The eBay feedback system is your best insurance against becoming a victim of scams and fraud. Although rare, scams do occasionally exist on eBay as with all marketplaces and a little common sense combined with a feedback check will protect you from these unscrupulous scam artist. eBay is noted for providing the savvy consumer with incredible deals but if the deal is just too good to be true then you should conduct a little research on the seller. A seller's record is available for all to see through the feedback system. We have provided a simple feedback checklist you may follow to determine the integrity of a seller.

Now would be a good time to read through the Feedback Tips section to acquaint yourself with how the feedback system works. Already familiar with the feedback system? Then continue with the checklist.

1. Sellers total number of feedbacks.Generally the more the better but great bargains are often offered by new sellers and certainly should be considered.
2. Any negative feedbacks? Your first line of defense to avoid scams. Carefully review any negative feedback and use this information in deciding if you want to become involved in a transaction with this seller.
3. In previous transactions was seller or buyer? Far right colume will have a 'S' for seller and a 'B' for buyer. A seller with feedback derived primarily as a buyer (B) generally is quite safe but this combined with other warning flags warrants careful scrutiny.
4. What items does this seller usually offer at auction? A seller that typically offers low dollar household items suddenly wants to auction his Ferrari for a quarter of a million requires you to proceed with caution.
5. Does feedback dates correspond to auction ending dates? Do a mental timeline of auction ending dates vs feedback post dates and you may discover someone praising fast delivery within hours of auction ending. Possible but not likely. Con artist need to work fast to perpetrate the scam before it is discovered and removed from eBay so may rush the feedback.
6. Recent activity? The seller has been dormant for a long period of time, no recent feedback, and suddenly offers a high dollar auction should flag you to carefully review the seller and auction.
7. Feedback posted within the last ninety days provides a live link to the completed auction through the Item Number in the feedback line. Click the item number (the number to the far right) to view the auction the feedback references. The item number links are usually available for ninety days and offer you the ability to learn more about the seller. Does the current auction you are interested in fit with seller's prior auctions and does the auction format look the same?
   

Researching a members feedback is your best line of defense to avoid becoming a victim of scams. While perusing the seller look for any out-of-place information, radical change in mode of operation, activity after a long dormant period and of course negative comments.

The sellers feedback profile has been carefully reviewed and nothing out of the ordinary is intuitive?, then look closely at the sellers current auctions, auctions in the past 30 days, and read the feedback this seller has left for others. Keep in mind that scammers generally offer high dollar items to maximize the take before they are detected and shut down so the larger the dollar amount for the planned purchase the more in depth the research should be. Contact the seller through eBay with any questions you may have prior to bidding. The seller's reply offers direct contact and provides invaluable first hand knowledge of the prosective trading partner.

Checklist for seller research:

• Is the seller using an anonymous e-mail address (eg Yahoo! hotmail), scammers often use anonymous e-mail accounts.
• Is the seller using 'stock' images for the auctions, these are usually taken from large commerical sites offering the item for sale and the manfactures website. If the seller is not using Ipix, by left clicking the image and looking at the properties the location of the image can be found. If it is located on a large commercial site or the manfauctures site this is a red flag.
• What payment is accecpted and are there disclaimers? If the seller will only accecpt certain specific types of payment (ie a money order) or has a disclaimer that the item won't ship for days or weeks after the auction ends this is a warning sign.
• Seller's feedback: an in depth look at a sellers feedback is the single best resource for a potential buyer, in particular look at:
  • Feedback for items of similar value, and look at the feedback for the person who bought it. This two-tier approach will often reveal a clever scammer, if, for example all the winners of high-end items have low, or no other feedback)
  • The auction the feedback relates to, was the auction ended early, was the winning bid unusually high?
  • Seller and buyer leave feedback on the same day the auction ended.
• If the seller is using a stock photo or didn't include a photo, ask for a current photo of the actual item, unless it's a major seller (in which case fraud should no be at issue) the seller should respond favorably to the request for an image, if the seller does not this is another warning sign.

Every marketplace has it's share of con artist, scammers and pickpockets. The great eBay market is no exception. Fraudulent users are usually quickly discovered, eliminated and often prosecuted so your buying experience on eBay is almost always enjoyable and safe. We have provided a Red Flag checklist you may use when contemplating a major purchase.

Red Flag Warning Signs

• Negitive feedback
• Feedback left by the buyer and seller the same day the auction ended, often for more then one auction. This might indicate the buyer was a shill.
• Seller's feedback composed of "B" (buyer) typically for very low end items. An example is the seller with 'B' feedback indicating a purchase of "five pencils, one sharpened" for one dollar.
• Seller has no feedback or feedback is old. (none of the feedback can be clicked on)
• Seller has never sold a high end item before.
• Seller is using stalk images (ie., photos copied from the manufacturers website)
• Seller's auction presentation is a radical departure form any previous auctions.

Most scams are for high dollar items, especially electronics, however other scams exist and being aware of the various fraud types is a valuable tool. Keep in mind new types of scams and cons are being created every day and this list is by no means exhaustive.

