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Online Auction Fraud
eBay sales may have grown 51% last year over the previous
year, but general online complaints jumped by 66.6% over the
previous year to some 207,000+ complaints in 2004. The Internet
Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI and
the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), stated in its
yearly report that 71.2% of all complaints received pertained to
auctions.
Online fraud is a growing problem on the internet and the
auction segment is far from immune. The IC3 reports that most
complaints consist of late or no shipment of products, items that
don't match advertised condition and bogus payment or escrow
services.
If you decide to offer "all items to be shipped within 24
hours", make sure you keep your word, and go to great lengths to
honestly represent and describe the item in your auctions. Your
bidders will appreciate your honesty and it will eventually show
up in your feedback.
As consumer fears increase, there are a number of common sense
ways to help protect you from fraud, as well as enhance your
reputation as a trustworthy seller and set you apart from the
crowd.
Watch Out for Bad Checks, Money Orders and Cashiers Checks
Years ago I had a buyer who complained rather loudly when I
didn't ship an item as soon as I received the check in the mail.
In hind site it was a good decision to hold the shipment since
the check ended up being fraudulent. Bad checks, money orders,
and cashiers checks are rampant in ecommerce today. The simplest
way to offset the danger of bad paper is not to ship the auction
item until the check, money order or cashier check clears your
bank for payment.
Overpayments
Never accept any overpayments for any item. One of the more
popular scams today is for a buyer to send a cashiers check for
an amount that is higher than the agreed upon final price. They
then claim it was in error and ask the seller to kindly return
the overage when the item is shipped. Off goes the item, the
overage amount in good money, and the defrauded seller finds out
too late the cashiers check was fake.
Use an Escrow Service for High Priced Items
The primary purpose of escrow services is to protect buyers
and sellers from fraud. Basically what they do is to accept the
money from the buyer and hold it until the buyer receives and
approves the merchandise. Please note that fake escrow services
are increasing on the internet. If a buyer contacts you after a
sale and recommends an escrow service you are not familiar with
BEWARE. At present eBay only recommends one escrow company:
www.escrow.com. For information go to
http://pages.eBay/help/confidence/payment-escrow.html
Records, Records, Records
Keeps a copy of every transaction detail from the original
auction listing to the last email. You will need that kind of
proof to validate your claims if you should find you need to file
a complaint.
Protect Yourself by Being Educated
At the very least you need to be knowledgeable about your
legal obligations as a seller and familiar with the fraud
protections and policies for the auction sites and payment
processing services you use. eBay and Paypal have extensive
sections on their websites dedicated to fraud policies and
protections. You should take the time to read through these or
similar information pages for the sites and services you use on a
regular basis and be very familiar with the material.
A few of the key recommendations from Paypal's Protection for
Sellers section include:
Ship only to the address listed on the Transaction Details
page
Use a shipping service with tracking
Check out the buyer's reputation
Accept payment from only one Paypal account per buyer
Limit credit card payments
Enhancing Your Safe Seller Image
Here are a few tips that will help improve your image as a
safe seller for your bidders.
Identify Yourself - Make use of the about me pages to let your
customers know who you are, how long you've been in business and
how much their business means to you. Be honest.
Feedback Ratings - Auction buyers want to see 100% positive
feedback.
Methods of Payment - Make it easy for your customers to buy
but consider convenience, cost and security in choosing any
payment method you offer.
Full Disclosure - Your auction listings should clearly state
the condition of the item you're auctioning, your
shipping/insurance and return policies.
Bonding programs - A number of bonding programs are available
on the internet. One of the more popular is BuySafe
(www.buysafe.com). In a bonding program the seller agrees to
certain obligations such as shipping on time, representing the
item correctly, and standing behind the transaction. In return
the seller can display a seal on their auctions showing bidders
they are honest sellers and providing transaction insurance in
some cases up to $25,000.
Other programs you should be familiar with include:
IDVerify
SquareTrade
Trust-e
If You Become a Victim of Online Fraud
You need to know exactly what should be done in the event you
are victimized. Make your plan now, before it happens. The most
recommended steps to take if you are victimized are listed below
but please keep in mind these are general recommendations and you
should have you own plan based on your needs.
File a complaint with your auction site
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
File a complaint with the IC3
File a complaint with the National Fraud Information Center
Contact your local and state law enforcement agencies
Contact the local and state law enforcement agencies in the
perpetrator's home area
File a complaint with the shipping company you used
It the perpetrator is a business and a member of the Better
Business Bureau you should also file a complaint there.
Further reading
Paypal Seller Protection Policy (go to your Paypal
account)
FTC recommendations
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm
To read the entire 2004 IC3 Internet Fraud Report
http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2004_IC3Report.pdf
More Important Fraud Links
Find Your Local Police http://www.usacops.com
FBI Internet Fraud Unit http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.com
FTC Internet Fraud Unit https://m.ftc.gov
USPS Mail Fraud http://www.usps.com/postalinstpectors/fraud/
© Copyright 2005 Steven Woodward - All Rights
Reserved
Steven Woodward is the owner, editor and publisher of the
Auction Sellers Network (ASN); a web site for individuals and
companies who are serious about utilizing the online auction
marketplace for their business. In addition to topical articles,
ASN provides an extensive resource center, news feeds, member
forums and classified ads. For more information or to become a
member please visit http://www.AuctionSellersNetwork.com
No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this
article as long the About the Author tag is left intact and
included. We do request that we be informed where it is posted
and reciprocal links will be considered.
 MORE RESOURCES updated Thu. February / 09 / 2012
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Muckdogs planning for Hot Stove eventThe Daily News OnlineBATAVIA — The Genesee County Baseball Club will conduct its annual Batavia Muckdogs Hot Stove dinner and auction on Friday, March 2, 2012, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Terry Hills Golf Course and Banquet Facilities at 5122 Clinton St. Rd. Tickets are $25 ... |
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After kickbacks row, AP to review excise policyZee News"The next round of auctions is due in June. So we should have a new policy in place before that," the Minister added. "Syndicates are neither new nor restricted to liquor trade alone. Syndicates exist in sand and other businesses as well," Mopidevi ...and more » |
Parda Phash |
Pay more for your favorite beverage!Parda PhashSo the prices of this variety of tea are expected to go up at auctions. It will push up CTC tea retail prices in the domestic market," Arun N. Singh, managing director and chief executive of tea major Goodricke Group, told reporters over phone.and more » |
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