eBay: Influx of fraudulent high-end audio listings, July '07
Jul 21, 2007 at 6:25 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18
infinitesymphony

infinitesymphony

Headphoneus Supremus
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I've been looking through some high-end audio stuff on eBay and have found an incredible increase in the number of fraudulent sellers. These people have near-perfect feedback that often numbers in the hundreds, and some have been with eBay for several years. Here's their scam:

1. Buy and sell small items to rack up a large amount of positive feedback.
2. List a ton of expensive items, all in no-reserve auctions.
3. Threaten to cancel bids (so that no negative feedback can be left).
4. Upon contact, insist that the item can only be bought at a Buy-it-Now rate through an escrow service of their choice.

Watch for these signs of a scam:

-auction text is a picture file
-auction terms are listed in the Payment or Refund sections instead of the auction body
-auction is listed in the completely wrong category
-all of the seller's items have the same Buy-it-Now price, but none use eBay's Buy-it-Now system
-seller threatens to cancel bids
-seller demands payment without a paper trail
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 8:48 AM Post #2 of 18
Hmm... After seeing a few more of these scam auctions, it appears that they are the result of hacked accounts. Some of the eBayers in question have successful stores with genuine listings alongside the totally bogus high-end audio equipment and other expensive items.

So, just be careful on eBay for a while.

</PSA>
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 9:12 AM Post #4 of 18
Mostly speakers, amplifiers (i.e. preamps, power amps, receivers, etc.), and power conditioning units from what I've seen. Hundreds of items that only audiophiles would want. I wouldn't be surprised if there were high-end headphones, too.

It appeared that most scam/hacked sellers had the same fake item list.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 11:27 AM Post #5 of 18
They are phished accounts. People get tricked in to giving up their Ebay login and password then lose control of the account. Then the scammers put up fake auctions using their accounts that have really high feedback.

It's pretty common, unfortunately. People do it with Myspace accounts that have a lot of friends, also. They phish the persons login/password and then use it for advertising (pay to click ads, etc.) or use to to simply phish more accounts. They make up fake login pages and thinking Myspace has logged them out they simply enter their login information again and it's sent to the phisher.

Ebay, Myspace, Paypal, Identities are sold everyday for as little as a couple dollars. Private chats on mIRC. It's really insane.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 12:55 PM Post #6 of 18
Jul 28, 2007 at 2:40 PM Post #9 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Careful, Nate. That's just the stupid kid who tried to rip you off here. He may be scamming again, but it's not the same as a hacked account. Still...buyer beware.


Yeah...not a hacked account, but still a fraud, lol.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 3:54 PM Post #10 of 18
This is why I only buy ebay items with PAYPAL. I will do no other format. Period.
Every legit seller I've ever come in contact with has had absolutley no problem with this. If someone doesnt like Paypal, that is a tell-tale sign that there is foul play involved, imho.

Actually, I have gotten positive feedback BECAUSE I use paypal: sellers appreciate that I pay for items instantly upon end of auction. No unnecessary email-tag back and forth.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 4:31 PM Post #11 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Careful, Nate. That's just the stupid kid who tried to rip you off here. He may be scamming again, but it's not the same as a hacked account. Still...buyer beware.


That's not the infamous Spencer again, is it? If he is scamming, then that chat with the police did nothing...
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 4:49 PM Post #13 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That's not the infamous Spencer again, is it? If he is scamming, then that chat with the police did nothing...


It's definitely Spencer all right. Look at the location--Chesterton, IN.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 5:01 PM Post #14 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by SR-71Panorama /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is why I only buy ebay items with PAYPAL. I will do no other format. Period.
Every legit seller I've ever come in contact with has had absolutley no problem with this. If someone doesnt like Paypal, that is a tell-tale sign that there is foul play involved, imho.

Actually, I have gotten positive feedback BECAUSE I use paypal: sellers appreciate that I pay for items instantly upon end of auction. No unnecessary email-tag back and forth.


I've made 3 purchases without Paypal. One was Google checkout, one was credit card, and the third was money order. The first 2 I don't have a problem with. They were both legitimate businesses that already had something other than PayPal set up when they started listing on eBay. The third, I got excited and bid without reading completely
rolleyes.gif
It was old Fostex headphones with a cut cable and worked fine, and was only $20.
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 10:24 PM Post #15 of 18
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