Internet fraud is an unfortunate evil of the modern online craze and it is regularly mentioned on television and in the press. Even established websites such as eBay fall pray to the odd person who tries to take unfair advantage of legitimate buyers and sellers looking to pick up a bargain or earn some extra cash.

An individual’s entire eBay experience can be devastated by a single act of fraud. So you may be asking yourself how large consumer sites like eBay combat such acts and whether they are successful in doing so.

eBay’s Fraud Protection Tips

There are excellent help sections included on the website with questions and answers to help establish what course of action must be taken in the event of fraud.

Sending money via the internet by way of online payment tools such as PayPal or selling goods to individuals who are complete strangers causes quite a bit of discomfort for many individuals. eBay has some handy tips to follow so that you don’t fall victim to a potential fraudster:

1. For high value items, don’t use PayPal as a means of payment. Despite the fact that there is a “payment protection” service available in case the goods are not received, the limit on the service is only £500.

2. Always be sure that payment is received before sending any goods. A common scenario is this; people are promised payment, items are sent, and then the payment is not received. Fraudsters will typically pressure sellers into sending goods whilst guaranteeing that the payment will be made. Once the goods arrive, they ignore the outstanding payment and sell the goods elsewhere for an easy profit.

3. All sales that have been listed on eBay must be processed through their site. Any transaction outside of the auction house is legally not recognized as per their terms and conditions.

If you want more information on the fraud tips / policies laid down by eBay, then visit http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/confidence/isgw-fraud-ov.html.

PayPal’s Fraud Protection Tips

In accordance with the policies of its parent company (PayPal is owned by eBay), the online payment service also provides a list of handy tips on how to protect yourself against fraud. One of the most important ones is:

• Pay for postage tracking. If you pay for a service such as “recorded delivery” or “special delivery”, you will be able to determine whether or not a package has reached its destination. Some fraudsters report that a parcel was not received although it arrived in order to obtain a refund. Some claims are honest but you have no way of knowing that unless you can track the package. It is always better to be prudent.

If you heed the warnings that are issued by both eBay and PayPal, there really is no need to fret about the potential risks of fraudulent behaviour. eBay has a fully qualified and dedicated team that is trained to deal with fraudulent matters on users’ behalf. Their policy is fair and eBay is there 100% of the time to assist its legitimate users.

In the event of a fraudulent act, how does eBay handle the matter?

• As stated on their website, the Trust and Safety team will immediately investigate the situation. Any users that are found guilty of wrongdoing will either be warned, suspended or have their accounts de-activated as a result of policy breaches.
• In case a user cannot contact a suspicious buyer or seller, eBay will work to provide the user with all necessary information to try and track down that individual.
• The report and track tool on the dispute console is used to keep track of all action that is being taken. http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/using-dispute-console.html
• eBay will offer a certain amount of purchase protection in case the other party fails to adhere to the terms and conditions of the website
eBay spends large amounts of money to upgrade their security features and has made protection against fraud one of their top priorities. Rest assured that eBay will back you up should you unknowingly fall victim to a fraudulent act. If you want to know more about how the unpaid item process works, then the link below will be able to provide you with the relevant information. http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/unpaid-item-process.html

On a closing note, don’t let a few troublemakers hinder your online buying or selling experience. There are many safeguards against fraud in place and if you keep your eyes open to potentially dishonest participants, you should be just fine.