1. Information cons:

Often the most successful and news worthy eBay fraud involves no auction at all, but rather an official looking request from eBay for information. Remember, eBay won't ask for your password or credit card information via e-mail. If you receive an e-mail asking for information related to eBay, contact eBay via the online support forms on the site and include a copy of the information request. This will prevent information theft before it occurs. DO NOT use the links provided in the information request e-mail, they probably lead to a site or e-mail address that looks like eBay but is NOT eBay.

2. Item for sale:

This is the type of fraud that this section covers in depth, follow the advice here to avoid being the victim of these types of cons. In the United States fraud in a felony criminal activity and both the US postal service and local authorities can assist in cases of fraud.

3. Trojans and Viruses:

This is the most technically sophisticated, rarest and invasive form of fraud that can result in your computer being taken over by an attacker. This type of fraud works as follows:

• An auction has a code in it that directs your computer to an outside computer controlled by the attacker. (eg an iFrame)
• The outside computer will then transfer scripts and codes that take advantage of the insecure nature of the Windows Operating System and web browsers to install a trojan or virus onto your computer. Your now infected computer makes calls back to either an IRC (internet relay chat) or web server.
• The IRC or web server instructs the now infected machine to do certain operations such as timed status reporting. At the least, your computer allows the attacker to log your IP address. The attacker can now return and data mine your computer for personal information necessary for identity theft.

This type of fraud is the most dangerous and when well executed virtually undetectable. There are, however, a few subtle clues you can observe that would indicate your computer has fallen prey to this type of attack.

• A window pops open and closes a split second after the auction loads, or after following a link from the auction. It is generally necessary for the attacker to run the malicious code in a new browser window. Should a new window open and immediately close (usually this is a very fast event, more of a blink) before the selected auction appears is a definite red flag and you should contact eBay immediately with the action number.
• Odd open ports or processes running on the system / New registry keys in windows / New files in a system directory. All of these involve technically complex methods to examine; however, the latest virus scanner / network scanner will do the vast majority of the work. QuickHeal is especially good for this type of scan since it checks the system registry on boot up and alerts you to new registry keys. Should a new key appear and you have not updated Windows, installed new software or have suffered a major system crash (blue screen) then be very suspicious and contact a knowledgeable computer professional to examine the system.

Although this type of activity is currently rare it does exist (even on eBay) and is likely to become more common in the future. It poses a serious security risk to an individual through ID theft and an even greater homeland security threat by allowing attackers to harvest computers for a phantom network. You should have the latest virus scanner running constantly and a preventive maintenance visit by a computer professional to examine the system every few months will defeat this most intrusive form of fraud.

Tips to help protect your eBay account (and computer) from ID theft and Hackers:

PASSWORD: There are standard guidelines for good passwords.

• DO NOT:
  1. Use dictionary words (e.g. chocolate, secret)
  2. Use Proper Nouns (e.g. Chicago, Johnson)
  3. Use either of the above with numeric counterparts (e.g. Ch1cag0, s3cr3t)
  4. Use personally identifiable information (e.g. favorite author, pet’s name, child’s name)
• DO:
  1. Use a combination of alpha and numeric characters with nonstandard characters in the mix. (e.g. 645idkf%22, mha11^fawas)
  2. Use a password of at least 8 characters
  3. Use a password you can memorize.
  4. Change your password (especially if you think someone might have gotten your account information)

How to build a good password you can remember:

The truly random good passwords can be very difficult to memorize, so here is a method for creating a password that looks random, but will be easier to remember.

START with a line from a book, poem or song.

Such as:

“Twas Brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe”

NEXT: convert one of the common words to a non standard character, in this case I’ll convert ‘the’ to ‘{‘ so now we have:

“Twas Brillig and { slithy toves did gyre and gimble in { wabe”

NEXT take the first (or second…last) letter from each word so now we have:

Tba{stdgagi{w

Finally convert one (or more of the letters to the numeric counter-part: (in this case ‘a’ to ‘4’ and ‘i’ to 1)

Tb4{stdg4g1{w

And now you’ll have a password that is very secure and if you can remember the line you selected will be easy to remember.

A far more in depth eximination of passwords can be found at use wisdom website.

e-Mail/Instant Message: (Phishing and Trojan attacks):

• The mantra is NEVER:
  1. Open Attachments
  2. Click on a LINK
  3. Reply with ANY information
  

• ALWAYS:
  1. Contact eBay (with a copy of the message)
  2. Scan for viruses (especially is you accidentally opened a message or attachment)
  3. Sign onto eBay ONLY from the eBay website.
  

The most common scam is to send out an e-mail that looks like an official eBay/Paypal message requesting you “log in to verify your account” or other silliness and provides a link that goes to what looks like an official eBay page with a place to log in. That link DOES NOT GO TO EBAY!

Auctions:

Although eBay goes to great lengths to prevent malicious code from getting into an auction new security holes are discovered everyday and hackers work diligently to bypass safeguards. The ONLY way to protect your computer is by scanning for viruses and Trojans. If you don’t have a virus scanner you can scan your computer for free at the Trend Micro website (updated virus definitions daily) this will catch and clean any known virus, Computer Associates also has a good on-line scanner.

Phone/Snail Mail:

Solicitation is very rare, but the same rules apply NEVER provide ANY information and send copies or report the incident to eBay.

These simple steps will stop 99.999% of the phishing, ID theft, and hacking that eBay, Paypal and the rest of the web are subject to.

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