fraudulent listings on eBay

[fahadshahid]

I have noticed lately that there are certain sets that fraudsters tend to pick for sale on eBay. One of these has been the Technic 8258. They usually list a few of these sets for auction over 2 or 4 days and walla! the next message is the one you get from Paypal Fraud prevention department informing you that your bid has been cancelled due to undisclosed reason. I've had this happen to me with this particular set about 8 - 10 times already and I can almost tell when its a dud listing now but that doesn't stop me from bidding on these lol! I'm wondering if anyone has come across other similar common sets / cases?

[stephen_rockefeller]

If you come across anymore of these listings please post a link so that A) members know what to look for as far as fradulent listings and so we can convince you not to bid on them. 8-10 times is a bit excessive my friend!

[fahadshahid]

these ones look a bit sus... http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/dzsportsco/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686 reasons: 1) Shipping to Australia is never this low... across ALL the different sets 2) There is no LEGO feedback in the past 3) seems like he has discovered a LEGO goldmine in the last couple of days looking at the sets for sale 4) these sets would usually be listed as BIN unless the seller is really trying to get rid of them 5) All feedback is in the past 4mths while the account was created 8mths ago 6) no feedback as a buyer (which is possible but some feedback lends authenticity to the location of the vendor) ... but then again, I could be wrong ;-)

[TheOrcKing]

these ones look a bit sus...

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/dzsportsco/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

I'll say that seller is rather suspicious. Especially after looking at what the guy was selling previously (no LEGO, but a lot of trading cards, like the ones with 'naughty' cheerleaders). Those prices also trigger a few alarms in my head. I've clicked on that seller's information page and in the "Listings" box it says "This seller has nothing for sale"! But when I click the "Items for Sale" link, it goes back to the page you originally posted with all of those listings! Say what?! I wouldn't buy from this seller myself. Way too many inconsistencies.

[Tommahas8012]

I have had this issue with Medieval Market. Bought it for $89 with free shipping. Turns out it was a fraud. Waiting for eBay to get me my money back. Thankfully there is buyer protection so i know i will.

[Talon]

About 8 years ago I spoke with an acquaintance who was working for ebay and he told me they have an extensive fraud protection department. At that time they had a system wtih over 45,000 rules that would look at every listing to see if it was fraudulent. Don't know what they've got today but it doesn't catch them all. I bid on a 3677 Train and on 10271 Diagon Alley about a month before Christmas. I did notice that both sellers had six of each listed for sale and each one used the same pictures, but the pictures were not stock from a website. After thinking about it I went back and looked at their low feedback both were below 15 but at 100%. The feedback for both had been entirely on them buying 99 cent items and went back as far as 6 weeks. I started to feel a little weird about it and sent ebay an enquiry via email they sent me back a canned response about if I didn't feel good I could ask the seller to cancel the auction. Turns out I won both items. I typically pay immediately but put off paying for three days and then contacted ebay through their phone system. The rep who spoke with me said they had nothing suspicious on the two sellers but they would look into it. I asked about how long I had to pay and she said there was no set time limit on paying for winning an auction. So, I delayed paying until it was 8 days (after two days ebay started sending me annoying reminders to pay but I ignored them!). I still had heard nothing from ebay so I decided I would just go ahead and pay and then go through the money-back system if it was fraudulent. I went in to pay on the train and noticed the seller had more feedback. I decided to look at the feedback and the latest one said something like - fraudulent seller, this seller has been banned from Lego for using a stolen credit card. So, I decided not to pay and asked both sellers to cancel the transaction. One did within a day the other did within a few more days. I can't even look at them anymore because they were banned from ebay. Sorry for the long story but I think selling six identical items or less is under ebay's radar for finding fraudulent listings. I'm not sure, but I think that is another thing to look at and these people who do this trade information and help each other. Probably have a website like ebayscammer.com! lol

[Eschdaddy]

I'm wondering if anyone has come across other similar common sets / cases?

I have a few times, especially my winners. I hate to say this, but so far I've won, they deliver and its always been an after the fact thing. I'm just waiting for that time I'm in your shoes... Its gonna happen sooner or later. (. But like you said, that's one of the reasons you buy on ebay, to protect you from the ...umm ...morally deficient individuals.