|
Verified ebaY Transaction Fraud |
|
A buyer makes a purchase they think is being completed through ebaY. The sellers sends an invoice to the buyer, that the buyer thinks came through the ebaY system. The sale is not on the ebaY site and is not being completed through ebaY, so the buyer is fooled and loses their money. Here is what one of these invoices looks like.
 |
Looking at the images to the left, there are several things that show this is a scam.
To start with, ebaY does not now and never has verified a transaction. If something or someone is saying that ebaY has verified the details of a transaction, it is a SCAM 100% of the time.
Next look at the line that says eBay Trust & Safe. This was obvioulsly not written by someone for whom English is the primary language. ebaY's writers are sloppy in their grammar and language use, but what they write usually scans. There is an ebaY Trust and Safety department, but even they do NOT confirm transactions.
In the section that says Complete your eBay transaction in 4 easy steps:
Everything in the four steps listed is a LIE and ebaY does none of these things.
The next statement states that the buyer must send payment via Western Union Money Transfer. ******PLEASE NOTE****** if a seller REQUIRES payment be made via Western Union, the transaction is a SCAM. There is no way to secure a Western Union payment. No exceptions 100% guaranteed FRAUD.
Under the next steps to be taken there is a statement that - We know that we learn every eBay member to use services such as PayPal and Escrow which are safer that Western Union Money transfer. But is our responsibility to make every option safe and tell that this seller is verified by our services and you can have all the trust in his request. - FIRST the English does not scan - and that once again means that the author does not speak English as a first language - we don't learn people we teach or tell them. Everything else in this statement is also false - ebaY does not provide any kind of verification and SPECIFICALLY tells users NOT to make payment via Western Union.
Look at the Payment Instructions section. Everything stated in this section is a LIE. There is no authentication system for Western Union. The scammer can lie about where they are located, say they are in England, but they can be anywhere in the world and once the money is in the Western Union system, pick up the money anywhere in the world. Anyone who knows the money is in the system and where/who it is coming from can get the money. In an effort to fool a somewhat knowledgeable buyer, the scammer adds the true statement that Western Union Money Transfer is designed mainly for sending cash to friends and family in need. The scammer then tell you to LIE to Western Union about why you are sending the money. This is because some Western Union agents will warn you that Western Union Money Transfer IS ONLY for sending money to friends and family and people you personally know.
The next section - Purchase Protection and refund is also COMPLETELY FALSE. ebaY does not have a program whereby sellers deposit money into a purchase protection account. ebaY does NOT insure transactions. ebaY transactions are not supervised by the ebaY safe harbor team or ANYONE at ebaY.
A Square Trade logo does not give you any protection even when it IS legitimate, though this one is obviously a fake. Clicking on the logo does not take you to Square Trade, and searching Square trade for the seller's email address does not bring up a legitimate seller.
The rest of the information is also false, put in to try to make this scam sound legitimate.
Finally if you look at the copyright date it is 2006, not 2008. ebaY has lots of programmers working for them and they can usually keep the copyright dates current. For some reason the scammers don't seem to bother with changing these when they copy them from each other, and the copyright dates are often wrong on scam emails such as this one.
|
TAG provides several research services to assist users against fraud. TAG will research any escrow company, or any transaction you are considering and inform you if the site or transaction is legitmate or not. Our fee for this service is $10.00 via Google Checkout. To receive immediate service, just email us the details and Click on the Blue Buy Now button, pay the fee, and we will get back to you quickly with the results of our research, information about the site, company or transaction and it's legitimacy or lack thereoff.
Subscribe to TAGnotes
Privacy Policy/Terms of Service
Copyright 1999 - 2008 The Auction Guild Inc. All rights reserved
