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.

The Real Deal: Online Auction Scam

I had to opportunity to check out the REDC auction today with one of my clients. I have been curious about these auctions for quite a while, but honestly had a skeptical attitude after ready so many bad reviews. So what did I find out at the auction? Did my client win the bid? Check out the video to find out… Distributed by Tubemogul.

The Internet has provided the public with a useful and convenient tool that makes it easier to do all manner of things than it used to be. One of these things, oddly enough, is the sale of motor vehicles. It seems strange that cars would sell well on the Web, as one would think that buyers would want to “kick the tires” before making a purchase. The success of eBay Motors, AutoTrader and other online sites devoted to the sale of motor vehicles would suggest otherwise, as business at those sites is thriving.

Consumers who wish to purchase a vehicle online should be aware of a popular scam perpetrated by crooks who wish to steal your money – the wire transfer scam. The seller offers a vehicle for sale that he or she doesn’t really have; they often just post a stock photo or one they found somewhere. The sellers often indicate that they are located in Europe, and they insist on a wire transfer, such as Western Union, for payment. Once the buyer sends the money, the seller vanishes, never to be heard from again.

This scam has been going on for some time, and most of the online auto auction sites encourage their customers never to pay for a vehicle using a wire transfer, even if the seller promises to use escrow to ensure the safety of the transaction.

Here are a few tips for those people who are shopping for a vehicle online:

# Ask the seller if you can stop by and see the vehicle in person. Someone who doesn’t actually have the vehicle in his or her possession will almost certainly refuse. Even if you have no intention of paying a visit, just asking to see it could be useful.

# Watch out for auctions that feature stock photos or photos from brochures. Anyone with a real car to sell should be able to take a picture of it.

# Beware of any seller who will only accept a wire transfer for payment.

# Beware of a seller who says the vehicle is in another country but offers to pay the shipping to the United States. This is a common ruse used by scammers in other countries.

# Watch out for a vehicle that is offered for sale at a price that seems too inexpensive for the model. A $25,000 car offered for $10,000 should set off bells in your head.

# If on eBay, check the seller’s transaction history to see if they have a record of actually selling vehicles. Scammers sometimes hack into eBay user accounts and sell using the name of another, established user. If the seller is selling a Harley but has a history of only buying compact discs, watch out.

While buying a vehicle through online auction sites is a good way to purchase one, buyers should exercise the same cautions as when they buy anything else on the Internet. If you are buying an expensive item and you are not familiar with the seller, be careful.

Bidray user “thomas2″ with his cheap iPod for less than $5! www.bidray.com

Zoozle.com has adopted a strict new win limit policy to afford more people to participate in auctions in hopes to get you a crazy bargain!

Limits are based on a 28 day rolling time window in the following price categories:

Blue $0.00 – $250 4 wins
Green $250.01+ 4 wins

Flutteroo.co.uk

Here comes one more penny auction website with its beta version.

Flutteroo was founded in 2009 with the aim of providing unique Auction-Games that are fun, exciting and rewarding for all players. Flutteroo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bargain Retailing Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 6881740) operating from offices in West London.

this website is registered to

Aviation House,
1-7 Sussex Road
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH16 4DZ
United Kingdom

Hosted on Rackspace.

Due to the overwhelming response to RockyBid 2.0 we have been experiencing some technical difficulties. In order to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance and a fluid bidding experience we’ll need to make some further improvements. The site will be unavailable for bidding until the issues are resolved. We’re gathering mana juice, mojo, a flux capacitor, some ancient potions and bottled lightning and then we’re going to inject all of those into our servers so prepare them do deal with our valued bidders. Just bare with us a little while longer.

In the mean time nothing lost. We are going to be crediting all of our bidders the amount of bids they used on the auctions we were running since Wednesday, October 6, 2009.

Buying online through auction sites can allow you to find some terrific buys if you know which sites to search and how to search. It is not all about the site though, you also have to be knowledgeable about how an auction works. The key to being a successful auction buyer is in both knowledge and your organization. Here are a few basic tips that will help you to be successful at buying auction style.

Get Organized
Have a place to record what auctions you are bidding on. The best place to do this is right on your computer. Create a folder in “My Documents” or on “My Desk” and label it Auctions. Then when you are bidding on an auction or have done a “Buy Now” or Fixed price auction save the basic information like which site the auction is on, what the auction # is, who the buyer is, when the auction closes. You can add more information if you wish, but the basic auction information should be listed. Check this folder everyday so that you are aware of what needs to be done that day with each auction. If you can copy the exact auction url into the document then you can go directly to the auction to check the status of the auction, or to up your bid.

Email
You will be corresponding with buyers about your auction buys so be sure to create a separate folder in your email account for your auctions. When you receive email concerning any of your auctions that you are watching or bidding on, move these emails to your Auction folder. A good rule of thumb is to check your email for auction related email at a minimum of twice a day.

Auction Searching
One way to locate auctions that contain the item you are searching for is to use a search engine like Google. Putting in the name of the item should yield any auctions where sellers have listed the item that matches your keywords you placed in the search box. To find your item, be sure to use the name of the product, size, color etc.

Which Auctions To Bid On
When you have located an auction that has the item up for bid that you are interested in, always, check the feedback for the seller to be sure there are no negative transactions. A seller that has negative feedback concerning how he/she ships, if shipping is on time, if items are damaged, shipping wrong items can give you an indication of how the seller will treat your transaction. Stay away from sellers who have negative feedback, it simply is not worth the risk.

Always look for shipping costs
Read the auction carefully including the description, the shipping information, the payment information, the return policy. Do not bid until you have read the entire auction listing.

Ask Questions BEFORE Bidding
If the seller has not given enough information about the item’s condition, or does not list shipping or return information, always email the seller and ask about these things before placing your bid.

Auction Site Information
When you find a site that has items you are interested in, make sure that the site is a reputable site. Read any buyer information the site has posted. Be sure that you are aware of any fees you may have to pay when using the site. Visit any forums the site has to see if those listing on the forum are happy with the way the site is working. Check to be sure that transactions on the site are secure. Look for any contact information or help links in case you have any issues with auctions they have listed on their site.