A common fraud is a bounced check. This has of course been happening for years in business. Buyers send you checks for the goods and then they bounce, leaving you high and dry. The best option is to not send the goods, till the check has been cleared. This way you'll be sure of your payment.



As most are now wiser to this particular piece of deception, people are resorting to newer and more ingenious ones. There is a more difficult-to-detect fraud taking place on eBay now. A buyer asks for the goods to be shipped to an unconfirmed address. This address is different from the one registered at PayPal. You must note that PayPal accounts are notoriously easy to steal from, especially from new users. It only asks for an email address and password. PayPal does ask for a confirmed address now, which matches the one on the credit card. This is to prevent credit cards being registered on stolen accounts. But unscrupulous buyers ask for things to be shipped to a different address.

This could be the buyer resorting to credit card fraud. The goods are often delivered to the false address before the scam can be unearthed. Be wary of those who are willing to pay more and want a super fast delivery, because they could be scamming you.

Remember eBay frauds carried out by buyers are your responsibility. False payments are always refunded from you the seller, even if you have never received the money. Today there are many sellers and buyers who are moving away from PayPal, and using other electronic payment services. You will be able to find a large number of these alternate service providers with a simple internet search, remember to do your research before signing up for one of them.

There is another kind of fraud happening on eBay. Buyers sometimes deny buying goods and state that they have been scammed. They ring up the bank that has issued their credit card and claim fraudulent use after receiving the goods. The bank without examining it further reverses the transaction so the buyer has the goods which weren't paid for. Though this is risky, it is so easy to do! Beware of this kind of fraud and make sure that all your transactions are over eBay, so that a proper record is kept of them.

A few precautions and being alert to the possibility of being duped could make you be a little more careful about your sales transactions over eBay.