By Will Sturgeon, 27 February 2006 13:00
NEWS
eBay has hit back at claims from consumer magazine Computing Which? that suggest the company should do more to protect its users from fraudsters.
The magazine has said eBay shows too little interest in identifying fraudsters among its user-base and supported that claim with figures from the Metropolitan Police.
Jessica Ross, editor of Computing Which? said eBay has created "plenty of opportunity for criminals to cash in" and "earn huge amounts defrauding everyday eBayers".
Computing Which? claimed that about 130 crimes are reported in London each month where the report cites eBay.
However, eBay has hit back saying the statistics quoted from the Met are "misleading".
The company claims the vast majority of those cases take place off eBay, with customers being encouraged 'offline' to conduct private sales with individuals intent on defrauding them.
A statement issued by eBay said: "We have been led to believe that, in most of the cases, the users were contacted via email rather than on the eBay site. Payments were made using money transfer services such as Western Union, which are banned on eBay because they are not traceable.
"eBay works extensively with law enforcement across the UK and internationally, employing a dedicated team of experts who liaise proactively with the police."
eBay claims to have trained more than 1,000 UK police officers during 2005 in order to better equip them in the war against fraud.
Computing Which? also called on eBay to ensure its online safety centre is more clearly labelled and more easily accessible via the site in order to ensure customers get the information and support they need to trade securely. Currently finding that resource is "like looking for a needle in a haystack", according to Computing Which?.
It added that the popular auction site must do more to warn users about the risk of fraud.
In response, eBay has issued these recommendations for customers:
- Never take the sale off eBay.
- Never use money transfer services, such as Western Union as there is no comeback if the goods turn out to be faulty or if they do not arrive.
- Never give out your eBay password, or respond to emails asking you to verify your account details.
- Never trade if in any doubt.
- Always read listings carefully, to make certain you know what you are bidding for.
- Ask questions. Contact sellers with as many questions as you like regarding the quality of the item.
- Study the feedback of the person you are trading with and find out how other traders have found them.
- Use secure payment systems such as PayPal or, for expensive purchases, use an escrow service. eBay's recommended list of escrow companies is available here.
The claims from Computing Which? are the latest in a string of accusations faced by the auction giant about its service. Earlier this year eBay faced criticism for being slow to shut down sales of pirate software and for not acting proactively on closing such sales.
Comments
There are 16 comments. Join the discussion
1. Nicola
I use ebay a great deal and I have to agree with Which on this one!
Within the space of a few days I was targetted by fraudsters who bid on items I was selling.
Reporting both incidents to ebay got me nowhere and I did feel quite stressed about the whole situation and it inturn has made me very suspicious about anyone bdding on something I am selling.
2. anonymous
I'v had trouble with PayPal (an eBay company) When a person wins an auction on eBay and pays through PayPal The funds are transfered to your bank account, (thats ok, no problems with that) but if you then send the goods without using a traceable courier (i.e. through the post) then the buyer simply has to start the goods not received procedure to get a full refund. the seller has no comeback and no way of explaining to Paypal that the goods have been sent (even when the buyer leaves good feedback, or sends you a personal email thanking you for the quick delivery) Paypal don't check any details, they just transfer the money from your account back to the buyer.
3. Simon
I'm a satisfied eBay user - both buyer and seller. I think it's a bit harsh to describe the safety instructions as hard to find, there's links to them plastered all over the place.
I too have had approaches from people looking to bypass eBay - but I fail to see how that's different to someone asking to do an 'under the table' deal at (say) a car boot sale.
4. anonymous
Ebay also supports the importing of goods avoiding Import Duty, by doing nothing about it. Customs and Excise have many people caught out by Ebayers pretending to be in the UK but importing the goods from the USA. I have a current case and I had to resort to the Courts to try and recover the money.
5. anonymous
Another Scam that Ebay supports by doing nothing about the problem is the importing of goods from the USA without paying Import Duty. Many ebayers are being scammed by traders who pretend to be in the UK but actually ship goods from the USA. Leaving the buyer to pay the custom duty or return the goods. Ebay and Paypal are of course making a profit out of this so are very reluctant to help.
6. Nick Cole
I agree.
The so-called checking and validation processes are laughable.
Their ability to respond to questions of anything other than a routine nature, themselves treated dismissively, is abysmal. They pathetically reply stating how wonderful the opportunity is to help you then proceed to avoid the issue, fail to escalate, answer a peripheral point, copy what is already on their limited faq screens. After repeating the query in a cycle around 5 or 6 times it gets to the stage where they no longer even acknowledge a message. They ask for reference information, which is always part of the subject line from their form-mail system. Nobody takes ownership. The nature of the text suggests strongly that all their customer dis-service staff do is cut and paste. Clearly not getting paid on anything other than the number of emails they reply to without any regard to the nature of the reply.
