QUIZ ANSWERS

34. What are the DIRECT clues and INDIRECT OR SUPPORTING clues for Acct hijacking?

Acct hijacking --a scammer has got a hold of the ebay account of an ebayer.

DIRECT CLUES:

Direct Clues are clues that DIRECTLY point to an account hijacker either with either being:

that the person is Not the true holder of that ebay account. If you find ANY Direct clue (in my opinion), you're dealing with a scammer. It may be true you're dealing with a legit seller, but because of the prevalence of fraud on ebay, I would rather be safe than sorry AND NOT BID or if you're already in the transaction, try and gather more clues of him scamming and GET THE SCAMMER KICKED OFF EBAY AND DON'T SEND YOUR MONEY!!

  1. LOCATION in past auctions is different compared to present auctions. It's true a seller could be travelling or have one location in one place while the base of operations is somewhere else, but experience has shown that most account hijackers will change locations because they themselves are located somewhere else different than the original holder of the ebay account.
  2. Seller CURRENCY in past is different. Same reason as 1.
  3. ITEMS sold or bought are different in past auctions compared to present auctions. Most ebay sellers are hobby specific and don't just suddenly sell high priced items from another category.
  4. Seller EMAIL is different from email registered with ebay. An honest seller could always inform ebay of their new email at any time thru the website.
  5. Seller NAME ON EMAIL is different from the name that buyer feedbackers address him by in their comments
  6. Seller tells you not to email to his ebay email but instead email somewhere else. An honest seller could always inform ebay of their new email at any time thru the website, so why does the scammer not want you to contact him thru his ebay email unless he doesn't want the real holder of the ebay account to know that he's scamming.
  7. When you call the contact info, you find out the REAL seller is not listing any auctions or is on vacation.
  8. Seller states in his ad or later in his email that he wants wants MONEY WIRE TRANSFER ONLY and/or BANK TRANSFER DEPOSIT and/or FAKE ESCROW SITE THAT LOOKS LEGIT and that the seller INSIST you use as payment. This may seem odd to be putting it under DIRECT clues and there may be a few honest sellers who use Money wire transfer or bank transfer deposits or escrow sites that are not escrow.com, but experience has shown that 9.9 times out of 10, a seller who uses these types of payments is a scammer.
  9. Seller says to send payment to a United States address and you look up that address with the phone operator and call that person and that person says he's not the direct seller but works for an overseas "company" where he's an "agent" or says he's a relative/friend of the seller who's overseas. Obviously, the scammer is using an internet jobseeker or a relative/friend/accomplice in the U.S. as an "agent."
  10. Seller lists MANY AUCTIONS and many of them with BINS and/or (1-day or 3-day) auctions especially for high priced auctions. This is an obvious RED FLAG!!
  11. Seller says cheap or free shipping, especially for a large or expensive or heavy or delicate item. This is an obvious RED FLAG!! Most honest sellers can't afford to give away shipping for expensive items.
  12. Seller closes auction and emails you to cut a deal.
  13. You get emails from ebay, paypal, money wire transfer places, etc. that this seller is guaranteed. This is an obvious RED FLAG!! Reputable commercial businesses will NEVER do this since they already have your info. If you have a bit of doubt whether it's a scam or not, go to your phone operator to get the phone number of that company and ask them about this. IGNORE THE EMAIL AND THE EMAIL'S CONTENTS NO MATTER HOW LEGITIMATE IT LOOKS WITH COMPANY LOGOS, ETC since you'll just be looking at the scammer's LIES or what he's copied from another website.
  14. Sleazy tactics: Seller guarantees his items 100% with ebay/paypal protection/insurance. Seller may even email you to cut a deal during or after the auction whether you win or lose and may say something like "I'll give you a bargain if you buy more xxxxx" or "You only have to pay half now and the rest later" or "I'll give you the discount and all you have to pay now is ....." or whatever bologna is going to get you to pay.
  15. LOTS OF BIN and/or (1-day or 3-day) auctions for items $50 or over, especially for the fields that have items hundreds or thousands or more $$$'s
  16. Contact info has the phone number not working or not attached to that seller.
  17. Contact info is not correct for that name AND address AND phone number.

