Do you hate being scammed? I hate it. I haven't been scammed online (yet) but my friends have and they've lost quite a bit of money as a result.
If you're selling or buying on Ebay, you should know that that is the hunting ground for scam artists. From browsing different internet forums, I've learned that these thieves know that their targets are in the know with respect to Western Union transfers. It's definitely not suggested and use at your own risk... risk of never getting your money back. Most scam artists are overseas and out of reach of U.S. law enforcement. If a seller says their monthly payment limit for Paypal is maxed out and they want you to use Western Union, move on.
But they'll have a counter to that as well. They may recommend an escrow service online. Let me tell you right off the bat that Ebay endorses only one escrow service - Escrow.com. Use any other at your own risk. The scam artists know that it's easy to buy a domain, set up a fake site and have the server somewhere overseas. You need to go to a site where you can trace and check out the domain name. Take a look at the date of creation and the physical address supplied by the registrant. If it was created recently with an address somewhere outside the U.S., be careful. Like I said at the beginning of this paragraph - Escrow.com is the way to go. So what is an escrow service anyway?
An escrow service is basically a "middle man" both parties can trust. Here's an example of a typical transaction:
-
Buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale. This includes item description, price, and time period of inspection.
-
Buyer pays the escrow service by check, money order, credit card, or wire transfer. Escrow.com does not accept Western Union or Money Gram.
-
Seller then ships the item to the buyer and provides tracking information to the escrow service so delivery can be confirmed.
-
Buyer inspects the product and can either accept or reject it.
-
If the item is accepted, the seller is then paid via check or wire transfer. If the item is rejected, it's sent back to the seller. Once she verifies the item is in satisfactory condition, the buyer's money is refunded by the escrow service.
|