Using online platforms to sell or buy items isn’t new. E-commerce is a gigantic industry with over $2.8 trillion global annual turnover in 2018. This alone is a strong indicator that online trade is flourishing, and people are generally eager to utilize the obvious advantages of internet purchases. However, there are certain dangers lurking beneath the surface. Although e-commerce behemoths like eBay have come a long way to ensure relative consumer and merchant safety, trading online isn’t completely risk free. There are users with malicious intent whose primary goal when entering an online transaction is simply to scam the other party. Here we summarise the most common fraudulent tactics used to scam either buyers or sellers on eBay.
1. Seller Receives Payment and Sends Nothing
This is usually preceded by a request to communicate by e-mail or another channel with no eBay oversight. The list of reasons or excuses scammers use is overwhelmingly long and diverse. The main purpose, however, is to arrange the transaction outside eBay. When the buyer sends the money as instructed, the seller simply cuts all communication and disappears. Clients feel the real hit not when realizing they’ve been scammed, but when they find out they are not eligible to raising a dispute. The reason is simple – technically, the such transactions are not facilitated by eBay and are no subject to the platform’s terms and policies.
2. Seller Sending Empty Boxes
You see a listing for an item in high demand that’s priced significantly lower that average, even for a secondary market. You decide to go for the kill before anyone else does and rush yourself into purchasing the item. Then you receive an empty box. When you file a complaint, the response is that the listing was for the box, and not for what you expected to find inside it. This scam relies on tricking you with a decoy, usually a ridiculously low price. Excited by the awesome deal, users don’t pay attention to the detailed description which says that the traded item is actually the box. Such distractions are quite common in scams and are aimed at lowering your guard.
3. Seller Sends to Wrong Recipient
In this scam the seller sends the package to the indicated address, but intentionally puts a wrong name. When the delivery arrives, the non-suspecting recipient doesn’t accept it because of the name mismatch. The trap is that in such cases the item is marked as returned or rejected which automatically cancels the buyer’s right to complain or dispute.
4. Selling Counterfeit Items
Cheap replicas are literally everywhere, and eBay buyers are not immune to buying fake copies of expensive brand items. Unfortunately, as long as the delivered item matches the description and photos in the listing, there’s not much you could do to get your money back. Therefore, when you see a listing of high value item priced 70% below regular retail price, think twice before making an order. It’s almost certain that either the item is fake, or the merchant is a scammer who’ll try to trick you into dealing outside the official eBay channels.
5. Buyer Switch and Return
Scammers often pose as buyers and abuse the fair merchant’s intent to provide good service to customers. In this scam the buyer orders an item of relatively high value and then claims it was either damaged, or not as described. This is usually supported by photos of a broken item or a replica the buyer owned before the purchase. Such a claim gives them the right to return and refund under the eBay Money Back Guarantee. Of course, instead of returning the original item, they replace it with the broken or the fake one.
6. Buyer Returns an Empty Box
This one is quite similar to number five above. The only difference is that instead of returning another item, the “client” returns an empty box. In such cases scammers rely that the merchant would sign for the returned package and open the box after the delivery man is already gone. The item is officially returned and there’s zero evidence that it wasn’t in the box the seller signed for. This puts the merchant in great disadvantage when raising a dispute with eBay. However, the seller still has a chance because courier offices usually keeps track of the weight of the shipped items. In theory, by comparing the weight a merchant can prove that the content of the returned package was not identical to the one originally sent. However, due to the clear shipment status there’s no change for any assistance from eBay, and scammed sellers have to file reports with local law enforcement.
7. Buyer Requests a Change of Address
In this scam the buyer comes up with a seemingly reasonable excuse for a last-minute change of the delivery address, after the purchase is already a fact. The non-suspecting seller sends to the new address where the client receives the package. Then the client claims the item never arrived and requests a refund. It is certain that eBay would respect such request because there would be no evidence of receipt of the package on the client address that’s officially on record.
Common Traits of eBay Scams
Although we mentioned seven variations of eBay scams, they can be summarized in two main groups. The first is seller scams where merchants utilize various techniques to take your money while providing no real value in return. The second group is buyer scams where people posing as interested clients try to get refunds without returning the purchased items. In fact, the variation is not in the basic principle of the scam, but in the diverse tactics used by fraudsters to trick you into a risky transaction on eBay. Note that similar tricks can be used on other online retail platforms. Therefore, all users are highly advised to remain vigilant because scammers don’t limit themselves to just one shopping site. So, what betrays a scam on eBay? Here are some common traits that will help you spot potential fraud attempts:
- Scams exploit the lack of understanding of user protection policies, such as return item rules or money back guarantee. They often use fake listings of items that are exception from the money back guarantee.
