SCAMMER "PAYMENT" TACTICS TO AVOID. AVOID PAYING BY:

money wire transfers(WU, Moneygram, Egold, etc.) bank deposit transfers cash Paypal thru money that's in your paypal acct or bank account (Only use Paypal thru your CC so you can dispute with your CC company about any bad seller or scammer. NEVER use your bank account or money in your paypal acct.) entering CC info into a website or email paying thru any escrow sites except Escrow.com

SCAMMER "PAYMENT" OPTIONS YOU SHOULD STICK TO:

Escrow.com Paypal via Credit Cards which are Visa or Mastercard Credit Cards which are Visa or Mastercard directly to a LEGITIMATE, HONEST seller if he accepts it BUT YOU MUST DO DEEP RESEARCH INTO THIS SELLER before just handing over your financial info.

LOOK AT THE AUCTION AD AND AVOID:

auctions that end on a weekend clicking on an auction ad spyware, keylogger, trojan, worm, virus MINT, NIB, Authentic, "AS IS", etc. sellers or items outside the U.S. private auctions pre-approval auctions sellers who don't state the actual location in the auction ad e.g. Bargain4u, USA BIN auction $50 or over, especially if the value of the item is much higher stock photo copied from a manufacturer/retailer/other business website/other seller copy? Is the picture or details copied from another seller or business on or off ebay recently or in the past? price too low? Is the price too low for item? Are they giving away free shipping? TOS minor scams like link only, pic only, box only, matrix schemes, pre-order auctions bidding on expensive items. prices that are too good to be believable (but keep in mind a scammer can still have the item at a "market" level price with a discount) TAKE NOTE I'M REPEATING THIS TWICE: Keep your bid low and stick to cheap items that don't run into the hundreds or thousands of $$$ to avoid most fraud and possible violence

1. Bid on sellers who are closer in location to you. If you're in California, you should prefer to bid mainly with sellers in California or nearby states Nevada, Oregon, etc. rather than dealing with somebody all the way in Hawaii or Florida. If you have a dispute or fraud problem later, it will be easier for you to go after him.
2. If s/h is not spelled out in the TOS, don't bid.
3. If s/h is not spelled out in the TOS for more than 1 item, don't bid on more than 1 auction AND do not bid/ask for more than 1 of those items.
4. Check if the seller has a website on the Internet by looking for any url's on the auction ad or his ME page. If not, type his ebay name in Google or other search engine. The website should give the address/business name/phone number. Verify Contact Info as stated below on this page under Step #13. If their business name/address/phone number ALL MATCH THE PHONE DIRECTORY OR PHONE OPERATOR in that area, call them up and ask them what are the specific website URL addresses they use. It may be more convenient and a much better shopping experience instead of being pressured by ebay's bidding clock and competing with other bidders. It may have better prices and better items, will allow you to "retract" your purchase easier, make it easier for you to get customer service (not having to fret over feedback, etc.) and will give you more confidence to deal this way rather than trying to filter out ebay scammers. Dealing with a legitimate business gives less problems than dealing with individuals and ebay's skewed "seller TOS auction process."

1. location of item/seller
2. usually is an ooTUS seller--------item or seller located OUTSIDE THE USA
3. usually uses BIN or 3-day, especially for high priced items $50 or above OR for many pages of auctions lower than $50
4. types of items sold in past are cheap and maybe different in category compared to current high priced auctions $50 or above, especially if he's using BIN or 1-day or 3-day auctions now
5. payment methods where now he's using WU or other money wire transfer service or direct bank transfer
6. "pre-approval bidding" auctions now being used
7. bad English grammar and/or spelling in ad and/or email now seen
8. email. Seller advertises on his ad (for whatever reason) he has a different email than what is posted on ebay, sometimes asking or coaxing you to email him at that other advertised email.
9. past auctions. Does he have AT LEAST 6 past many BUYER FEEDBACKER auctions which YOU CAN CLICK ON FOR AUCTION DETAILS from 1 to 3 months ago with PRICES AT OR ABOVE AND TYPES OF ITEMS SIMILAR to your auction? If not, don't bid. He should have at least a full page or more of buyer feedbackers and the more auctions you see that he has sold for high prices that are similar to the item you're bidding on, the better.
10. Sleaziness-- Is he guaranteeing that his auctions are safe, even resorting to posting that he has the seal of approval by ebay and/or paypal. He may even say you're protected 100% by insurance from ebay and/or paypal. This is "Satisfaction Guaranteed" NONSENSE that an honest seller with honest feedback does not need to post and ALSO THEY LIE ABOUT HOW EBAY OPERATES. Example: "The deal will go through eBay because this way we are both protected."
11. AVOID any seller who emails you to try to close his auction and/or cut you a deal during or after auction(when you're not the "winner") even it's Second Chance or other ebay feature auction. To avoid downloading a keylogger, trojan, virus, dialer, etc., NEVER CLICK ON ANY EMAILS from ebay or ebayers or paypal. There are too many scammers out there. Emailing seller scammers don't want to have their hijacked i.d.'s kicked off ebay so will try to scam you OUTSIDE of ebay.

