I found about 10 fraudulent listings on ebay today (easy to spot; 1 or 3 day listing, low price for what is pictured, instructions to email before bidding or contact them to buy now). I checked about once every few hours, in the road bike and mountain bike sections, and they kept popping up. It just takes a minute to alert ebay- go to the security center, click "report another problem," "problems with other ebay members," "fraud concerns for buyers," "report a listing you think is fraudulent." The listings I reported were taken down quickly.

If we all get in the habit of checking this when we go on ebay, and reporting these listings, maybe they'll stop soon. I'm sure it takes them a lot more time to set up/steal an ebay user name and post the auction than it does to report it as fraud.

Very good idea! Power to the people!

Edited the title and made it a sticky, as we get this question alot. Good job!

This person sold us a mike on mtbr and sold the same bike on ebay using the same pics and specs. we already sent the money via paypal, hopefully we will get our money back

I found about 10 fraudulent listings on ebay today (easy to spot; 1 or 3 day listing, low price for what is pictured, instructions to email before bidding or contact them to buy now). I checked about once every few hours, in the road bike and mountain bike sections, and they kept popping up. It just takes a minute to alert ebay- go to the security center, click "report another problem," "problems with other ebay members," "fraud concerns for buyers," "report a listing you think is fraudulent." The listings I reported were taken down quickly.

If we all get in the habit of checking this when we go on ebay, and reporting these listings, maybe they'll stop soon. I'm sure it takes them a lot more time to set up/steal an ebay user name and post the auction than it does to report it as fraud.
This is absurd. First it takes way longer than necessary to get to it. In the middle it dumps you to a 'help' page. You cannot bookmark it. If I have to list every fraudulent bike separately by its eBay number it will be a full time job. They obviously don't really want to know or it would be as easy as it is to report fake emails - spoof@ebay.com. - TF

to report a scam auction on eBay, but it was a real pain in the rear. The good thing was that the scam auction was gone in about 24 hours. The bad thing was that eBay took almost a week to respond to me, and then asked me to fill out some sort of survey. I don't much care about their slow response time, as they did quickly get the scam auction removed.

As an aside, from what I've seen lately, we should all beware of high-end bike auctions that come out of the UK. Most of these seem to be scams.

I am not a regular member of this forum or into cycling but I am into shutting down Ebay scam auctions. I see from some of the posts that some members are finding it difficult to report fraud auctions to Ebay. I will admit that sometimes Ebay does not make it easy to report. I have posted some info and links that I hope you will find useful.

There are several types of scams on Ebay, here are a few of the common ones:
Bogus - non-existent items (most common - many posted on hijacked accounts)
Nigerian - (or other) bogus cashier's check payments or money transfers (Qchek ,etc.)
Ebay or PayPal Phishing - email (ID theft / credit card theft)
2nd Chance Offers

Bogus - The item for sale does not exist. Many times these listings are posted on hijacked Ebay accounts. The real owner of the account usually doesn't find out until it's too late.
RED FLAGS:
Usually a 1 to 3 day auction.
Bidders ID's are kept private.
Several times in the listing you will be prompted to email the seller directly. Usually they tell you not to use the "Ask seller a question" function (because this would go directly to the real account owner).It is important to shut these fraud auctions down early because of their nature. Most ask the buyer to contact the seller (scammer) directly via email so they can conduct business outside of Ebay. The scammer is not concerned about the successful completion of the auction; instead they are only concerned about contacting as many victims as possible, the auction is merely their billboard.
The scammer usually lists a great "buy it now" price, even though it is not a buy it now type auction. Keep in mind that the item does not exist.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/results.html?tier0=account_security.html&tier1=1&tier2=5&datafile=account_security.html&item_id=&routing_code=IV%C00246&contactTitle=Report+fake+eBay+emails+(spoofs)+and+ unauthorized+account+activity&continueButton=Continue+%3E#" target="_blank">Here</a>.
You will have sign-in to Ebay. Click on the Email link. Ebay will ask for the account name and a comment (ie: "I think this account has been hijacked.")

Nigerian / Fake Check - The buyer wants to pay you via a Cashier's Check, Western Union, MoneyGram (or other methods). Not always a scam, but due diligence is mandatory.
RED FLAGS:
Buyer wants to send you a cashier's check for substantially more than your item's value. You are instructed to wire (WU or MG) the excess back to him or to a third party. You go to your bank, cash the check, take the excess to WU and send it out. Since you already have the money, the only thing left to do is ship the item, right? Wrong you will never hear from the scammer again. He doesn't want your item. He's already got what he was after....YOUR MONEY! You see, in about a month, the bank will deduct the full amount of the Cashier's check out of your account. The authorities may be notified that YOU passed a fraudulent check. You will be out the full amount of the check, your account may be frozen and it might be a long time before your bank will cash one of your checks.
Buyer wants to pay via BidPay or other money order service, you agree to it. Shortly you will receive an email from BidPay confirming that your money order has been sent. So, being the good seller that you are, you immediately ship your item to the buyer. The problem is that the confirmation is fake. There is no money order. Many services allow you check the status of your transaction online. Unfortunately many people never bother to check. Do not click on any links in emails unless you are 100% sure where they will take you.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm" target="_blank">Here</a>.