INDIRECT OR SUPPORTING CLUES:
Indirect Clues are clues that give SUPPORT as to whether the seller will more likely be a scammer. If you only have one supporting clue that pops up, that may mean anything, but if you have a few supporting clues popping up, especially with any Direct Clues, then you're dealing with scammers.

  1. Seller is outside of the United States and so tells you to send payment outside of the United States. (I've bought high priced items from sellers outside the U.S. in the Philippines and in the UK, but i review/research feedback and contact info carefully. But usually, most of the scammers come from outside the U.S. since it's harder to get law enforcement on them so they keep on coming back on ebay to scam people. I list this as #1 because it's the one thing that most ebayers will look for since there's so much fraud with sellers outside the U.S. If the seller comes from outside the U.S., that's a RED FLAG!!)
  2. Bad english grammar/spelling email. More than likely an ooTUS scammer seller.
  3. Seller wants pre-approved bidders. Obviously, scammer wants to hide from ebay and "pre-approve" the bidders by deceiving/coaxing them by email to send "payment" fast.
  4. The price of the auction is $50 or more in a field rampant in fraud.
  5. MANY PAGES OF CURRENT AUCTIONS (no matter what the price of the items) with a feedback profile that does not fit e.g. low or only moderate feedback seller in the past which tells you that the seller didn't sell much previously yet is selling like a maniac now. Many of the auctions may even be 1-day or 3-day or BIN.
  6. Auction picture looks like a copy of manufacturer or other seller or retailer.
  7. Auction ad looks like a copy of manufacturer or other seller or retailer.
  8. Item price is exceedingly cheap for such an expensive or rare item. This is an obvious RED FLAG!! Again, you have to keep asking yourself, why is the seller basically "giving away" his item?? Why not just list it as a regular auction where as many people can bid on it to its highest price and the seller gets the most money?

35. What BENEFITS do you get BUYING FROM A WELL-KNOWN, RELIABLE RETAILER or Manufacturer OR BUYING IN THE FLESH NEARBY YOUR HOME that you will almost never get ON ANONYMOUS "WE'RE JUST A VENUE-DON'T CALL US IF YOU'RE RIPPED OFF" EBAY?

EBAY MAKES YOU APPRECIATE BUYING RETAIL. Outside of ebay at most retailers, you receive:

  • full or nearly full refund back for just about any reason without you having to return item 1st and without having to buy separate insurance,
  • simple or full warranty,
  • most retailers have a free 1-800 toll-free number so it costs you nothing to call long distance to them
  • sometimes with store discounts,
  • item AS DESCRIBED and no hassle with DOA used junk,
  • fast secure shipping sometimes by a reliable private carrier like DHL or Airborne,
  • better faster customer service by email and phone,
  • ability to pay by Credit card or other form of payment,
  • online tracking system -- almost every reputable seller i've bought from online outside of ebay has a tracking system so you don't get panicky wondering where your item is e.g. shipping tracking websites on UPS, Airborne, etc.
  • + no need to defer to scammer or bad or poor seller to WAIT for ANY unexpected delay on his part (as advised by ebay forum sellers) which stalls you past the 30-day limits for the ebay/paypal protection plans-----With a REPUTABLE RETAILER, you can email IMMEDIATELY for ATTENTION and EXPECT IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
  • + under no time pressure to hurry up and pay or bid. Unlike ebay which has a 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, 7-day limit, you have NO TIME LIMIT if it's retail/manuf.--if you want, you can look at it all week or all month or all year and compare it to similar items on and off the web and decide to buy or not to buy next week or next month or next year. Buying outside of ebay allows you to make decisions in your own time instead of based on the ebay pressure time clock.
  • + no fear of being accused of fencing or dealing in stolen items, etc and then being forced to return the item which means you LOSE your money that you paid for it to the scammer
  • + if the retailer/manuf. doesn't give you your refund for the defective item, you can report them to your state's Governor's Dept of Consumer Affairs in which case the retail/manuf. will be so scared they'll give you your money back (which is a problem I had with Dell computer when they kept OBNOXIOUSLY bugging me on my workphone with their "Collections Dept." after I had CLEARLY within 1 week of purchase returned their defective computer.)

