eBay/Craigslist eBay Tractor Scams

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!!!!