eBay is one of the largest online auction sites on the Internet. Founded by Pierre Omidyar on September 3, 1995, http://www.mahalo.com/ebay eBay allows you to sell and buy new or used items. However, eBay is also a place where you can be scammed if you ignore one big rule in Internet shopping: ‘’If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’’. Con artists, also called scammers have been focused on eBay since it was founded.

This page gives an overview of the different types of eBay scams and what safeguards eBay has put into place.

There are several types of eBay scams. In the beginning, the process was easy but eBay changed its security system to outwit the scammers, and then the scammers had to look for new ways to defraud people.

1. When eBay launched on the Internet, their security system was easy to hack. With no credit card required to set up a listing, and no IP tracking, it was easy to post multiple auctions using one eBay account. Selling an item with a price below imagination, eBay scam victims appeared. Using fake invoices sent from unknown email accounts, scammers were everywhere. That was the first step in a process that spread exponentially on eBay, especially in Romania. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/26/business/fi-ebay26

2. eBay faced a big problem. In several years after this, in order to create an account on eBay, a credit card was required. But scammers found a solution to that. The credit card phishing system. Using fake invoices from major banks, millions of emails were sent on the Internet, requiring credit card information. For users who owned an eBay account, fake eBay sites appeared (i.e.: www.eBayi.com). With a simple log in on a fake eBay site, the seller’s accounts were hacked. Scammers started to use those accounts to list more and more items. http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/recognizing-spoof.html

3. When IP tracking system came online on eBay, scammers used a different approach. The so called "Second Chance Offer" scam. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/10/15/fraudsters_go_phishing_on_ebay.html. Using the same strategy to gain access on eBay seller’s accounts, they used the messaging system to offer the same goods as the sellers, to any bidder who lost an auction. Obviously, shipping was free. At that time, a scammer was able to send over 100 messages/account to any bidder on eBay.Until then, Western-Union and Money Gram services were the fastest and best way for scammers to pick up their funds. The "arrows" were moving very fast (20 minutes and the victims funds were gone). But eBay warning messages for users, in order not to use those services, appeared everywhere. That's when scammers found another payment service: banks. That was a period when eBay lost millions of dollars. Until then, scammers used eBay, in order to sell small items; laptops; cell-phones, etc...But with the bank transfer option, they moved to something bigger: cars, boats and even houses. http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2009/06/03/scamming-the-craigslist-scammers.aspx

4. Several years after, eBay modified the messaging system, allowing users to send only 10 messages/day. But scammers moved forward. More work for them but the money never stopped to come. Until, one day, when eBay removed that option for good. The real sellers were able to communicate only with the buyers after the auctions ended. The scammers found a different system to contact their victims directly through emails. Believe it or not, many eBay accounts have the same email address (i.e.: eBay account: jhonson1937. If a scammer was lucky the email account was: jhonson1937@yahoo.com, jhonson1937@aol.com, and so on...). Scammers used the search option on eBay to track the email addresses of their victims. However eBay introduced the captcha system to stop this. Nothing really happened then. Scams on eBay moved forward. Until eBay removed the users names from listing pages, using "***" instead of letters.

5. With this last security improvement, warnings about scams, after almost 10 years, scammers faced a big problem. They improved their system again, using the same resources: hiding their IP's, using phishing emails, banks, or even talking to a possible victim on the phone. They always find new options, everyday, including now.

The interesting fact is that scammers and eBay evolved together. eBay always used scammers tactics to develop their security system, and scammers used eBay to get more money. What honest buyers should always keep in mind is that: ‘’If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’’.