How To Prevent Fraud On Ebay - Four Signs To Watch For

How To Prevent Fraud On Ebay! - Four Signs To Watch For

Summary: Of the millions of transactions that transpire on eBay each day, only an infinitesimally small percentage are fraudulent. However, even that small percentage means that fraud does still occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming the victim of a scam? By recognizing common signs of fraud:

. Phishing expeditions. According to eBay guru Skip McGath (http://SkipMcGrath.com), phishers send out mass emails, posing as eBay, or any company, and asking the recipient to con...

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Article Body: Of the millions of transactions that transpire on eBay each day, only an infinitesimally small percentage are fraudulent. However, even that small percentage means that fraud does still occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming the victim of a scam? By recognizing common signs of fraud:

. Phishing expeditions. According to eBay guru Skip McGath (http://SkipMcGrath.com), phishers send out mass emails, posing as eBay, or any company, and asking the recipient to confirm their password, which they use to hijack their account.

Advises McGrath, Any email thats really from eBay will be on your My eBay page under your My Messages, NOT in your inbox.

Always log into eBayor any password protected siteby going to the site from your favorites bar, or by typing in the URL yourself. Never log in on a page you opened through an email link! No matter how authentic the page looks, theres a good chance youve been redirected to a phony site.

. Unauthorized suppliers. You need to verify your suppliersnot everyone that claims to be selling wholesale products is legitimate.

If someone claims to be selling you wholesale items, but doesnt require your Tax ID number, theyre not legitimate.

If you see a drop ship site with name brand logos plastered everywhere, theyre very likely NOT an authorized dealeraccounts with large brand companies are extremely difficult to establish, and the logos are copyrighted material.

If youre using a new supplier, start out with a very small order to test their service and examine their products. If you find theyre fakes, youve learned your lesson at a minimal cost.

. Counterfeit cashiers checks and money orders. Be particularly careful with international buyers who need you to send an expensive item to an agent along with an exorbitant fee.

Before you send out a buyers item, or forward any agents fees from their check, take that check to your bank and have them call the issuing bank and verify the check is good. If its not, youve saved yourself a lot of money. And if they tell you its good and turn out to be wrong, you arent the one taking the loss.

. Sites or auctions that dont accept PayPal or credit cards.

PayPal performs very thorough background checks and is committed to going after perpetrators of fraud, and credit cards let you file charge backs.

If a supplier insists on being paid with a cashiers check or money order, that may be an indicator that theyre not a good product source.

Dont let a few dishonest people scare you off of eBay altogether. There are plenty of genuine suppliers there, and not every user is trying to cheat you. You just need to be aware of whats out there, and proceed with caution. The vast majority of transactions that happen on eBay are completely above board: its one of the safest e-commerce platforms around. Assures McGrath, You can buy $, Breitling watches on eBay that are perfectly legitimate. Just take those steps, and make sure you know who youre buying from.