Scams Against Buyers
Part 1: Intro - Scams against Buyers
Part 2: The Empty Box Shipping Scam
Part 3: The "Expensive Phone Book Scam" or "Reach Out & Rob Someone"
Part 4: Shill Bidding
Part 5: Wrong Descriptions: The Old Bait and Switch routine
Part 6: Bid Siphoning
Part 7: The Overpriced Shipping Scam
Part 1: Scams against Buyers
According to the National Fraud Information Center, there was over 14 billion dollars worth of internet scams reported in 2002. How much of this was auction fraud?
Well, you've heard of the Nigerian e-mail scam, right? This is the one where someone, supposedly from Africa, wants to give you tens of thousands of dollars if you'll just help them handle a sticky bank deposit. Of course, all you gotta do is fork over your bank account # and other info. If you did, you got ripped off. You may have even personally received one of these ridiculous e-mails. And if you did, like most folks, you probably hit the delete key after a few sentences of reading garbage. So, since you're most likely familiar with this famous con, how much of that 14 billion in fraud do you think it represents? Only 4 percent.
Now according to the NFIC, how much of that fraud amount was due to auction fraud? Would you believe 90 percent? In other words, almost 13 billion dollars was defrauded from persons during online auctions. And although it's rare on an individual basis to most buyers and sellers, as an aggregate amount, auction fraud is growing at an alarming rate.
Part of the reason for this, is as online auctions have become more and more popular over the last few years, criminals have flocked to this medium due to it's anonymity and immediacy. Plus, they can operate internationally with relative impunity as laws in one country (like the United States) don't apply globally.
In the first couple years of auctions, before ebay was a household word and people would discuss their feedback level over drinks before dinner, the auction scam as a common criminal enterprise was still relatively new. The worst you might expect from another auction user, was a mistake or a sloppy deal. Then, the professional con artists entered the game, and everything changed- now, you have to constantly defend your wallet and use common sense when you bid or sell online.
It's still safe and very fun to use online auctions, if you use common sense and know what your'e doing. Just don't become a victim! We'll help teach you ways to spot different types of auction fraud, and possible ways to stop it.
Read Part 2: The Empty Box Scam
Back to the Bidlab Anti-Fraud Center
