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eBay criminal activities

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Yetanotherbike:
I have moaned to various people and to eBay themselves about criminal activity that takes place almost every day on eBay, yet they deliberately choose to do nothing about it. I rather suspect that there are criminals on the inside of eBay that permit this to happen. I just wanted to draw it to the attention of other members of this forum in case anyone here was caught out with this scam. There is a Honda CB 750 in the listing today so this would be quite close to home. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175261215270?hash=item28ce61ea26:g:EtUAAOSwuMtiawIJ

The scam is quite simple, basically the scammer copies lots of pictures off eBay of desirable cars, bikes, boats, other high value items. A profile is hacked into, quite often one that isn't used too often so the true owner doesn't notice. A picture is unloaded and the object of desire is given a unrealistically low price. Along with the picture there is a short description which usually gives away that it is written by a non European shall we say. The text usually specifies to get the vehicle at the price indicated, DO NOT BID directly on eBay, but to contact the seller directly on a email address which is always shown in another picture. The upshot is that you are asked to wire the money to them and they will deliver the vehicle or give you a bogus address to collect it from.
But surprise surprise there is no address or vehicle and you have suddenly thrown away hundred or thousands of pounds.
I was surprised to see two of my classic cars for sale on there one day, both parked at my home!
The give away's are:-
1. The vehicle is always too much of a bargain
2. If you look at eBay a lot like me, you will see the same pictures over and over
3. They will always ask you NOT TO BID but to contact them via email
4. If you look at what else the buyer is selling, sometimes they have listed literally hundreds of other vehicles of all types

I have challenged eBay over this scam several times and never received a reply, I actually reported this bike and several others over 2 days ago and it is still listed, which makes me suspect criminal activity from within eBay.
The sad fact is, it must work occasionally or crim types wouldn't do it.
If you want a bit of fun that will indicate that the scam is up, put a massive bid on any vehicle of your choice. I put a bid of £32,000 on a Saab 96V4 that's worth no more than £5K. Sadly I was outbid ;D
But make sure you report it.

Hope it stops anyone here getting caught out.

SumpMagnet:
They don't want bids.....as that way, they risk getting a 'sale' and being charged fees.

But you got to be crazy to buy a high priced item by bank transfer outside of E-Bay when you can't stand in front of the thing and get the paperwork and the keys.
E-Bay really disgraces itself when it doesn't just remove obvious scams and practices that are CLEARLY outside E-Bay terms and conditions..... like not bidding and sending money with contact through an e-mail address.

Ignoring the fact the item is bogus and using stolen pics to scam, the thing breaches E-Bay t&Cs even if it was genuine.

They get paid now for motor ads, rather than just getting a commission on sale, so its making them money. Plus, of course, when someone gets suckered, E-Bay will just step away and point out you did not make any transaction through E-Bay and broke T&C rules. Ignoring the fact they made it possible!

Sesman:
I know, so let’s bid….

Bryanj:
Cant its been pulled

Yetanotherbike:
I should add, one day when I had nothing better to do, I played a little game of reporting the scammers and once the item was removed from the listing, see how long it took them to re-list. I saw them relisting within 20 minutes, so I reported them again and and eBay removed the listing again and within 20 minutes the scammers relisted again.
Scamming is illegal and also breaches eBay's terms and conditions, however they seem content to ignore it when it suits them. So probably the best way to foil them is to treat yourself to a large bid!

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