A. FAST WAY TO DO A PRELIMINARY CHECK FOR ACCOUNT HIJACKING: Compare his past auctions from 1 month to 3 months ago with the present auction you're looking at. Check for changes in:

If there are ANY changes in the above or it's email related above, RED FLAG!! DON'T GO ANY FURTHER INTO BIDDING ON THIS POSSIBLE SCAMMER!! (If you don't see any of the above problems, it could still be an account hijacking but more than likely you'll see these same problems IN THE EMAIL the seller sends you like asking you for WU or other money wire transfer service or direct bank transfer deposit or "Agent" paypal scam or fake escrow website or else you may catch him under FALSE CONTACT INFO when you verify his address/business name/name/phone number and call him)

B. Check for SELLER FEEDBACK PADDING by:

Looking at Section A #9

C. Check for SELLER FEEDBACK SHILLING:

"buyer feedbackers" located in same or nearby seller and/or to each other? too many 0 or low feedback "buyer feedbackers"? "buyer feedbackers" leaving feedback too early after the auction or all at the same time? "buyer feedbackers" all making the same comments like A+++++++++++??

1. Click SEARCH at the top of the ebay page.
2. On the Search page that opens up, click BY SELLER.
3. On the Seller Search page, make sure ALL is selected for "Include completed items."
4. Type in the seller's name and click the search button.
5. Once the page result shows up, click PRICE on the table to organize by prices with high prices first.

• TOO MANY HIGH PRICED AUCTIONS at or above $50, esp. with BIN or 3-day?? RED FLAG!!
• Most of the steps for Sections A, B, and C as well as Section "LOOK AT THE AUCTION AD AND AVOID:" should also be checked for here in his CURRENT AUCTIONS. Any and all of his current as well as his past auctions should be CONSISTENT with that of an honest seller, otherwise you're dealing with a scammer.
• Too many auctions that sell VERY DIFFERENT ITEMS from what he sold in the past? RED FLAG!
• His style of SELLING UNUSUAL in any way? For example, his feedback indicates he only has 1 page of feedbacks THAT YOU CAN CLICK ON FOR DETAILS and yet he has 13 pages of auctions running even if they are items LESS than $50? RED FLAG!!
• For the high priced auctions, has the buyer left feedback? You should expect to see their feedback right after the auction date with 1 week after for paypal and 3 weeks after for payment sent by mail or bidpay. IF YOU'RE NOT SEEING FEEDBACK BEING LEFT FOR THE SELLER'S CURRENT AUCTIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY ENDED, RED FLAG!!

D. Greedy Scammers usually want to make as much money as possible in one sitting. Check his OTHER CURRENT AUCTIONS:

E. LOCATION OF ITEM/SELLER MUST BE THE SAME

AS HIS MANY PAST AUCTIONS WHERE HE WAS A SELLER IN THE PAST 1 TO 3 MONTHS OTHERWISE YOU'RE DEALING WITH AN ACCT HIJACKER OR OUTRIGHT SCAMMER. IF THAT IS THE CASE OR AFTER THE AUCTION WHEN YOU CHECK CONTACT INFO, IT'S INCORRECT FOR ANY REASON, DO NOT PAY. REPORT HIM AS POSSIBLE HIJACKER WITH INVALID CONTACT INFO TO EBAY TO GET HIM KICKED OFF AND THE AUCTION WILL BE NULLIFIED BY EBAY.

KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL THESE SECURITY MEASURES ON THIS SPEEDY SHEET DO NOT GUARANTEE THE SELLER IS NOT A SCAMMER. There have been cases of fake fraudster "companies" setting up fake bricks & mortars businesses for a while like a real company, complete with true telephone numbers, chauffered limousines, fake employees, fake inventory, etc. & after you are scammed, they disappear except for the fake building, fooled employees, empty boxes of "inventory", etc.

AFTER THE AUCTION ENDS

F. When you get the "winning email", CHECK WHETHER THE EMAIL IS GENUINE by:

checking that you ACTUALLY WON by going to the auction ad to see who the winner is matching the location of where you're told to send payment in the EMAIL MATCHES the LOCATION in the auction ad you won and also matches the rest of the seller's current ads as well as his past auction ads making sure the seller's email is exactly the email being used by this person who's emailing you. And remember, if the seller posts on his ad, "Don't pay attention to the email posted here on ebay....Here's my real email....," or posts on his ad to email him at ANOTHER EMAIL or that he will email you from ANOTHER EMAIL, then that is a scam. The seller's email which is revealed once the auction is over and listed next to the ebay seller's name is the email you should be interacting with. checking that the NAME of the email sender is the same name that is mentioned by the feedbackers in the seller's ebay profile if the name is given. Many ebayers will mention the name of the other transaction partner in the feedback. If the feedbackers are saying "thanx for the great item/prompt shipping, Richard" and "fast payment. Great ebayer! would do biz with you again, Richard" and your email is coming from someone named Gary, RED FLAG! checking that the ENGLISH grammar/spelling in the email is not just some ootUS scammer checking that the CURRENCY is correct checking that the TOTAL AMOUNT OF PAYMENT is correct checking that PAYMENT IS IN A BUYER-SAFE & ACCEPTABLE METHOD and not just in the scammer's hallmark payment methods of WU, moneygram, Egold, other money wire transfer service, bank deposit transfer, escrow site (most escrow sites are fake & posted by the scammer) looking out for signs of SLEAZINESS from a scammer like "I'll give you a 50% discount if you buy 10 more...." or "I'll give you more xyzaa... if you pay just this more extra" or "We're guaranteed by ebay and/or paypal and/or other third party" SLEAZINESS BY DOWNPAYMENT: looking out for scammer thinking you may be on to him so he says "yeah, as a sign of trust, just send me a small downpayment of ......." checking that the EMAIL is ACTUALLY ORIGINATING FROM the email address registered with ebay--it could just have html/java/javascript/css coding that's deceiving you into thinking it's coming from the ebay address. Never click anything in the email.