- Scammers often try to circumvent the eBay user protection policies by requesting the other party to interact or transact by alternative means. This deprives scam victims of solid evidence during dispute resolution – evidence that would be available if the entire exchange is done within the eBay platform.
- Scammers exploit delivery service terms and payment service terms. Claims of failed delivery are often submitted via PayPal. Apart from the seller and buyer, there are at least three other parties involved in an online purchase – the platform, a delivery service company, and a payment service company. This means you should be familiar with the terms and policies of each of these companies if you want to be on the safer side. Whether buying or selling, there are too many details to overlook, that can turn out to be important at a later stage.
- Scammers use bait to rush users into a transaction. Ridiculously low prices and impossibly good deals are often used to raise excitement and lower your guard.
Some of the scam signs above are much harder to spot than others. For instance, when you sell something on eBay you don’t know in advance whether the buyer will request a return and refund. Also, when they do, there’s no way of knowing if they are trying to cheat, or if they are simply exercising their user rights. This means sellers are generally in a riskier position because the eBay terms are generally aimed at buyer protection.
How to Recognise and Avoid Scams?
Scammers aim at tricking you into action that prevents you from using at a later point the policies that protect you. Of course, large platforms used by many sellers and buyers are more compelling to scammers. Simply put, the larger the site the bigger the statistical probability for someone to bite the scammer’s bait. eBay is among the global leaders in retail, with a market capitalisation of nearly $32.7 billion by the end of Q1 2019. To give an idea of the volume of the trade, we’ll just mention that the company’s yearly net revenue for 2018 was over $10.7 billion.
That said, it’s obvious that the number of people using eBay is enormous, and it would be naive to think there are no bad apples in the barrel. There are two things a seller or buyer could do to avoid unpleasant encounters. First, it’s good to be familiar with the signals that expose a potential scam attempt. Secondly, there’s a list of mandatory things one should never skip when selling or buying on eBay. Check the following paragraphs for more details.
Signals that Should Raise a Flag
Being alert all the time can be exhausting. Excessive suspicion to everyone and everything hasn’t done good to anyone. However, there are several things that should raise a huge red flag and make you move away from a listing on eBay.
- Deals that are too good to be true – this is a classic use of decoy to mask the true intention behind a seemingly good offer.
- Suspicious images that don’t look unique or made by the user. This can be tricky because many sellers are merchants who own stock images of their products. However if an individual auctions a used item and posts a picture copied from the internet, this should make you think twice.
- Contact details and payment instructions in an image – these are used to publish details that the platform wouldn’t accept in the product descriptions. However, the software cannot read images and this is exploited by skilled scammers.
- Any attempt or excuse to resort to alternative means of communication or payment. As said already, these are used for luring the user into a transaction that’s not regulated by the eBay terms.
Some of these signals may occur once you’ve already contacted the other party after seeing a listing that looks legit. If an offer looks fine, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a scam. Remain vigilant and pay attention to what the other side says and does during the exchange.
The Scam Protection Checklist – Things You Should Never Skip
No matter if you see something suspicious or not, there are several rules of thumb you should always follow. They don’t guarantee absolute safety but usually help when something goes wrong.
- Know the rules and don’t break them. Make sure you are familiar with the eBay term and policies, as well as the circumstances in which they apply.
- Know your rights and don’t do anything that results in voiding them.
- Use common sense and don’t be greedy. Don’t let a promising offer fool you.
- If in doubt about something, ask the other party and see how they respond. If they fail to reassure you, just walk away.
- Never agree to deal outside the platform. No matter if you are buying or selling, the more exchange there is on eBay, the better the chance to resolve a dispute in your favour.
- Don’t disclose sensitive info over e-mail. Don’t disclose your e-mail either. The platform was developed to facilitate and log communication and transactions, so use it.
- Make sue you are familiar with the terms and condition of PayPal and courier services.
- When selling, make sure you keep sufficient evidence about the original state of the shipped item. Document serial numbers or other unique identifiers to avoid false claims after sending items.
- Use insurance against damage in transit, as well as all available means of delivery confirmation, even if it’s more expensive.
- Keep track of your money and make sure you are aware when payments are made. Many scams use fake e-mails that mimic eBay or PayPal messages stating false confirmations of payments.
The list above may seem too long to remember but many of these things are already a part of most people’s routine. To individuals with solid experience in buying or selling online the lines above are self-explanatory. The most important thing to remember is that eBay terms and conditions don’t make the platform safe per se. Many users are relying on the website to protect them and are not vigilant at all, thus creating a good environment for scammers.