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Online Auctions

Online-auction customers lodged more than 20,000 complaints with the Federal Trade Commission in 2001. Such complaints are the second-most common filed with the agency. The Internet Fraud Complaint Center said auction scams account for 43 percent of all reported online fraud. 
    

  • Check Feedback, Check a Seller's Recent Selling History, 
  Check Seller's Advertised Location, Read the Description
  

  •  It is common for fraudsters to boost their feedback ratings by buying  and selling inexpensive items, like recipes.
 
  • If the seller received feedback from the buyer the same day the
   auction ended, it's suspicious.

  •  If the seller has sold 50 identical new-in-box ibooks in the last
   month and nothing else, it is likely a scam.

  • If the seller is listing NEW laptops with a Buy-it-now price that is more than 10% below retail price it is likely a scam.

  • In general, do not buy anything expensive from a seller in a different country.

  • If your seller does not accept credit cards (either directly or through an online service like Paypal or Billpoint), then be very very careful. 

  • The eBay average is one negative feedback for every 168 positives; Anything higher than 1% negative is a warning sign.

  •  Installing any commercial software without the CDs is usually software piracy.
  

  
  Online fraud growing - Dec. 2002 InternetNews article

 www.basestealer.com/  - Internet Fraud Resource Center 
(will move to www.fraudresources.org/ ) 
LaptopScam.com/
Online Fraud Prevention Tips  at AntiFraud.com

Mail Order Warning here
Online/mail order buying tips

Consumer fraud against retailers

According to an 2002 Gartner Survey,

 "Credit card fraud causes e-tailers to lose about 1% of their transaction volume and sales revenue, while e-tailers reject 6% of consumer purchase requests because they appear suspicious. Gartner analysts note that 6% of sales equals $950 million in revenue for the fourth quarter alone.


The e-commerce leaders surveyed admitted that they mistakenly reject about 2% of total sales, costing them $315 million in sales."


Internet fraud rates are about 10% higher than brick-and-mortar rates.
Many cases are from stolen credit card numbers.

"From a financial perspective, the merchant pays the most for these types of theft. By law, U.S. cardholders are responsible only for the first $50 of a fraudulent transaction, and MasterCard and Visa recently waived that requirement for online commerce. "





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