15 Tips on How To Spot a Scam ©

 by Cheryl L. Coccaro - April 2006 

 

NOTE: This article was NOT intended to offend anyone from any of the countries mentioned. This information has been extracted directly from the FBI site - links about being aware of SCAMS that are current.

I have another article regarding PHISHING SCAMS with samples that I have received...personally.

Most scams meet one or more of the following requirements:

You need to be aware of any potentially fraudulent site activity.

The following Red Flags will help protect you from fraud on eBAY:

  1. There are no payment instructions on the item.
  2. Seller only accepts wire transfers, money orders or cash transactions, e.g. Western Union once you've wired money, it is GONE.
  3. Seller requests that the money be sent outside the United States.
  4. Seller doesn't offer PayPal as a payment option. (Many fraudulent sellers have been banned from PayPal.)
  5. At the end of each auction, the buyer and seller will both receive each others name, address, telephone, and email info. Do not complete the transaction if any part of this info is not correct.
  6. Seller suggests through external contact that the Buyer completes a transaction outside the confines of an auction.
  7. Seller has excessive negative ratings. Always read a seller's ratings.
  8. Seller has no contact information (Contact info is only provided after winning an auction).
  9. Seller has no photo or information on their personal homepage.
  10. Seller is not located in the U.S.
  11. If an auction looks too good to be true, it probably is.
  12. Be VERY careful in dealing with buyers from foreign countries trying to buy or sell items. In the past I have had scamming emails wanting to buy my items but for a extra cost for me to refund back to them.
  13. Always contact the seller before bidding or before paying for an item. If anything seems suspicious, do not complete the transaction.
  14. If a person contacts you via email and offers to sell you an identical or similar item for a similar or lower amount, do not complete the transaction and report the user to eBay. If you find two or more of these Red flags on an auction you are watching, we recommend that you do not bid on the auction. As a general reminder, you should always use caution when bidding on items from people do not have at least 95% POSITIVE FEEDBACK. I encourage you to participate in an escrow service such as www.escrow.com. most online escrow sites are FRAUDULENT, operated by scammers for more info, do a Google search on "fake escrow" or "escrow fraud" if you must do business with a seller, insist on a legitimate service, such as www.escrow.com.
  15. Buyer offers a high-value (but fake) cashier's check in exchange for your items be careful make sure funds are available before shipping the item.
 

Questions....just email me: 

Note that the above email is NOT a clickable link- it is in .jpg format so spam harvesters can not capture it. I recommend doing this techniques on your web pages. Any questions on how to do this technique, just email me.