We at MAW were interested to receive an email from one of our faithful followers regarding Madbid (www.madbid.com) the UK based penny auction house.

It appears that a few people had written some negative comments on the Madbid forum http://madbidforums.com/index.php?/topic/95-strange-winners-report/ regarding a few suspicious user names including some comments from a “AuctionWatch” which I will point out right now is not MAW.  Madbid went on to say that their data is monitored and they are compliant with Information Commisioners Office (ICO) (which I will assume is a UK regulatory office).

Our follower took it upon himself to write to the ICO and this was their response:

Sent: Mon, 19 July, 2010 9:33:22
Subject: Enquiry reponse from the Information Commissioner’s Office

19 July 2010
Case Reference Number ENQ0319992

Dear Mr Collier
Thank you for your email dated 26 June 2010, attached.
Your enquiry

I understand from your email that you have been informed that the Information Commissioner’s Office keeps a record of all bidders or indeed can monitor any bids on any auctions run by a particular website.  This is not the case.

We do not routinely hold information on behalf or public authorities or private companies.  Indeed we are unaware of any company called Madbid. I have set out below what this office does.

About the Information Commissioner’s Office

The Information Commissioner is a UK independent supervisory authority reporting directly to the UK Parliament. The Commissioner enforces and oversees the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 within the UK and the Environmental Information Regulations and Freedom of Information Act 2000 within England , Wales and Northern Ireland .

You can find out about your rights as an individual under the legislation we oversee by visiting the section for individuals on our website at http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public.aspx.

Reporting possible scams

If you are concerned that a UK organisation is operating an online scam, you may want to contact the Office of Fair Trading to report the scam and seek advice on your rights as a consumer.

The Office of Fair Trading can be contacted via their website www.oft.gov.uk.  There is a list of known scams on their website at http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Scams/default.htm.

Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service, supported by the Office of Fair Trading -

Website: www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

Telephone: 08454 04 05 06.

I hope that this information is helpful.  If you have further questions on this issue, please either respond to this email (leaving the subject line unchanged) or contact our helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Yours sincerely

Case Officer

Information Commissioner’s Office

Hmmm. Do you smell the same rat as me here?  Its well and good quoting facts but when these quoted facts aren’t entirely truthful why quote them in the first place?  I must admit we are becoming more and more sceptical of one or two penny auction websites including Madbid.  We did read an article recently where Madbid claimed they had over 70,000 winners and that they have over 100 auctions per day.  Well what a pack of lies that it is.  The FACT is:  MadBid may now have 100 auctions per day (lets all monitor this claim from Madbid) now but certainly from their inception in 2008 this was not the case.  In fact during their first 12 months of operation they averaged 43 auctions per day FACT.  So lets assume that their second year they had 100 auctions per day (and I would stake my life savings on the fact that this is not the case and that they have now conveniently made a few cosmetic changes to their website to say they have over 100 auctions per day because quite a few people had questioned their claims on the number of winners they have advertised against the actual number of auctions) it still does not add up.  Take a look for yourself at their claim http://uk.madbid.com/about/
Continue Reading

Online buyers: Never pay with Western Union or Money Gram – That’s right — never! These methods have proven to be unsafe when paying someone you don’t know. ■ Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails; instead, type in a web address you know. Use firewalls,anti-spyware, and anti-virus software to protect your home computer; keep them up-to-date. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for more information. 1. Spoof eBay Email Encounter 2. Unsafe Safety Board 3. Hijacked Account 4. Fake Escrow Account 5. Indonesian Credit Card Scam 6. The Western Union Wiggle 7. Win A Car Contest 8. UPS Exchange Collect Confusion 9. Counterfeit “Second Chance” Offer 10. Company Check Crumbles 11. Deceptive Double Whammy 12. ICQ, I Scam U 13. Buy-It-Now, But Off eBay 14. Spoofed eBay Pages 15. Drippy Drop Shipper 16. Dangerous Questions 17. Phony escrow.com 18. African Adventure 19. Weird Wedding 20. Uninsured “Insured Payments” 21. Reverse Western Union Wiggle 22. Fake Money Orders 23. Compromised Credit Card 24. FedEx® Follies

You can find just about anything on eBay these day’s a random browse brings CDs, clothing, cars, and skin to your computer screen. That’s right, I said skin. One man recently auctioned patches of his body to advertising companies, who tattooed their logos on to him. EBay isn’t the only site for surfers bit by the auction bug. There are literally hundreds of sites on the web where you can sell your useless crap and use the money to buy someone else’s useless crap. It’s a flea market if I ever saw one-just online. And hey, it’s not all junk. You can find some great deals on auctions sites.

