eBay warning FYI
Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:18 am
After seeing the "great tractor deal" I figure I'd share. eBay can be a good place to shop, but with some precautions: eBay will never send you an email asking for personal info of any type such as passwords or bank info, and they won't send links to do so either. They will not send you a warning of suspension that requires you to enter personal user name and password to 'confirm your account'. IF you receive any email from "ebay" that looks suspicious, just forward the email to (spoof@ebay.com). They will then reply telling you what it is. Another scammer trick is to send an email to an ebay user asking for "additional postage to ####". The idea here is that you didn't purchase that item, so you click on it to see what it is. Bad move! This one is a "keystroke virus". If you click on the link, it admits a program into your computer that allows the originator to 'see' your keystrakes as you type. Not a good thing. BUYING: Always check a seller's feedback BEFORE bidding. Then make your assessment. Some negative feecdbacks are obviously left by screwballs, others are legitimate complaints. Pay with a US postal money order. If the seller defrauds you, it is mail fraud, which the US postal service should look into. Paypal has a feature where you pay a small fee for buyers protection. Sellers can get scammed too. If you get paid with a check, make sure it has actually CLEARED before shipping the item. Your bank is required to make the funds from a deposit available to you before the check has actually cleared. That is why some sellers wait ten days, even when a check appears to clear in as little as three days. Remember, ANY form of check can be stopped or cancelled. Another scam is that a person offers to send a check for more money than the item costs. You cash it, and return the difference. BUT, it is an off-shore check that takes a LONG time to 'clear', and by the time it comes back as bogus, you have lost YOUR money AND your item! I would suggest that the only form of payment you accept from overseas is cash in an envelope for smaller sums, or Western Union money orders....and contact Western Union to determine how to do it safely. Ah, makes the tractor and engine meets look better and better, doesn't it? Harold