Complaint Review: Scott Stephens Or Firstimelongtime(Ebay User ID) - London Other

Consider this a small price to pay for a lesson learned. Others that have fallen for this same type of scam have lost in the thousands. I've seen uninformed people sending out cash in this same way for cars, computers, ATVs etc, only to find that the item never exists and the seller vanished. I read one guy's story (much like yours) that wired 15 grand for a car and guess what... The story ends the same. Consider yourself lucky to have gotten off so easy with a scam that's been around for a very, very long time.

I've been a member on ebay since 2001 and I am a regular responder on the Answer Center. I agree with Anonymous in the fact that ebay tells you in several locations not to use Western Union. As a regular Answer Center, myself and the others always tell buyers to never use Western Union and point out the fact that ebay warns against it and point out that if you have had previous successful transactions that did not involve Western Union, why suddenly in this transaction you felt the need to use it. I see it time and time again where people are too impatient to read ebay's policies and suggestions. Then when something goes wrong because of what they did or didn't do, it's ebay's. There are things about ebay I don't like but they do provide the necessary information to prevent most scams if people would take the time to abide by them. "In the listing it said to email the seller for a Buy It Now option. " That is against ebay policy right there as the seller is seller is supposed to have a Buy It Now icon with a button next to it. What you did was participate in an outside ebay transaction which provides you with no coverage. I don't know if you have any prior ebay experience but if you hadn't you should not have been bidding until you have learned how ebay works. It's unfortunate but you're not the first nor the last person to have been ripped off this way and these types of scams are not limited to ebay and in fact, most of these scams have nothing to do with ebay (most internet scam victims are not members of ebay). One of the regular Answer Center responders was kind enough to compile the following information to help ebay bidders: Real transactions on eBay go like this- 1. buyer sees an auction listing 2. buyer bids on the item 3. buyer wins item 4. buyer's name appears as winner on auction listing 5. item number appears in "items won" in buyer's My eBay 6. seller sends an invoice 7. buyer pays 8. seller ships item Real transactions do not involve- * negotiating by email * eBay agents * verified eBay Representatives * Western Union cash transfer * eBay involvement in payment 13 RED FLAGS To Warn a Bidder of a Fraudulent Transaction Most people who are defrauded are victims of their own greed. When a transaction appears to be too good to be true, it likely is. Application of common sense can preserve your money. 1. A popular item is offered for a price which seems too good to be true 2. An 'off-eBay' transaction is conducted through email 3. Payment options provide little or no security for the buyer 4. Misleading claims of transaction security or buyer protection 5. Item is no longer listed on eBay 6. The sellers location may be a clue to a fraudulent transaction 7. Item is listed on a hijacked account 8. Free shipping from a distant country 9. No photo or stock photos are used 10. One to three day auctions 11. Escrow other than escrow.com is used 12. A fraudulent Second Chance Offer is sent 13. The bidder needs to be pre-approved or the item is listed in a private auction

It appears that you have fallen for the oldest internet scam in the book called the Advance Fee Fraud (also known as 419 scams), these scams have existed since the dawn of postal mail. The seller says you won something, tells you to send it by an untraceable means (in this case Western Union) and then never sends the item or sends rubbish. Usually providing bogus proof. It's safe to say you are not getting your money back and you should have followed the instruction on every eBay listing "Never send payment by Western Union" eBay policy is currently "contact payment provider", so if you had paid by PayPal, BidPay, Credit Card (via a Merchant Account), MoneyBookers, etc where there is a dispute mechanism (eBay only recommends PayPal and Credit cards for obvious reasons.) Credit card merchants can simply reverse the charges, and likewise with PayPal and chargeback the seller. If you were to file for an Item Not Received from eBay, you are going to be told that you should not have paid by Western Union and/or the seller has already been suspended and nothing else can be done. This is true, as eBay is only a venue, by the time you report the scam, the scammer has already had their eBay account shut down for fake information or the auction has been deleted from an account takeover. As a quick way to tell if you are going to get ripped off from any auction site (not just eBay) Scammers usually have these telltale signs: Asking to pay by western union Asking to ship to Nigeria, Romania, etc Price far below market value (especially high value items like cars) Lazy listings (only one photo, no line breaks) or even stolen photos and listing data. Poor grammar Contacting you outside of the site you contacted them on (telltale sign on ebay is 'my email doesn't work, contact me at *@whatever-free-email-address-flavor-of-the-day.com' Once again, I would recommend you contact Western Union and cancel the payment immediately. And for anyone else reading... NEVER pay for items in foreign countries with anything other than a credit card. Western Union is for sending cash between family members that have a high amount of trust. Few if any Western Union locations even check that the person picking up the money transfer is the person that should be, and even then, the scammers can fabricate a false ID to match whatever ID you sent the money transfer in. Buyer beware. eBay didn't put 'Do Not Use Western Union' on the site for nothing.