Most times, if it's a cheap item like under $50, as long as as I've made sure I was damned hard on myself and only bid on sellers based on SECURITY (and didn't bid just because i'm too anxious to get that rare item or rare deal item) and done every step above to the best of my ability including for the after-auction email, then I won't verify Contact Info.

Following all the above steps will have REDUCED my RISK of running into a scammer significantly. Most sellers on ebay are honest, it costs $$ to call long distance, and life is too short to investigate every detail plus i'm a shy introvert who also happens to be a lazy buyer like so many buyers.

As long as it's under your "cheap, able to lose forever amount without losing sleep over," then you've done your best in MINIMIZING any DAMAGE if there's a possibility it's a scammer you're dealing with.

• thru ebay(only possible for bidders INSIDE the U.S.) by clicking:
  1. SEARCH on top of ebay page
  2. FIND MEMBERS on top of next ebay page
  3. CONTACT INFO on next ebay page somewhere near middle/bottom of page.

  • and VERIFY HIM. Check this name/business name/address/phone number by calling the phone operator for area location where the seller lives or use the internet URL http://www.person.langenberg.com and pay attention only to the phone directories like Verizon and Smart Pages. Most scammers can be found this way.

  • Also,CALL THE SELLER and ask him if he listed that auction and quiz him on the details of the item. Ask him and warn him of fraud if he's an "agent" or "employee" for a foreign "company" or "employer" or "friend."

  • YOU CAN ALSO CALL NEIGHBORING BUSINESSES OR PERSONS NEAR THE SELLER (by looking thru the phone directory or internet)

    CHECK THE SELLER'S LOCAL TAX BOARDS AND BUSINESS LICENSES:

  • MANY HIJACKED ACCOUNTS WILL HAVE SCAMMERS "UPDATING" THE ORIGINAL ACCOUNT HOLDER'S EBAY REGISTERED EMAIL, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER TO THEIR ADDRESS. SO BEWARE YOU MAY BE TALKING TO THE SCAMMER ON THE PHONE.

• EMAIL ALL THE PAST FEEDBACKERS AND ASK THEM:

  • THE SELLER'S NAME/ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER DURING THE TIME THEY DEALT WITH THIS SELLER

  • THE SPECIFIC AUCTION DETAILS LIKE COST/DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEM(S) THEY BOUGHT OR SOLD

  • THEIR THOUGHTS REGARDING HOW THIS SELLER DOES BUSINESS

  Check out http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6647/auction2.htm to learn if a seller may be a definite scammer

But anything above $50 (or whatever amount you can't afford to lose) means YOU MUST VERIFY CONTACT INFO AND CALL UP THE PERSON OR BUSINESS. THIS IS TOO MUCH $$$ TO RISK. 13. Before you send your money, check and verify Contact Info:

If there are ANY suspicious problems above, NO MATTER HOW LITTLE, (like a name not spelled correctly, a business name that doesn't match, an address that doesn't match, a phone number that doesn't match, use of answering machine instead of the seller answering live, use of fake address like P.O. Box or Suite# or PMB for address, seller is said to "live" there but you haven't been able to contact him for the last 24 hours, cell phone which can be easily disconnected instead of the regular line phone, etc.) that's a RED FLAG!! DON'T GO ANY FURTHER INTO BIDDING ON THIS SCAMMER!! Report to ebay as invalid ebay contact info and get this scammer kicked off ebay before he can scam others and before he can leave you bad feedback. AGAIN, BECAUSE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES/NUMBERS OF FRAUD OUT THERE, NO MATTER HOW GREAT THE SELLER'S RATINGS & CONTACT INFO ARE, NEVER BID 3-DIGITS, 4-DIGITS, OR MORE $$$ ON EBAY. IF YOU LOSE THAT MONEY, YOU WILL HAVE A LOW TO NO CHANCE OF GETTING IT BACK EASILY. THERE HAVE BEEN TOO MANY VICTIMS WHO HAVE LOST MONEY PUTTING TOO MUCH OF THEIR TRUST IN EBAY.

Go to Cheatsheet for the next steps if you need them.

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