This is not the way a reputable and reliable international financial institution is supposed to operate.
7. Tim Haines
Things are SO much worse than Which could possibly know!
I am listowner of a Yahoo group of over 800 antiquities enthusiasts centred around eBay.
From my own knowledge and that of other group members it is clear that easily 90% of supposedly ancient artefacts advertised on eBay are FAKE or seriously misdescribed.
MANY sellers simply sell worthless tourist souvenirs explicitly described as ancient (complete with dates!) - they have NEVER sold an honest antique and are FULLY AWARE of it.
eBay will do NOTHING about this.
8. mel
I also have to agree with Nicola. I tokk alll the precautions that eBay suggested and still got duped by someone who had an "authorised" PayPal account. PayPal and eBay have the same owners but if there is a problem they play one of against the other
9. anonymous
Several times whilst sellingon eBay I have stated that I will only ship the item to the UK, and several times on the same item (which I had to relist numerous times) just before the end of the auction, various users form abroad have bid and won, and asked for it to be shipped to Nigeria.
This is a know problem, why oh why doesnt ebay allow you to choose to accept bids from local users only.
Thankfully they did refund all my fees for listing the item, but this hasnt helped me sell it.
Good idea, badly implemented, working in the IT industry, I know it is not difficult in the slightest for them to add this feature to the service.
10. anonymous
You can restrict who bids on your items and from what country. I suggest you have a look in your account options (can't remember exactly where). I don't allow any non uk bidders ot those with more than 2 negative comments in the past 3 months to bid for any of my items.
Have to agree with most of the other posts though. Ebay is a fraudsters heaven!
11. Dan
why does everybody jump up to blame the 'Management'. The only reason there's a problem is because certain people are dishonest and use whatever facilities are available to them to try and make money. Ebay provides a service to the community. It is not the police, nor is it a security company. If people believe they will be taken in by fraudsters, then they shouldn't use it.
Why can't we just accept that there are people out there who ignore the natural rules of society and take them to task for a wilful act rather than worrying about offending them and looking for a scapegoat..
Grrrrr
I am a seller on Ebay and conduct my transactions as I would if I were a buyer, as, I presume do 99.999% of the other people who use ebay
12. Ed
Only last week I was ripped off on eBay with a fraudulent 'Second Chance Offer'. Being new to eBay, was taken in.
13. anonymous
I've done quite a few trades on eBay, and nearly all of my experiences have been positive. When it does go wrong, however, support is minimal.
The person who said that the security section on eBay is easy to find can't have actually tried the links. Mostly they lead to FAQ-type pages. To find the place where you can actually make a complaint is very hard -- Which? is right about that. Likewise, if you try to pursue a complaint, chances are you'll just be advised to contact the police. In my case that's the local rural police station, who, quite frankly, haven't got a clue when it comes to online fraud.
eBay continues to work well because, fortunately, most people are honest.
14. anonymous
Ebay vs Amazon read here...
I purchase a lot from both Ebay and Amazon and have had a bad experience from sellers on boh.
When my seller never replaced a faulty MP3 player on ebay that arrived faulty even though his sale stated he would, ebay did nothing even after a lot of emails. As trading standards said when I called them "Buyer beware".
When a memory stick failed to arrive from a seller on Amazon, I contacted them by phone (yes they have a phone number), the person I spoke to said they have to wait another 2 weeks after which Amazon would provide me a FULL refund and then they would deal with the seller for the funds. thankfully the stick did arrive, but very late.
Goes who my preferred place of purchase is???
btw, I have also found that in many cases, items are also cheape on Amazon.
15. Stuart Learmonth
Ebay is no different from any market place... If someone is selling something worth a thousand pounds for a fiver - it's probably dodgy
One of the previous comments from someone claiming to be an IT professional, says:
if you then send the goods without using a traceable courier (i.e. through the post) then the buyer simply has to start the goods not received procedure to get a full refund
Why do you think it is that everything you have ever bought on-line or mail order, had to be signed for?
Wise up - engage brain before engaging wallet.
16. Jerome Pearce
I got ripped off but it was below the limit so eBay did nothing - OK, I can appreciate that. What I did not like was that I explained exactly HOW the fraud was done (about 20 people got hit by the same seller). The seller racked up good ratings from people selling 'cookies' or other silly items for $1 over a cople of months, and then hit the fraud.
I an certain these 'cookie' sellers do it for just this reason, and explained this to eBay as something to look out for, but thye just replied (as stated here) with copy & paste replies, ignoring the issue.
So: Look at what the seller has bought & sold, forget the rating. It makes it a pain, but when I did look I found several of these potential fraudsters quite easily.