How to spot fraudsters on Ebay

OK, heres some basic tips on how to spot the most likely fraudulent deals on Ebay:

1. On Ebay the old saying 'If it looks too good to be true, it probably is' should be your guide when looking for mobiles. If you see one of the newest mobiles for sale for what seems like a very low price then theres a reason for it. Most likely is that its a scam using a hijacked Ebay account and that you receive your spanking new phone after you part with your cash.

2. If the seller is asking you to email a separate address with any questions rather than use the 'Ask seller a question' link then its highly likely that this auction is using a hijacked ebay account. When an account is hijacked the fraudster has no access to the genuine owners email inbox and so cannot receive mail sent through ebay.

3. Check the sellers feedback. The majority of people who are selling new or the most up-to-date mobiles will have bought or sold mobiles, or at least hi-tech stuff in the past.
Check the items that they have bought or sold recently from their feedback.
If their history shows they've been trading in unrelated stuff then think again whether the auction is genuine.

4. Is the product actually released and available? Many fraudsters have items for sale which aren't actually released or available to buy yet. Do a quick trawl around the web to see if you can see anyone else selling these phones or if you can see any expected release dates for them before you commit your hard-earned cash!

I wouldn't recommend making a judgement based on any of these rules on their own but the more that seem true the more likely the auction is dodgy.

Good luck and be careful out there!

FFF - Frequently Frauded Fones

Although fraud is rife amongst listings for most phones on Ebay, its amazing how many bids theree are on phones that are not even released and available yet. To help people identify these items I'm listing the most recent phones that are subject to fraudulent listings on Ebay:

- Nokia E series - E60 E61 and E70 - These phones were announced in early October and will not be available to buy until early 2006. Despite this there are several for sale on Ebay as I write.

- Sony Ericsson P990 - Also recently announced and not available until early 2006. There are quite a few on Ebay, none of which appear to be genuine.

- Nokia 770 - Not really a phone but worth mentioning. These units have recently been released in small quantities mainly in Europe. There are several on Ebay and only one looks like it might be genuine.

- Motorola V3i -Announced in early November and not yet released.

- Nokia N Series - N71 N80 N92 - Announced in early November and will not be available until early 2006

I'll be posting more FFF's as they appear....