eBay/Craigslist eBay Tractor Scams

aardvark · Feb 1, 2005

( You also make note of alternate email addresses in the listing. We do the same. Why? Well our security was compromised when we used to use 1 email address, using the typical EBay info request. Our solution is that we now use another email address STRICTLY for EBay. We will never respond to anyone from that. It is secret to everyone but EBay. When we get EBay mail in our other email boxes, we know they are fake. And believe me, we get lots.)

Perhaps I understood this paragraph wrong, but I can tell you, if you are putting text in your auction descriptions such as "email me at xyz1234@wherever.com for more information", people are going to default into thinking you are a scammer, even if it's not true. If you meant you have one email address you use for ebay, and a different email for all other business related activities, then I think that's a good idea. If you try to deter people from hitting the "ask seller a question" link on ebay's auction pages, people will not believe your auction is legitimate. Most times when scammers post listings, it's through other people's accounts that they have hacked via the phishing email scams. They can get as far as posting auctions, but cannot change the account owner's information such as email address or password, etc, without having ebay notify the owner's original email account that a change was made. This is the reason the scams always request for you to contact the scammer though the email link in the auction text.

I've never had a problem with ebay cancelling my listings, and sometimes I do have what could be considered a policy violation, but not often. Granted, I probably report 10-20 scams every week, not always tractor related though.

aardvark · Feb 1, 2005

Bird, we are pretty much talking about the same thing, just in the buyer vs seller pages. Attached is how it looks on my "my ebay" items sold page. The item in question was paid for, and shipped, but paypal and ebay never updated.

Bugsy · Feb 1, 2005

Hello Jared, let me be clear about the email.

Our email address is posted on our listing. It adds some legitimacy rather than some unknown "blind" request.

WE DO NOT mind when somebody uses the default email aka "ask seller a question". As a matter of fact it evens adds MORE legitimacy for the buyer when we respond with our usual address, and that is okay with us.

What we do not do is respond via the email address we have supplied to EBay. EBay prefers we do but then it becomes a security issue.

As of 2 months ago, when we were fooled with a fake EBay site, that address became secret. Any alleged email from EBay that appears on any other email automatically gets deleted because it is a guaranteed fake.

Detailed emails (both ways), phone calls (both ways) and addresses among many other things add to the legitimacy of a seller or buyer.

The original point was that just because an email is shown in the listing, among other things, it does not mean it is a scam. That point is very moot since BJ clarified his thought, opinions and findings.

Tractors4u · Feb 1, 2005

( seller has a history of buying and selling tons of cheap junk, ....will have dolls and clothing for 60 transactions and then poof a tractor )

Sometimes it isn't that they have sold a bunch of non-tractor related items, it is that they have stolen someone elses profile. I personally know of a guy that had this done to him. He sold video tapes through ebay and and one time recieved an e-mail to update his account info. The big dummy did it and basically handed his password to the scammers. The scammers goofed up and didn't change his password. He logged in and discovered that he all of the sudden had 4 motorcycles for sale. He promptly changed his password and contacted ebay. The scammers look for targets that have a high rating on their feedback.

Bird · Feb 1, 2005

Jared, I don't know whether the problem is with eBay themselveds or PayPay, but I did finally get an e-mail from the seller saying that he's waiting for confirmation and that they "should get it resolved pretty soon." /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

And I haven't ever seen a page like your attachment. That's a new one to me.

Scrounger · Feb 1, 2005

Its always buyer beware with eBay but you can make money on it. We're moving and I've been cleaning out the closet and garage of old motorcycle atv and snowmobile items. I've listed over 100 items and have sold about all of them.

THen again, I've been taken on ebay even as an experienced seller. I bought train cars and they arrived damaged. The seller said no problem and had them picked up from me. I never heard back from him and PayScam was not able to help either. I called the police in his town and the address he gave was get this, the police station. He was a total scammer.

I prefer to sell and not buy since it is hard to trust anyone on eBay these days..

I would feel more comfortable buying a car that I have to pick up than an LGB train that is mailed to me.
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

aardvark · Feb 2, 2005

( I agree that Ebay doesn't care. The same goes for PayPal! Just try to get someone at PayPal to email you. Try to find a phone number. It can't be done.)

OK, I actually just went through this about 20 minutes ago for a shipping address I screwed up and couldn't void. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Paypal phone contact info for premier and business accounts:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_contact-phone

Paypal phone contact info for personal accounts:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_contact-phone

I had a couple different phone numbers for ebay at one time, but they have all been disconnected at this point. I know there are some good numbers, but I don't know what they are. If one achieves silver level power seller they give you a toll free number to contact ebay at, but alas, I'm just a bronze level power seller.

California · Feb 2, 2005

How the scammers get your eBay ID, in detail:

I haven't been on eBay for months then last week I listed some tape backup drives.

A few hours later I received the following, addressed to the address I put in the auction description. (I didn't respond):

-------------------------------------
Subject: TKO NOTICE: Compromised Account
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:35:27 -0600

In an effort to protect your eBay account security, we have suspended your account until such
time that it can be safely restored to you. We have taken this action because your password
may have been compromised. Although we cannot disclose our investigative procedures that led
to this conclusion, please know that we took this action in order to maintain the safety of your account.

