RE: Re: [OT] Ebay non delivery

["White, Peter" <peter.white@xxxxxxx>]

Just another tip; 192.com isn't free any more, but www.b4usearch.com
<http://www.b4usearch.com> 
does all the same things (apart from the
flagging) for free.

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Lidstone [mailto:patrick@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 30 October 2003 17:41
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: [OT] Ebay non delivery



> Problem is I seem to be dealing with two peoples. One name is from
the
> profile and another is from the initial email requesting payment,
both have
> different postal addresses. One think I do have is the bank
details, so I'm
> going to be popping around to Barclays today to see if they can at
least
> confirm the name on the account.

I got caught up in a systematic e-bay scam, and the ensuing police
investigation. Knowing the details of the bank account you paid the
money in to actually helps remarkably little, because you have to
prove the connection between the account holder's given name/address
and the perpetrator that empties the bank account. Despite the recent
changes in money-laundering laws, which require 3 forms of id when
opening a bank account, it is sufficient for someone to simply deny
knowledge of the account. A definite link can only be established
with witness based/photographic evidence.

If you have a name/address that looks vaguely plausible, you can
search for corresponding directory entries on 192.com. The nice
(extraordinary) thing about 192.com is that you can also set a flag
against database entries so that you get an e-mail notification when
someone looks up a particular name/address (at least you could 12
months ago). This provides a quick and easy way to establish contact
with people who are looking for someone with the same credentials as
your bloke for similar reasons as yourself.

Don't expect any support from e-bay beyond a token acknowledgement.
They don't care (I suspect they can't afford to care, it would be
interesting to know what percentage of transactions are fraudulent -
my guess would be very high). The system operates on trust - and is
open to abuse. I personally won't use e-bay for anything other than
small value items unless I can either complete the deal in person.
It's a shame - I wish e-Bay would take more responsibility instead of
giving the appearance of trying to duck the whole issue.

Patrick