ebay scam from

[bigalhx1]

just sold a phone on ebay and it sold for good money after getting a email from Ebay and paypal saying all was ok with the sale and money last night. then this morning the buyer asked for it to be sent to Nigeria so the girlfiend went and posted it then when we get home ebay says it was unauthorised bidding and had bin withdrawn and then paypal say it was a bogus email from them and they had not sent one or have any money and the lady on the phone just said have you sent it to Nigeria and (2 late) informed us that they are doing it all the time so basically i have bin shafted LOL but thank ebay and paypal for the warning that if you get a email asking for your goods to be sent to Nigeria it most likely to be a scam and don't send it i suppose it would not look good to warn you that this must be happen all the time that there site is not as safe as they make out.

[AndrewT]

The words Nigeria and Ebay scam go together like strawberries and cream.

As soon as someone asks for an item to be sent to Nigeria (or Indonesia or Romania) do not send any item or money and contact Ebay.

[Acidmouse]

On all ebay stuff I never post to anywhere outside Uk, this is a big scam that hits alot of people

[TightPaulFolds]

There are lots of scams going around Ebay at the moment, they have just announced a planned tightening of all their security measures, to protect both buyer and seller. In the meantime, I would be very careful about sending goods abroad to places like Nigeria, Thailand, and England.

[Nem]

I received this emal from eBay today:

As eBay has grown, we've seen an increase in the bad experiences members face due to two factors: increased fraud across the internet and a very small proportion of sellers who fail to deliver a positive buyer experience. At the same time, there are many more online shopping choices, and our buyers' expectations are growing.

Therefore, we're stepping up our efforts to stop bad experiences on the site and are excited about the positive impact this will have. Read on for more details about what this will mean for eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.

Regards,
Garreth Griffith,
Head of Trust & Safety, UK & Ireland
         
      
   Taking an even more proactive approach to Trust & Safety

# Safeguarding Member IDs - Before Christmas, we introduced a major change to auction-style listings in the UK by making bidder IDs anonymous in certain circumstances. We did this to protect buyers from potential fraudsters and early results show it's working. This change will take place on eBay.ie at the end of January.

# Preventing the Trade of Counterfeits - Counterfeits are a global problem. On eBay they result in negative experiences for buyers who unwittingly bid on them. The sale of counterfeits is illegal and buyers who knowingly purchase counterfeits are supporting an illegal industry. As a result, we will require additional verification requirements and restrictions for certain types of items.

# Re-enforcing our Policies - We're taking a stronger stance on reinforcing our policies in areas that provide bad buyer experiences, such as when sellers charge excessive postage or when sellers lie about where they or their items are based.

# Enhanced Buyer Protection - Later this year we are going to strengthen and simplify our purchase protection programme, so that more of the items you buy are covered.


Read about the details of these improvements here.    
      
         
Holding sellers to higher minimum standards

# Private Feedback - Last autumn we removed the ability for sellers to make their feedback private. This was important, as it means sellers with poor track records can no longer hide their bad reputations from buyers.

# International Trade Requirements - We've also implemented new registration requirements for sellers who want to list outside of their registered country. This should lead to a reduction in the number of suspended sellers and cancelled listings on the site.

# Feedback 2.0 - This is a new approach to feedback that will give good sellers a real chance to shine, and buyers the opportunity to choose between sellers, based on the level of service they provide. We will launch a test of this in the UK and Ireland in February.
Find out more.

# Eliminate Pre-Approved Bidder (PAB) - Also coming later this year, we're going to remove the PAB feature for the vast majority of our sellers. Experience has shown that sellers who use this feature are often less reliable, and it is often used to support off-eBay trade, which is not safe.

# Consequences for Seller Non-Performance - A very small proportion of sellers provide the majority of bad buyer experiences, so we will enforce strict consequences on these sellers going forward. This will level the playing field for our best sellers, who provide consistently high levels of customer service.

[LLevan]

As a power seller on Ebay I have 2 main rules:

1. I dont sell to outside the UK.
2. I never accept Paypal unless the address comes up as confirmed on Paypal.

Also if someone pays by Paypal I also sign into my Paypal account and check that payment has been received prior to dispatching goods.

Paypal have an incredibly bad chargeback system whereby if the payment is questioned they deduct the monies from your account immediately with very little recourse and basically you will lose out so I would recommend the above 2 points before accepting Paypal as a means of payment. Paypal tend to let people open accounts without verifing that the credit card used belongs to the individual and usually allows them to spend up to £500 without any checks on their identity. As Paypal knows that their chargeback rules wont affect them they allow this practise in order to maximise business. Without wishing to advertise I would recommend setting up a Nochex account as all payments by Nochex are guaranteed unlike those from unverified accounts on Paypal.

[Zebediah]

Half the sellers on ebay have a note saying they don't ship to Nigeria.

[Nem]

As a power seller on Ebay I have 2 main rules:

1. I dont sell to outside the UK.
2. I never accept Paypal unless the address comes up as confirmed on Paypal.

Also if someone pays by Paypal I also sign into my Paypal account and check that payment has been received prior to dispatching goods.

Paypal have an incredibly bad chargeback system whereby if the payment is questioned they deduct the monies from your account immediately with very little recourse and basically you will lose out so I would recommend the above 2 points before accepting Paypal as a means of payment. Paypal tend to let people open accounts without verifing that the credit card used belongs to the individual and usually allows them to spend up to £500 without any checks on their identity. As Paypal knows that their chargeback rules wont affect them they allow this practise in order to maximise business. Without wishing to advertise I would recommend setting up a Nochex account as all payments by Nochex are guaranteed unlike those from unverified accounts on Paypal.

You should also be suspicious of accounts with low feedback, accounts which have not made many transaction's within a recent period (the account could be hacked) and anyone wanting the gift sent to their Cousin's best friends cat in Nigeria!

Also, do not pay via Western Union and do not pay via bank transfer; as you will not be covered by eBay's insurance

[Acidmouse]

Also worth looking at someone's feedback if under 100.

Very easy to get a new account with 100 positive feedback in a day or so selling some ebooks you got for free and flogging them for 1p.

[matt674]

i'm 100% full proof from any kind of ebay scam - i dont have an account, i've never bought or sold anything and i've only visited the site once.

But then thats because i trust no-one!!!! You know who you are - i'm on to you, its only a matter of time.......

Hang on, i just need to go and take my paranoia pills

[mex]

Don t send until you ve got money in pay pal and x fered back to your bank keep pay pal nearly empty