However, your account is marked for too many successful logins last week (January, 20-28, 2005).
It is more interesting that the hostnames are from different countries:

United States (c-67-160-224-80.client.comcast.net)
Canada (HSE-Toronto-ppp304429.sympatico.ca)
Sweden (c213-100-93-27.swipnet.se)
Russia (32.122-140-213.telenet.ru)

Please authorize your registration information on or before February 3, 2005.
Currently registration information will be screened when you login.

Follow the link to make sure you are on a secure eBay webpage.
h t t p s ://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn
[I added spaces so this isn't a live link]

Thank you for using eBay!

-------end quote--------

HOWEVER:
'View Page Source' to see the actual message coding reveals you will be taken to the following if you click on their 'signin.ebay.com':

<A HREF="http://gtman.co.kr/signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll.
php?co_partnerid=2&siteid=0&UsingSSL=1&
?JbQqzzFgGCFTgAgAAeJbQqzzFgGCFTgAgAAeHlz9FnXeMW
ZllWXAAAAAuMCwCFBQlz9FnXeMWZllWXS3AlBX+VShqAhQ
RfhgTDrf=https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll
?SignIn&UsingSSL=1&pUserId=&co_partnerId=2
&siteid=0&ru=&pp=pass&
pageType=708&MfcISAPI
Command=SignInWelcome
">https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn</A>

That's hard to read but it says clicking their link will take you to a website in Korea. I assume their input boxes are surrounded by text from real ebay. However the data you input goes to the scammer.

Some people respond to emails like this then discover they are now in the tractor business.

nephromancer · Feb 2, 2005

Thanks for the info California

That was a great lesson and a warning about internet security and the ability of con men to adapt faster than the rest of us.

I was shocked last night by the amount of loose information on the net and how easy it is to get personal info that you thought was hidden. I was signing up my office manager for Yahoo Instant Messenger and in the process she did a search to get my email info, guess what popped up??

She was able to see not only every site that I had registered with as a user, ( top of the list was ) but even more suprising to me was that each one had a little bit of personal info about me. There was enough there to get a pretty **** good idea of whom I am, what I do etc. So the lesson is be careful what you reveal, even on trusted sites. Google,and all the search engines are very powerful.

Mith · Feb 2, 2005

new bunch of these put on ebay UK site
1
2
3
the sad thing is someone has actually bid on one of these

Bird · Feb 2, 2005

( I agree that Ebay doesn't care. The same goes for PayPal! )

After the last 3 days, I agree, too. I got nowhere with either eBay or PayPal; just finally gave up and closed my account with PayPal and will NOT use their service anymore, nor buy from anyone who wants payment through PayPal. In fact, I probably won't buy ANYTHING on eBay again!

Jim_n_Motown · Feb 2, 2005

TWO THINGS TO BE AWARE OF:

NEVER under any circumstances sign in to any site from a link given through email! Ebay and any other site say they will never ask for you to sign in through email.

NEVER use the same password for ebay and Paypal!
Another reason the scammers want to get your ebay password is that they are hoping that you are using the same password for both sites.

Another thing to make sure of is when you are sending any personal info make sure that the web address starts with https and not http.

Hopefully this will help someone

Bugsy · Feb 2, 2005

BJ - That is only the tip of the iceberg. I am, besides the things my X says /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif , a licensed reposessor in Florida. You would be suprised at what information is available and worse yet where.

After 14 years of dealing with computers and such, I figured that only the "dummies" get caught in scams and "phishing", etc. Well I personally increased that number by 1.

I was lucky I did not get hurt hurt. I caught it quickly but it took a month of CYA to straighten out.

By the way, on EBay, chinabestproducts_com is selling 254's for 2k, skid steers for 4k, and mini x's for 8k. Does anybody want to go in on an order /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Maybe a few 40' containers /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. We will arrange for "customer pickup" and arrange our own shipping /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Who's in?

aardvark · Feb 2, 2005

You could definately tempt me with a Jinma 6" chipper depending on price. I would pick it up from your facility. Really though, if you could get the stuff for the prices they are advertising without the associated shipping in thier auctions, then sure, I'll buy a couple containers also. Look at the prices on chinabest.com vs those prices, there's a huge difference.

Here's one that looks very interesting. Read the list under "our service" and make sure to check out the second from last on that list. LOL!

aardvark · Feb 2, 2005

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=95494&item=3871657369

The other thing is that I think all the other manufacturers should incorporate the"fear wheel drive" system into thier skid steers. Think of all the time it must save if the brush fears for itself and just jumps out of the ground on it's own.

