eBay Warns of Rising Online Auction Scams as Users Urged to Educate Themselves on Safe Buying Practices

eBay has urged users to educate themselves on safe buying practices after a growing number of Australians fell prey to online auction scams. The online auctioneer estimates that just one in 10,000 transactions are fraudulent, with most scams being traditional confidence scams perpetrated over the internet. Alastair MacGibbon, eBay Australia's director of trust and safety, says that buyers must follow the company's guidelines to stay safe. According to MacGibbon, "It's really about leading a horse to water... This is an issue of people protecting themselves online."

Key Takeaways:

• eBay estimates that just 1 in 10,000 transactions are fraudulent, with most scams being traditional confidence scams.
• Scammers often offer goods at heavily discounted prices and convince buyers to send money through wire services, such as Western Union.
• Buyers who send payment outside of eBay's platform are at high risk, as the company has no knowledge of the transaction.
• eBay recommends using escrow services for purchases over $375 to avoid being scammed.
• Scammers may establish fake escrow sites to snare victims.

Statistics:

• 1 in 10,000 eBay transactions are estimated to be fraudulent (eBay).
• eBay recommends using escrow services for purchases over $375 to avoid being scammed.
• Richard Love, an eBay user, received 25 emails from people who had come across the same scammer he spotted.

Sources:

• eBay's Alastair MacGibbon (director of trust and safety)
• eBay's online auction scam tips (pages.ebay.com.au/help/confidence/overview.html)
• Danny and Shelley Millen (eBay users who lost $US1250 to a scam)