Ebay Fraud

One man's trash is another man's treasure. This is essentially the philosophy of eBay, and which is why it's become one of the most successful companies in the world. What's not to love, with its amazing breadth of offerings from cars and furniture to antiques and electronics, most at bargain prices? It also boasts a friendly website and more than 200 million users worldwide, and the number is growing. And so is the number of identity fraud scams.

Which is why you should take precautions whenever possible to avoid becoming another eBay scam statistic. Be aware of what risks you might encounter as you sell and buy on one of the world's greatest market places.

Stealing Your Identity

When it comes to hacking into accounts, identity thieves have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. The most effortless way is for you to willingly provide security information to them, and despite what you might think, this happens far too often than it should. It's easy with phishing scams, in which a fake email – usually asking you to verify your account information -- is sent to your inbox. You're then asked to click on a link to a fake eBay page that is actually just a platform for stealing your information. Once you click on the link and enter your information, you've essentially handed over your details to thieves so they can make purchases with your account.

Unless you know your credit card on file is expiring soon or you've recently made some big changes to your account information, you should never be asked to update your account. If the email looks and sounds suspicious, then it probably is. Don't click on any of the links within the email and instead visit the official eBay website and email customer service with the details of the phishing email.

Creating Bogus Identities

The flipside of the identity game is when the thieves create a fake seller identity so you buy products from them that never materialize. Often, the products they're selling are expensive electronics or rare items that they have multiples of, all of which are priced at nearly nothing. This generates a lot of excitement in buyers who are thinking they are getting the bargain of the century. Once paid for, however, the item is never delivered and you'll find that the seller is no longer a registered user.

As the saying goes, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of big ticket items such as laptop computers, iPhones and rare memorabilia that are listed at prices that are next to nothing. Also make note of when the member was registered. If their details say they were just registered a few days ago, then that's almost a sure sign of an untrustworthy seller. Feedback is also important, and if they have zero feedback, then you probably want to steer clear of that seller, just to be safe.

Tips to Prevent eBay Fraud

•    The URL you're being directed to should begin with the secure "https://" instead of just "http://"
•    When in doubt, go directly to the website instead of clicking on links within suspicious emails, and ask eBay to verify they email that was sent to you
•    Don't bid on miscategorized items, such as laptop computers listed under "mens shoes"
•    Make your password very random, not incorporating obvious information such as  birthdays, names of pets, etc.
•    Change your password every few months
•    Make sure your wireless (WI-FI) settings are set to the maximum security level, not the factory default security settings
•    Use verifiable means of payment such as PayPal or a credit card, not bank transfers or other money transfer agencies
•    Use caution when the seller asks you to contact them directly via their email rather than eBay's tracked communication feature
•    Get up to speed on how to protect your account, straight from eBay