Bird · Feb 2, 2005

( I figured that only the "dummies" get caught in scams and "phishing", etc. Well I personally increased that number by 1. )

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif You know, as a cop, I saw a lot of con games, known as "pigeon drops". And a lot of people feel the same way about them; only "dummies" fall for them. And most of them play on the victim's greed, which also leads to that opinion. However, 'tain't true. My old grandpappy got took for 5 grand and I would never have expected him to be greedy or try to take advantage of anyone. Most of the games work in a pretty short time, and with him, it took the two con artists all day, but they finally got him. And I've seen the games con lawyers, farmers, preachers, and many other intelligent, well educated people that you would expect to know better.

So, we all like to think we're immune, but fact is, we aren't. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

California · Feb 4, 2005

How the scammers get your eBay ID, version 2. Received today:

-------begin copy-----

Return-Path: <billing@ebay.com>
Received: from 221.158.33.253 (unknown [221.158.33.253])
Message-ID: <20050229583.15479.qmail@ebay.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 10:05:37 +0000

From: "Ebay Billing Dept" <billing@ebay.com>

Subject: Your eBay account termination!

Dear eBay member:
It has come to our attention that your eBay Billing Information's records are out of date.

This requires an update of your billing information. Please take several minutes out of your online experience and update your billing records. You will not run into future problems with our online services.

However, failure to update your records will result in your account termination. Please update your records right now. Once you have updated your account records your eBay session will not be interrupted.

Please
<a href="http://domain-ebay.com">click here</a> to update your billing
records.

Thank you for your time.

eBay Billing Dept team.

-----end copy------

I didn't 'click here' on this one either.

nephromancer · Feb 4, 2005

Thanks again California

This is not a new problem, look at the early posts on this forum and you will see it coming up again and again. For example see the post by Bob Skurka and other from June of 2004, #440514, on page 20 of this forum. That's actually the sad part of it. It also reminds me of the line " There's a sucker born every minute". While that may be unfair, it is true that there are is no shortage of easy marks, and these guys are if nothing else, persistent. They prey on the inherent trust that we have of other in an ordered society. It helps therefore to show how easy it is for our kids and our parents and our friends to fall for these simple requests to update info. There are lots of people surfing ebay who have little or no experience with online fraud. My wife is one. **** I am one. I think in the right circumstance I could be induced to cough up some private info.

I highly recommend that everyone either use a password program or invent a simple system to vary the passwords from site to site. That way at least it's not like losing the master key. I am sure it is tempting to use the same password for every site. Unfortunately it now appears it's just darn lazy to do so.

Sure makes it harder for the legitimate dealers to advertise. I liked the point made about putting in your own email address, it can work against you if it makes you look more like a scammer than a legitimate businessman.

Bill

nephromancer · Feb 4, 2005

I got about 5 or 6 of these in response to my complaints. Bottom line is, they can't help you, you have to help yourself. So I guess eBay is only for grownups, not for us kids.


Hello,

Thanks for writing to us. I appreciate the chance to help you with your
questions.

I wanted to let you know that the account you reported was compromised
and used to list unauthorized items. We were not aware of this activity
until some time after the listings appeared on the site. Once we became
aware of this activity, immediate action was taken. We have since
secured the account and contacted the true owner.

Let me suggest a few ways this could have occurred.

If the user had a relatively simple password or password hint question
it is possible that a third party was able to gain access to the account
by guessing the password.

It is also possible that the user could have unknowingly provided his or
her password to another party. Some eBay members have reported receiving
messages asking for User IDs and passwords. These messages appear to
come from eBay Support, but in fact are not. eBay will never ask for
sensitive information of this nature through email.

Finally, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that log
and record keystrokes. It's recommended that computer users keep their
virus alert software up-to-date, and check their system often for
problems. A firewall for high-speed Internet users is also highly
recommended.

Please be aware that eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced
items, especially if the price seems too good to be true.

We do not recommend the use of instant cash wire transfer services such
as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that users decline sending
payment in cases where these are the only methods of payment offered by
the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an instant cash wire
transfer service and the item is not delivered as promised, no recourse
is available for recovering funds. In most cases, a verified escrow
service should be used when purchasing high dollar value items. More
information on the benefits and risks of individual payment methods can
be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards,

Cabe
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team

cwarrix · Feb 16, 2005

I use a program called RoboForm to do just what you mentioned. It allows you to generate random passwords up to 14 characters long, and remembers the password for you. It will also, take you to a site and log you in automatically by clicking a shortcut. Works a lot like Gator but is NOT spyware. It's not free either, around $30, but well worth it in my opinion. I now have different passwords (long passwords) on every site I log into.

As for the eBay scams, it is sad that such a cool place like eBay is someplace we have to be careful of. I have bought and sold a lot of stuff on eBay and use it frequesntly to watch for deals, but it is easy to get burned. And it doesn't have to be a scam. I got burned buying a pontoon boat from a guy who described things a little better than they were. I made the HUGE mistake of paying for it before I picked it up. When I got there, the tires on the trailer were dry rotted and flat, no lights, etc, etc. No way it would make the 550 mile trip back home. Had to spend the night again and get new tires and lights installed. The seller was no help at all and now I have found even more lies and no reply. It's a much longer story but way off topic for this forum so I'll stop /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif But, I'll buy again from eBay, I will just be very careful!!!!