    Even if you buy from a seller that's in your town or in or near your state like craigslist.org, you still have lots of benefits just like with retailers/manufacturers:

  • if you're under a time pressure like looking for a gift for someone's birthday, you don't have to feel exasperated over the seller's quirky mode of operation--- Example: Seller lives in a rural area with only 1 car and so only ship items out once every 2 weeks. In addition, seller sends your item out in a pizza box without much cushioning. COMPARE THIS TO: Reliable retailer/manuf. ships immediately or within 3 business days, PROFESSIONALLY well-pkgd OR if you visit the seller in or near your state, you can pick it up yourself THAT DAY or week, without relying on seller's bad packaging.
  • + non-smoky, NEW item - YOU HAVE THE TIME TO LOOK OVER THE ITEM IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME OR NEARBY YOUR CITY to check for defects OR if it's retail/manuf, you can just return for a refund or replacement.
  • + never being irritated having wasted your time and energy because the seller cancelled the auction since he didn't get the price he wanted
  • + no bidding war
  • + fewer to no spam or spoof or hack emails
  • + no fear of being in a collections dispute with ebay, paypal, and the seller
  • + TOS in YOUR favor and not the seller's, basically PROTECTION FROM GOVERNMENTAL CONSUMER REGULATIONS
  • + never having to go thru the hassle and waste of time filing the many fraud reports with ebay and paypal just so you can get SOME of your money back
  • + never having to go thru the hassle of filing a police report in the seller's town; police won't take you seriously anyway in many areas of the U.S.
  • + never having to file a US Postal fraud charge since the US Postal service won't go after the fraudster either unless the amount is HUGE
  • + no fear of getting 3 NPB on your feedback and getting thrown off ebay
  • + no fear of retaliatory neg on your feedback
  • + never being told the item isn't there because a cat tipped it over and broke it
  • + never being told the most you can do to avenge the wrong is leaving negative feedback. Big Wow!!! Like the scammer actually cares about negative feedback!!
  • + clear honest listing(retail/manuf.) or quick oral agreement(in person) of the price of the item + s/h + any other fees
  • + not having to get in fights with misrepresenting sellers-- never having to deal with a seller's "Well, i don't know much about it" misrepresenting lie OR seller lists the junk item as "Mint" on the ad OR seller blatantly lies to you by email saying it's a "great" item
  • + no need to ever email seller about whether it has any holes or cracks or anything else disastrous you have to be psychic enough to ask about
  • + being able to "retract" your purchase of the item MANY TIMES without being called a "scumball bid retractor" and being thrown off ebay
  • + not having to listen to hypocritical ebay forum sellers posting you were "stupid and greedy" in having given your money to a scammer after you followed their advice for reviewing feedback
  • + not having to file in small claims court or hire a lawyer
  • + not having to deal with possible scam ootUS sellers
  • + no hassle filing fraud complaints and bothering the police to go after the scammer YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ALL THESE RISKS - the game of ebay

    !!!!!!CHEAPER COST OVERALL WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE ABOVE!!!!!

Having said this, there are problems with businesses off ebay on the internet or offline, too:

  • it may be a shady, scam or bad business
  • it may go out of business
  • there may be a limited time limit (e.g. 3 days or however many days) to get a refund or replacement
  • bait and switch advertisements
  • false misrepresented advertisements

Problems with buying nearby from private seller?

  • item can be fenced
  • once private seller knows where you live, they'll rob your house for valuables and the item back
  • item may not run or become defective until days, weeks or months later

But overall, it's better to buy off ebay since for #1 shady/scam businesses, you should be able to do research on the company before you decide you want to do business with it. For #2, that will always be a possibility. For #3, again it's doing research on the company. For #4, again, research. For #5, you can go to the store to see it and touch it. If it's online, you can get a refund or ask for a replacement. In fact, for #4 and #5, they are illegal in many areas. For #1, especially, if a company gets too many complaints by consumers to the government, their business license to operate in that state can be taken away WHICH HELPS ALOT IN PUTTING BUSINESSES IN THEIR PLACE TO MAKE SURE THEY SERVE TO SATISFY THE CONSUMER. But as you can see, the number of negatives you can run into with businesses outside of ebay is lower than dealing with ebay directly.

As for private sellers who are nearby you, unless you buy clearly expensive luxury goods like cars and rare valuables, etc., buying nearby is much more satisfying than ANONYMOUS EBAY.


the rest of the answers to the Quiz---Give me liberty from scammers or give me death!

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