| Re: More and More Scams On EBay [message #207893 is a reply to message #207889 ] |
Fri, 22 December 2006 09:55   |
 David Satz
Messages: 568
Registered: April 2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY |
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My eBay account was hijacked in 2003--I woke up one morning and found myself supposedly in the business of selling high-priced Apple computer equipment. When I called eBay security about it, they fixed the problem within minutes. Of course I had contacted them and could prove my identity, so they didn't have to investigate very far.
If I were to report a suspicion that someone else's account had been hijacked, the situation would be more complex. For all they know I might be a malicious person trying to interfere with someone else's legitimate auctions, so I wouldn't expect them to take any strong action right away.
They don't seem to follow any clues with regard to the specifics of "vintage" microphones--if someone were to post an ad offering 100 never-taken-out-of-the-box U 47s from his grandfather's attic, they wouldn't consider that suspicious on its face.
I once tried to get a refund for a used KM 84 with a defective capsule, where the auction description had said only that the microphone's amplifier (body) was defective;
I had bought it for the capsule, but explaining this to them was hopeless. Half of the KM 54s that you see listed have K 64 capsules with no remark; many of the old Schoeps tube microphones (particularly with sellers in Europe) are speech cardioids, but are listed simply as "cardioid," and they allow reskinned Neumann capsules to be listed like original products with only a bit of fine print. (... or sometimes none! See my second post in this thread)
But they do look askance at sellers who require untraceable payment methods; that alone can be grounds for terminating an auction. See http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy .html .
--best regards
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| Re: More and More Scams On EBay [message #207961 is a reply to message #206497 ] |
Fri, 22 December 2006 14:53 |
yhomas
Messages: 17
Registered: July 2005 |
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As someone who has been a victim myself, I have a few common sense comments:
#1. Never, pay for any online purchase with a money order (or cash in an envelope).
#2. We are all looking for a good deal, but the fact is that very few people are stupid enough to sell an item far below its market value. If you find an exceptional "deal", your first instinct should be intense skepticism.
#3. If you have the slightest suspiciousness of the seller, simply ask that the seller send you the item first, and you will pay for it afterwards. (I actually did this on a $900 laptop when the seller had low feedback on ebay.) If the seller won't agree, just require the use of an escrow service.
#4. Do not place too much trust in a seller's opinion about the condition of an item (especially if the cost of return shipping might be roughly equivalent to the difference in value between the excellent condition claimed by the seller and the average condition that the item is actually in.)
#5. Use an internet search, and personal contact (phone, email) to find out a bit about the seller before sending money.
#6. If you do get scammed, post about your experience on scam.com so that other people can be warned by a simple google search.
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| Re: More and More Scams On EBay [message #208073 is a reply to message #207961 ] |
Sat, 23 December 2006 13:58 |
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Klaus Heyne
Messages: 1957
Registered: April 2004 |
Platinum Member |
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Bad auctions aren't necessarily limited to non-delivery of merchandise. Specifically in the world of condenser mics, it may be helpful to collect some of the phrases and words that should trigger alarm bells when we find them in microphone auctions, like the quote I cited earlier:| Quote: |
rediaphragmed to orig. factory specs...
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com
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| Re: More and More Scams On EBay [message #229350 is a reply to message #208073 ] |
Tue, 13 March 2007 15:49 |
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Klaus Heyne
Messages: 1957
Registered: April 2004 |
Platinum Member |
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From a recent exchange between J.J. Blair and Barry Hufker:
poster: I assume it's a hijacked ebay account (no transactions for over 5 years).
J.J.: You're right. The auction is a fraud. And since it is, I'm doubting the info in the mic is even accurate.
Barry: You're saying this is a fraud because the guy wants a bank check or money order?
J.J.: That, and the fact that the bidder ID is hidden (big hint), and the account hasn't been used in several years. All tell tale signs of a hijacked account.
Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com
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| Re: More and More Scams On EBay [message #237145 is a reply to message #229350 ] |
Wed, 11 April 2007 23:58 |
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Klaus Heyne
Messages: 1957
Registered: April 2004 |
Platinum Member |
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New e-bay developments (reported by J.J. Blair on April 11, 2007):
eBay has just changed a policy that makes it now harder to identify fraudulent auctions, and impossible to notify unsuspecting bidders:
A hallmark of fake auctions was the "bidder ID kept private" option, so that you could not warn bidders. But now, eBay has changed their policy to not list bidder IDs at all, and the original option to do so has been removed: all bidders are listed now as "Bidder 1", "Bidder 2", etc.
They said they did this to eliminate fake second chance offerings, but it's opened up another can of worms, IMO.
So, anybody who took comfort in bidding on auctions that didn't use this option, beware. Make sure to look at other tell tale signs, such as zero feedback, or no activity on the seller's account for an extended period of time.
Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com
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| Re: eBay: How To Avoid Becoming A Scam Victim [message #270906 is a reply to message #206497 ] |
Tue, 04 September 2007 13:21 |
animix
Messages: 8
Registered: October 2004
Location: Durango, Colorado |
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I recently had an interesting experience buying a pair of sequentially numbered KM84i's on EBay. It wasn't a scam, per se, as the mics were actually delivered, but they were not as represented. I don't mean to hijack this thread to another forum, but the entire sequence of events and final resolution is at this thread.
http://www.3daudioinc.com/3db/showthread.php?t=11512
There may be some information there which will help buyers who end up purchasing an item with the "Catch 22" wording that a mic is working but is offered "as is".
If time and effort can be equated to money, after this experience and the time and effort it cost me, I might have been better off buying the mics from a reputable reseller.
Hope this helps someone....and thanks to Klaus, who was helpful with some initial inquiries that eventually led to my getting this situation resolved.
Doug Joyce
Animix Productions
Durango, CO
Crop circles are chuck Norris' way of saying that sometimes corn just needs to lie the **** down.
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