Don't Get Burned on eBay

Chapter 6. Don’t Get Burned by Scammers

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” By the same token, no one can take advantage of you without your express permission. If you’ve been the victim of a scam on eBay or PayPal, you probably screamed about the sites having been “hacked.” That’s a common cry but it’s simply not true. Both sites are essentially bulletproof.

Trust me when I tell you scammers would much rather hack a web site than wheedle information out of people one at a time. If they could gain access to the financial details of millions of eBay or PayPal customers all at once, they would—but it’s just not that easy to do. So scammers are forced to rely on the ignorance of the general population, something that can never be overestimated.

And thus, they flourish.

Buyers are usually the ones scammed, but there are times when sellers take hits too (albeit in much different ways).

You’ll never get burned by scammers if you avoid falling into their traps. And this chapter is designed to keep you out of their slimy, scheming clutches.

Let’s play the feud!

When to Be Afraid of Your Email

Your inbox should be a happy place. Unfortunately, some killjoys will go out of their way to turn it into a minefield. Read on and tread lightly.

Gone Phishing

While checking her email one day, Lola found a rather ominous looking missive from eBay. It said there had been some suspicious activity on her account, and the only way to keep it from being suspended ...