Fraudsters launch auctions on eBay or TradeMe with very low prices and no reservations especially for high priced items like watches, computers or high value collectibles. They received payment but never deliver, or deliver an item that is less valuable than the one offered, such as counterfeit, refurbished or used. Some fraudsters also create complete webstores that appear to be legitimate, but they never deliver the goods. They take payment but never shipped the order. In some cases, some stores or auctioneers are legitimate but eventually they stopped shipping after cashing the customers' payments.
Sometimes fraudsters will combine phishing to hijacking legitimate member accounts on eBay, typically with very high numbers of positive feedback, and then set up a phony online store. They received payment usually via check, money-order, cash or wire transfer but never deliver the goods; then they leave the poor, unknowing eBay member to sort out the mess. In this case the fraudster collects the money while ruining the reputation of the conned eBay member and leaving a large number of people without the goods they thought they purchased.
Another variation of fraud is for a seller to ship an item with USPS delivery confirmation (but not require signature) to an incorrect address that is within the buyer's zipcode. The item shipped is usually an empty envelope with no return address and no recipient name. That successfully triggers the delivery confirmation receipt so the seller can claim the package has been delivered. Standard USPS Delivery Confirmation only tracks to the zipcode level, not to the specific address.
No comments:
Post a Comment