One problem: People are getting scammed, which turns them off to these types of sites altogether. Of course, security is bound to be an issue whenever the Internet and money are involved, but with online auctions, individuals are in control, not corporations who are more trustworthy with business transactions. 99 times out of 100, the relationship between auctioneer and buyer will go smoothly, but just in case, here’s the top five ways users will scam you. Don’t become that minority who walks away from a deal having lost both money and item.

1. Phony Users. I don’t know what the reason is behind it, but some users will bid on items when they never have any intention of purchasing it. Your auction will be over, and the user will cancel his auction membership and disappear-and there’s not much you can do to stop him. Most auction sites charge a fee to sell items, so not only do you still have the unwanted item on your hands, but you also have lost money trying to sell it.

One way to prevent this from happening is to closely keep track of you auction. When the auction closes, take note of the second and third runners up. That way, if the winner bails on you, you can contact the others to see if they are still interested in purchasing the item from you. At some sites, you also have the option of only accepting bids from confirmed users-these are bidders who have either won and paid for items in the past or who have their own auctioneer’s account set up with the site. Check the guidelines, because every site is a little different on their definition of “confirmed buyer.”

2. Stolen Credit Cards. If you own a business and choose to accept credit cards, be careful about how you do this online. When a user pays with a stolen credit card, it may take a few days for the rightful owner to realize it’s one. Guess what? You won’t get the money for your item, which is already in the mail-as good as gone.

Credit card payments are tricky, and I don’t recommend using them unless you own a business with an online website that has credit card payments available. If not, call the credit card company. The name and address that the user provided for shipping should be the same name and address on the card. Companies are glad to check their records for you-it saves them time and money when their cards are stolen. If it doesn’t match up, decline the card and ask for payment in another way.

3. Shipping and Receiving Scoundrels. Whether you’re the buyer or seller, you should be cautious about the exchange of money and goods. Users can easily take your money or item and disappear without sending you what you’re due.

In most conditions, it is the buyer’s responsibility to send payment first. If you’re using a personal check to pay for an item, date the check two weeks from the day you send it. That way, if the seller never sends the item, you can cancel your check before its cashed. The best choice, especially for larger items, is to use an escrow service. These companies act as a go-between for buyers and sellers.

Check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Reports before selecting a service to make sure they aren’t scamming both buyer and seller by disappearing with the item and the money, both at once.

4. Check Bouncers. As with stolen credit cards, buyers can easily scam sellers by sending them checks that are no good. You receive the payment and mail the item, but when you go to cash the check, you find out that it is worthless. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot-use a third party service instead.

Third party payment services, the most popular of which is paypal, allow people to create free online accounts to transfer money. Using a bank account or credit card, you can send and receive money almost instantly, which prevents users from stealing your stuff. This is the best option for payment after an online auction.

5. Identity Thieves. As with any online service, you need to be very careful with your personal information to prevent identity theft. These crooks are getting very sneaky, often the e-mails or messages you receive from them look and sound very official. As people are getting more web-savvy, so are cyber criminals.

Use a well-known auction site that you trust. These sites should never ask for information like your social security number. Most of the time they won’t be the ones trying to scam you. Other users will use their company name to send e-mails demanding such information. If you get something in your inbox that looks fishy, forward it to the company or give them a call, and professionals there can tell you if it’s legit. These sites will also never ask for your user name and password in an e-mail, so beware of claims that this information is needed.

Use common sense. The information you share online should be limited and you should always take preventative measures to protect yourself. Sites are only as secure as their users, so if you get scammed, most times you only have yourself to blame. Before signing up with any auction site, check their policies. Knowledge is the key to keeping your online transactions protected so that you can buy and sell all the personal property, goods and services you want. Before long, that green and orange polka-dotted couch will be yours.

Penny auctions work as a traditional auction. The only difference is that you can only raise 1 penny at a time. Every auction has a countdown timer. When the bid is raised the timer is reset to a predetermined bid time. If no one raises the bid before the time is out the auction closes and the last bidder wins.