Online auction scams: how to recognize and avoid them

Just as with other Internet sites, you've to be on guard against individuals who want to cheat you.

Auction Spoofs

If you obtain an e-mail that looks like it has come from eBay or an additional well-known company, that does not mean it is for real: it might be a spoof, the electronic equivalent of counterfeit money.

If you obtain something like this, begin by reading it cautiously. It is occasionally very easy to spot a fake e-mail simply because the senders are often in a foreign country or, sorry to say, they may be children. How can you figure that out? Look for odd words, spelling errors, and just plain mistakes.

Not to say that a legitimate business won't make an error every once in a while, but if you get an e-mail that says, for instance, "Thank you to being a honoured consumer for our esteemed organization," stop and think. The sentence does not sound like it was written by someone who's fluent or a minimum of comfortable in English.

But even more essential, see what the e-mail is asking you to do. Why would eBay or any other online retailer ask for your Social Security number, for instance? And why would they be contacting you out with the blue to "confirm" your credit card or debit card quantity?

Why in the world would a place exactly where you have already registered a user name and chosen a password send you an e-mail asking you to reveal them? The objective of that sort of information is to provide you with the key to open the door when you visit their Web website. You may have to disclose some information if you were making a buy, but then you'd be contacting the retailer and not the other way around.

Just as one instance, eBay offers a function called Account Guard, which you can get from their Web site; it installs on your computer and provides you a message to assure you that the eBay website you go to is the real thing.

Numerous security and antivirus programs, including Symantec's Norton 360 and Norton Internet Security, feature an automatic antiphishing check for each Web website you visit. The program compares the legal registration for the Web site with what the page says it is; if the two don't match up, you will obtain a warning.

Bid Siphoning

If you are participating in an auction, you might obtain an e-mail from someone who has figured out who you're, or at least how to reach you having a message. The person might tell you, "I've got the same item for sale, and I will sell it to you for half price if you send money directly to me."

The person may claim to be doing this to save having to pay the auction site a commission, which is really a reasonable position to take, but the seller may also be just trying to rip you off by taking your money and then disappearing. If you send money to someone in this sort of arrangement, you have no protection from the auction Web site.

Shill Bidding

A seller might have "shills" placing phony bids. In an auction, a seller may have one or more friends or partners acting as shills to location bids to drive up the auction price with out any intention of buying the item. This is an additional good cause to wait to place your bid until near the finish of an auction period; you can wait to see if the cost is still attractive then.

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