Ebay Scam-Watch Out For This One

I’ve just received a notification of another scam. This particular scam alert involves huge, online auction website, Ebay. Thanks to Oliver for the heads up. Although it’s not specifically a Chester only scam, it may well affect quite a few of our residents. So, take heed and watch out for this Ebay scam. It is aimed at those who sell on Ebay so if you know of any Ebay sellers, you know what to do. Pass the information on. Anyway, here’s the details…..

Watch Out For This Ebay Scam

“This is a not a nice one and it’s not particularly easy to spot. It’s a ‘new’ Ebay Scam that I’ve never heard of. Until now.

Here’s how it went down for one particular business owner…

An eBay business owner sells tools on eBay. He sells thousands of them under thousands of listings…and he fell victim of this particular scam. The amount he lost wasn’t small change either. He fell foul to the tune of around £53K. An amazing amount isn’t it.

Ebay Scam – How Did It Happen?

To begin with someone hacked into his eBay selling account. And then after that they changed the PayPal payment email address to their own email address.

Very cleverly, they setup an email address that looked just like the business owner’s. But with one letter change. Also, they ONLY changed a handful of his listings, leaving the rest intact in their original format.

The payments for this ‘handful’ of listings then went to the scammers (via their own PayPal account) rather than the true business owners’s.

He only realised what had happened when customers started to complain about missing parcels.

In short, this Ebay scam quite simply entails ‘scammers’ hacking into your
account, and change your Paypal to theirs. And they do so in a small way…so you don’t notice. Very clever. And very deceptive.

Ebay Scam – How To Protect Yourself?

You’ve probably heard of 2-step verification. This is where you login, then
get a verification code before you can access your account.

If you sell a decent amount online, I’d highly recommend you start using it.

‘Scams’ like this are common, and they get more and more sophisticated every year. Any ‘system’ is hackable, but by using 2-step verification, at least you’ll give them one more hurdle to jump.”

Thanks again for the heads up. If anyone reading this do sell items on Ebay, or know someone who does, take note. And make others aware.

Chester Crimewatch

Another useful article to add to the (sadly, meaning sadly in the sense that these scams exist) ever increasing library of articles. For the other scam alerts you should be aware of, take a look HERE.

For even more tips, have a look at the “Related Products” listed below this post. Some useful guides available.

Chester Lifestyle

As I say, this scam is not merely Chester centric, so spread the word beyond our boundaries if you know any Ebay sellers not living in our beautiful city. But, while you’re here and you want to know more about Chester and this website in particular, then head over to HERE for more information.