Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. Too many new people get scammed on ebay. New ebay members are prime targets for scam artists. That’s because new members might not know how things work yet. They may be easy prey because they don’t know about all the popular scams that happen with ebay. From phishing emails to bad bidding practices; New members fall for these scams everyday of the week. Today I am going to explain a few things so you are aware of the ways you can be scammed on ebay.If you are a buyer on ebay, you will be protected if you use paypal for all your auction payments. If you are unhappy with a purchase or never receive your item; you can start a dispute through paypal’s great buyer protection program. Just open a new case and fill in your details about the transaction, then paypal will investigate it for you. It may take up to 30 days before your money is returned, but at least you get your money back. It’s terrible when a seller tries to rip you off on ebay. Just make sure all your payments are through ebay and you will be covered.Although, you will make more money using as many payment methods as possible for your customers. I suggest using a paypal account if you are mainly doing business on ebay. If you are a seller on ebay then you should get a premier/business account on paypal. It’s free and you will be protected against fraud by 100% of the sales you make. You are covered if someone purchases your goods with a stolen credit card or other kind of fraud payment method. Buyers are less likely to try and scam you through paypal, but it does happen.

Spoof and phishing emails are the most common way new ebay members are scammed. Spoof and phishing emails look exactly like ebay or paypal emails. Con-artists have got really good in the past few years. They can make any ebay or paypal email look and seem real. The one sure way to avoid these scam emails is to never click onto the links in the email. Some of the links can steal your information when you click on them. If you do click onto the links in the email; it will bring you to a page that looks like ebay except the web address. The web address it brings you to, is not www.ebay.com or www.paypal.com web address. It is always another website that you won’t recognize. That’s because the scammer sent you to their own little hack website.

You may get and email telling you that your account needs urgent attention. The email may tell you your account was suspended or you logged in from a different ip address. The email may say you need to fix your account or it may be suspended. The con-artists will try every way possible to get you to click the links in the email. If you click the link in the email it will bring you to a website that looks just like ebay or paypal. The web page will probably ask you to sign in. When you sign in, the con-artist steals your account login information. Some con-artists may even direct you to a page that asks for personal information like your social security number and bank information.

Bidding scams are another way that new ebay members are scammed. It is called bid shilling and shielding. A seller or buyer will probably have have two or more ebay accounts. It could even be two or more individuals that are in ca-hoots together. Bidding scams are few and far between, but that doesn’t mean that sellers don’t do it anymore. One buyer will place a small bid. Another account or two will place a much higher bid. Then right before the auction ends, the highest bidder withdraws their bid. Then the person that bid the amount in between gets stuck paying for the auction. This type of scam bidding can be done from the bidder or the seller. Bid shilling and shielding is against ebays rules and regulations. Don’t try it or your account will be suspended if you are caught.

Ebay and paypal will never ask you to sign in to your account from an email. They will never ask for any of your personal information through email. Don’t be a victim of scam. Protect your personal information. If you receive an email that says it is from paypal or ebay; you can forward it to them and see if it is a fake email. Just forward the email to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com .

Thanks for reading my blog everyone. If you like my blog you can subscribe for free. See you all tomorrow.