eBay

Full review
CAREFUL when you shop on eBay--especially for big $$$ (several thousand dollar)items.

Every day I shop on eBay I find crooks lurking trying to use eBay as a way to find easy marks. If you bid on something that seems like a great deal or you ask a question of a seller on an item that sounds like a really good deal--especially if the seller has no track record--you are apt to get an email saying the deal fell through for whatever reason and you can buy it for the last bid price -- with an eBay guarantee. They ask for your name and address and email address.

Then you get an email that looks like it's from eBay, but it's not (you can tell because you won't see the message if you log onto eBay and look at your messages there). It'll tell you to send your money (by wire) to an eBay agent --give you a name and address. It is NOT an eBay agent, and if you wire the money, you'll never see it again. It promises that when the eBay agent gets your money, he will ship the item. You'll never see the item.

I have informed eBay about this scheme numerous times (there's another that uses a phony UPS agent name and address and I've told UPS about it; and I got one of these emails promising the eBay guarantee as a result of answering a craigslist ad) I've seen addresses in Detroit, St. Louis, Florida, and other places--so my guess is that a number of people are involved in these scams.

So far as I know, eBay has done nothing to catch these people or to help the authorities to catch these people. When I ask, they send me a form letter telling me to be careful, and advising me that to protect everyone's privacy, they can't tell me if they are taking any action on these scams.

So use eBay at your own risk. And don't expect any help from them if you report a scam--or you are the victim of one unless you can show that you conducted all of your business though the eBay site.

Good Luck.