transpire on eBay each day, only an infinitesimally small percentage are fraudulent. However, even that small percentage means that fraud does still occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming the victim of a scam? By recognizing common signs of fraud: 1. Phishing expeditions source: How To Prevent Fraud On EBay! 4 Signs To Watch…, Increase Auction Profits with eBay Habit: [...]