Online Auction Scams and Frauds

Auction scams and frauds have been around for awhile and unfortunately; as long as there are buyers and sellers, so will there be scammers hunting for targets.  If you are a seller, scammers have two common approaches.  The first being that the person places a very low bid and then using another fake name places a very high bid which is withdrawn just prior to the closing of the bidding. In other cases the scammer may use the overpayment method and send you a cheque worth more than the agreed price and give one of many reasons for the over payment, be it that he made a mistake or shipping costs or whatever.  This in the hope that you will send the amount of the overpayment(usually by Western Union or other line service) before you realize that the check is a fraud.  The FTC offers a very detailed explanation of this type of fraud and how to avoid it. On the other hand if you are buying, the seller may request payment via wire and you risk not receiving anything in return or perhaps a product of inferior quality.  Scammers may use other accomplices to bid up the price artificially.