More eBay Cautionary Tales

Two eBay laptop sellers--one of whom ended up without either his laptop or the buyer's money for it--share their experiences.

Often, when the words "eBay fraud" are spoken, they're accompanied by an accusatory finger pointing to the seller. But as I described in "Selling Your Laptop on eBay," buyers are quite capable of trying to pull a fast one, too. (My column detailed two different fraudulent attempts to purchase my Sony Vaio laptop on eBay.)

Since that column appeared, I've heard from several laptop sellers who say they've been victimized by fraudulent buyers on eBay .

This week I've included excerpts from e-mail I received from two such sellers. Next week I'll share tips I've gathered from sellers (and from my own experience) for safely selling your laptop on eBay.

James B. Furst of Eugene, Oregon, relates the following story--a tale not for the faint of heart.

"A few years ago, I decided to sell on eBay a relatively new Toshiba laptop my wife had purchased for me as a present. (I didn't need the laptop.) A guy who said he was an American living and working in Russia contacted me and bought the computer. He transferred the money to me via PayPal and I shipped the computer.

"A day later, eBay and PayPal both e-mailed me, claiming I had 'accessed the buyer's account fraudulently.' PayPal said it was going to investigate the sale. I sent them copies of all the e-mails that were involved in the transaction. In the end, PayPal accepted the buyer's version of what happened and gave him his money back.

"I tried to get my laptop back by contacting the Russian post office...but their postal system is much worse than ours. I even filed complaints with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission. But it was way too late for them to do anything about it, even if they could have.

"So, I lost the laptop and the money."

In a situation like this, the buyer may have used a stolen credit card obtained through a phishing scam, says PayPal spokesperson Sara Gorman. Financial institutions such as PayPal are required to compensate consumers who have had their accounts fraudulently accessed and they may hold the seller or merchant responsible for payment, Gorman explained. That's why it's important for all sellers to carefully review and follow the guidelines of PayPal'sSeller Protection Policy.

Crooks have been known to bid up an item as an eBay auction is ending, using unauthorized methods such as hijacked eBay user IDs.

That's what happened to Mary Lou Arnold of Fountain Valley, California.

"Twice in one week, our notebook auction was won by [someone using] a hijacked eBay account," she writes. "Our hijacker changed unused eBay U.S. accounts to a shipping address in Nigeria and bid up the auction in the last three minutes."