The article "Safe Trading on eBay: Avoiding Fraud for Buyers & Sellers" is about auctions, it was released by Adam Ginsberg.
Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play your favorite all news radio station an you’ll become acutely aware of the “so-called” fraud online – specifically related to eBay.Definition of Fraud: “In a broad strokes definition, fraud is a deliberate misrepresentation whcih causes a second person to suffer damages, usually monetary losses.”Like many, I have had negative experiences one eBay.
However, I’ve also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real wolrd.
The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of real-life society where 99.9% of people are good nature.Have you had a bad experience on eBay?
I spkoe with somebody last week who said that a “fraudulent experience on eBay” ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform.” That seems just a bit immature, don’t you think?
Just a couple of weeks ago my nine year old daughter left her board shorts on a lounge chair while swimming in the pool (at a nationally recognized vacation resort). When she returned, her shorts were gone. Someone stole her shorts.
Fraud and theft. How should my nine year old respond? Should she never swim in a public pool again? Of course not.
But, she can learn a valuable life lesson of how to proetct herself and her house. And to that we discover the purpose of that article. How can we protect ourselves from potential fraud on eBay?Fraud on eBay, while small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow the following points to reduce the potential of fraud on eBay in your online trading adevntures.
Fraud Tip #1: Understand PhishingA new word to the Websters’ Dictoinary for 2005, that has become #1 of the top areas of Fraud Alert in the history of the World Wide Web. Here is the definition from dictionary.Com: “A method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The visitors to the site, thinking they are purchasing something from a real business, submit their personal infromation to the Internet site. The criminals then use the personal information for their own purposes, or sell the information to other criminal parties.“ In specific terms, it may relate to your eBay membership, PayPal account, bank account, credit card, or other account whree you need an ID, password and/or personal information. Fraud on eBay can ocucr when you receive a phishing e-mail that sounds 100% legitimate.
It might come from: support@...
And looks like this: “Dear eBay member, You have receievd that warning cause we have strong reason to believe that your eBay account had been last week compromised and it could be used by a third party without your authorization. In order to prevent any fraudulent activity from occurring we are required to open an investigaiton into that matter.
To speed up that process, you're required to veirfy your eBay account by following the link below.”a.
Here’s what happens: when you click on the link listed, you're taken to a web page that looks exactly the same as the sign-in page -- for example, you're sure you're at the eBay sign-in page.
You are asked for personal information, inlcuding ID and password, etc.How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other secure Internet site will NEVER ask for your personal, identifying information in an e-mail.
What should you do? Delete the e-mail and tell yourself you’re not going to fall victim to a phishing scam.A high percentage of online and eBay farud is eliminated simply by understanding phishing and knowing how to deal with it.Fraud Tip #2.
Only Buy From Sellers With an Established Feedback ScoreLove or hate eBay’s feedbcak system, but is has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can weed out potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing their feedback score. Pay particular attention to the last 90 days and be sure read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages.
A sellers feedback score will is increasingly important if you're pruchasing a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following that Fraud Tip.Fraud Tip #3. Do Not Pay With Western UnionThe chance of Fraud on eBay has been rdeuced through eBay’s own internal policing of buyer payment options.
If you're going to pay for an item you purchase on eBay – always use PayPal as you're covered by PayPal’s buyer protection program. Here is eBay’s latest “Safe Payments Policy:“Permitted on eBay.Com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, crdeit cards including Mastercard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfres. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in preson transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through Certapay and Porpay. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier’s checks, certifeid checks and other negotiable instruments.
Not permitted on eBay.Com: Sellers may not solicit buyres to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Westren Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment metohds not specifically permitted in that policy.” With regards to cash payments on eBay, "The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and at that moment eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."eBay Fraud, which accounts for only a small farction of one percent of all transactions can be significantly be reduced by your use of PayPal.Fraud Tip #4.
Preventative Measures - Tips For Your ProtectionThe IFCC ( Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that includes a tips page where you will read about Internet Auction Fraud, Non-Delivery of Merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter Scam, and Business Fraud.In a impeccable world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but, unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others.
The Intenret provides tremendous opportunity – like anything else, use it wisely.Adam Ginsberg – Entrepreneur, Author, SpeakerAdam Ginsberg is internationally known as a small business and online expert and highly sought after speaker and trainer. Adam has published the #1 best sellers “How to Buy, Sell & Profit on eBay”.As well as “The Automatic Money Machine on eBay”.For more information or to contact Adam you can also visit:Adam Ginsberg
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