Comments on: FTC, states take on online-auction fraud

"Operation Bidder Beware" has resulted in 57 criminal and civil law enforcement actions in a sweep involving the Federal Trade Commission, 29 states and local agencies, the FTC says.

[coders4hire]

EBay is NOT helping

I was ripped off last year for a product which never arrived. EBay took no responsibility nor did it attempt to assist. Instead they pointed me to their disclosure, a remediator, and the online fraud center all in a neat little page or 2 on their site. They never told me they were investigating the seller. They never told me that they shut off his account and notified everyone. EVEN WORSE, the seller duped me into a 'delivery delay' which basically took up the time that I had to report back on the seller at EBay. EBay would not even let me add a comment on to the seller's feedback since the time had elapsed.

Use your local Newspaper Classifieds! Better deals, no shipping, and you can go pick it up the same day!!!

[julesfrpr]

While there are a lot of unscrupulous folks out there that are trying to steal you money, you can actually take some steps to protect yourself. It is easy to be taken advanatage of when a transactions is not face to face and that's because there little or no oversight and responsibility. However, when buying at auctions at eBay and other online auction marketplaces, you have to always check the feedback of the auction people you are doing business with, and stay away from those with substantial negative feedback. Also you can participate in government auctions and not be as afraid of being ripped off because, sionce the government has no profit motive, you can give it instant credibility. Finally, even if you happen to get ripped off, you can just call you credit card company and if the other party can't prove they delivered the item(s) the bank will charge them back and put the money back on your account.

Jules
<a href="http://www.governmentauctions.org/aNoFeeCarsByState.asp">Auto &amp; car
auctions</a>

[saintsinner2004]

How do you know?

How do we know that this online auctions are frauds?
I have proven this one. A highly recommended site for online auctions is Elfingo.com . They are the new ebay. Many smaller sites like this offer buyers far better deals than ebay ever could. Buyers also save a ton because this site charges little or nothing depending on the day. One more reason I like elfingo.com is because they don't take a part of the sale at all. No commissions or final value fees. It's an A+++.--- http://www.elfingo.com

[ella1940]

Online-auction fraud is frequently taking place nowadays. Terrorists take the help of internet to spread violation which should be prevented.
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Ella
auto auctions

[onlineauction]

Did anything evolve from this fraud investigation? many good sites for auctions since then www.oltiby.com as one of the better reverse auction platform.

[carauction1]

A good tip is to check references of a type of auction to see what other people who have taken part in that kind of auction think of it. Were they dissatisfied or happy? Many times people confuse a bad user experience with fraud.
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Rick
<a href="http://www.carauctioninc.com">Car Auctions</a>

[WeCanBeHeroes]

Yes, it's also worth while reading as much about the auction site in the media first. There are also many good books that warn about the dangers of auctions, especially on ebay, what to look for and what to avoid.

=========================
Hero
http://www.usa-car-auction.net/

[julesfrpr]

While there are a lot of unscrupulous folks out there that are trying to steal you money, you can actually take some steps to protect yourself. It is easy to be taken advanatage of when a transactions is not face to face and that's because there little or no oversight and responsibility. However, when buying at auctions at eBay and other online auction marketplaces, you have to always check the feedback of the auction people you are doing business with, and stay away from those with substantial negative feedback. Also you can participate in government auctions and not be as afraid of being ripped off because, sionce the government has no profit motive, you can give it instant credibility. Finally, even if you happen to get ripped off, you can just call you credit card company and if the other party can't prove they delivered the item(s) the bank will charge them back and put the money back on your account.

Jules
<a href="http://www.governmentauctions.org/aNoFeeCarsByState.asp">Auto &amp; car
auctions</a>