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Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, online transactions require extra caution to avoid scams. These cons often involve purchases and sales on eBay, Craigslist, and other direct seller-to-buyer sites. Scammers may pretend to purchase an item only to send you a bogus check and ask you to refund the “accidental” overpayment. In other cases, the scammer will pretend to be a legitimate online seller but never deliver the goods.
How the scam works:
You are selling an item through an online service. A buyer contacts you claiming to be interested in purchasing the item. They may offer you more money for the item if you accept a cashier’s check or money order rather than following the site’s usual checkout process. When the payment arrives, it is for more than the agreed-upon purchase amount. The buyer claims to have made a mistake and asks you to return the difference by some untraceable method such as a wire transfer. The payment turns out to be fake, and you’re out of the money.
If you’re the buyer in an online purchase scam, the basic ploy is a simple one — you will not receive the items you paid for. The listing or website might be selling anything from a puppy to a used car. The seller may attempt to convince you to go outside the site’s usual payment methods or to complete a purchase for a big ticket item, such as a car, sight unseen. The details and photos — often copied from a real seller’s listing — will look very real, but the low price may seem too good to be true (because it is!).
Tips to avoid this scam:
- Be aware that even if you are able to cash a check or see funds recorded in your account statement, it may still be fake. Your bank may even tell you a check has “cleared,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the clear—it can take several weeks to find out that a check has bounced.
- When buying or selling on a site that offers protections to buyers and sellers, take advantage of them. If a buyer or seller tries to persuade you to go outside the site’s usual process or payment methods, that’s a big red flag.
Examples of this scam:
To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker.
To learn how to protect yourself, go to “10 Steps to Avoid Scams”.