The number of Internet users has mushroomed to the point that over 50% of American households have online access, and even the most remote and poverty-stricken nations have cyber-cafes in their major cities. In fact, some of the most clever scams seem to originate in third-world countries, but they are certainly not exclusive to those locations.
Because so many collectors have turned to online auctions to sell and buy, I will focus on the most egregious frauds involving auction sites. The most popular and best-known of the online auction sites is eBay. I have no axe to grind against eBay, and in fact I've never transacted any business there. Many people have good experiences there, and if there were too many fraudulent transactions the site would have to shut down, as people would no longer trust it. Nonetheless, because eBay does not consider itself an auction house but rather a "middle-man", its liability in fraud cases is limited.
E-Bay has several mechanisms in place to protect its users from being ripped off. These include the ability to post comments about good and bad sellers and buyers, secure payment procedures including both Paypal and escrow accounts, and limited insurance against fakes. The worst offenders will have their accounts shut down.
Still, fraud happens, as noted in this article by Paul Wenske of the Knight Ridder Newspapers:
"eBay account hijacked, bidders bilked in `rampant' fraud
By Paul Wenske, Knight Ridder Newspapers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - KRT NEWSFEATURES
(KRT) - For a couple of days last month someone was auctioning Sony camcorders from Kevin Pilgrim's eBay account. But the auctioneer wasn't Pilgrim, who lives in Raytown, Mo. More than two dozen online bargain hunters agreed to pay $605 apiece, in some cases wiring money to Germany. But there were no camcorders. The two-day auction was a fraud.
While bidders got ripped off, the bad guys got away - at least for now. The scammers who hacked into Pilgrim's eBay account to woo unsuspecting bidders did their dirty work before eBay could shut his account down. A frustrated Pilgrim watched the crime unfold, able to do little more than desperately e-mail warnings to bidders. Even the FBI told him that while these electronic purse snatchings were rampant, they could not afford to tie up agents' time on each one that popped up.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Barbara Bell's Antiques & Collectibles topic, please visit the Discussions page.