Ebay or PayPal Phishing Scam - You get an urgent email from Ebay (or PayPal, bank, etc.). Your account will be suspended or has been accessed by someone else. You must click on the link and log into your account, now. You click and are taken to a page that looks like the Ebay login page. You login and an error occurs. You try again but can't seem to do it right. You have just given a scammer your user name and password! It is called phishing. Don't click on email links.
Report This Type of Scam: spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com or uce@ftc.gov
When reporting, be sure to copy and paste the headers of the original email.

Second Chance Offers - On occasion you will bid on an item and possibly not be the winning bid. You may be contacted by someone via email. They may CLAIM to be the seller (or someone else entirely). They may tell you that for whatever reason, the winner of the auction backed out of the deal. They will offer you a chance to purchase the item, even though you didn't have the winning bid. At this point you are out of Ebay's system and dealing directly with the scammer. Remember: There is NO item...it's a scam.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/" target="_blank">Here</a>.

The above information does not cover all the types of scams that are out there. New variations appear everyday. Don't expect a lot (if any) response from Ebay once you report an auction. The important thing is that the fraudulent auctions are reported. I seek out and report fraud auctions almost on a daily basis. Believe me, sometimes they post them faster than I can report them! Keep in mind that you don't have to report every individual auction. By using the above reporting links, you report which account was used and all of the auctions on that account are shut down (hopefully). So by reporting one account you may be shutting down 20 auctions. The shut down will not be immediate, Ebay has to check it out. I have been fairly successful with the above links.

You can get some really good deals on Ebay, provided you are careful. Remember : If it sounds to good to be true.....it's probably a scam.

If you would like more info regarding scams in general, check out these links:
<a href="http://www.419eater.com/index.htm" target="_blank">419Eater</a>
<a href="http://www.scampatrol.org/" target="_blank">ScamPatrol</a>
<a href="http://www.419legal.org/portal.php" target="_blank">419Legal</a>
<a href="http://webpages.charter.net/fraud-auctions/index.htm" target="_blank">FraudAuctions</a>
<a href="http://www.scam-watcher.org/" target="_blank">Scam-Watcher</a>
<a href="http://www.thescambaiter.com/" target="_blank">TheScamBaiter</a>
<a href="http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html" target="_blank"> Ebay Discussion</a>

Regards,
Vic

Hello, and great post. Unfortunately, however, I think I fell for a scam (before I read this)! I have not sent money, and I reported the seller to eBay, because it looks very suspicious. However, I know the fact that I did win the bid on it makes things a lot more complicated. Still, is there anything I can do here? The seller is overseas and will only accept Western Union/Moneygram/wire transfer. Thanks very much!

Hello, and great post. Unfortunately, however, I think I fell for a scam (before I read this)! I have not sent money, and I reported the seller to eBay, because it looks very suspicious. However, I know the fact that I did win the bid on it makes things a lot more complicated. Still, is there anything I can do here? The seller is overseas and will only accept Western Union/Moneygram/wire transfer. Thanks very much!
If in fact the auction is a scam, you have to do nothing. You reported it to EBay and I would tell you to put everything on hold until you hear from EBay.

If in fact the auction is a scam, you have to do nothing. You reported it to EBay and I would tell you to put everything on hold until you hear from EBay.

Thanks so much Dave! Hopefully it will all work out:)

Ebay is not the only website where fraudulent sellers lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce on unsuspecting buyers. The Total Bike website also has at least two suspicious bikes listed at the present time. One was already mentioned during a previous post (Item #9895 Trek Madone 5.9 @ $1400..seller is Albert Martin. I wrote to him asking why the photo of his bike in a room with a blue wall and white baseboard was identical to one other I saw on the same website. His shaky response in broken English was that his "friend" had posted it for him. He was going to give his "friend" $100 if it sold for $1500..Yeah Right!)

The second bike is a Trek 5200, item #9869, listed for $11000 (I am sure it is supposed to be $1100 as if it really matters). The seller is Peter Alison. The bike is listed as being located in the USA but when I wrote the seller, he responded in grammatically challenged English (aka broken English) that he was living in the U.K. How convenient.

Anway, this whole scam thing has gone to interesting levels of complexity. I found a fake website Volarebikes.com from a listing on ebay for a bunch of "too good to be true" Trek bike prices. The website is presently shut down (the heat must have gotten too much for them) but it says "will appear soon". When it was up and active with an 1-800 number that always said... "all our sales representatives are busy now, please call back later"...they had photos of their supposed bike shop and employees with an address in London, UK.
I am sure it does not exist. Trek also advised me that they were not an authorized dealer.

As one of the previous posts stated: "Stay Vigilant!" Some of these scammers are GOOD, even the illiterate ones.

The other day, when i was on ebay, i also saw a Madone SL 5.9 bike for sell at $1500. I figured it was a scam and showed it to one of my buddies. He looked at it and noticed that it wasnt even the right bike. (i was embarrassed i didnt catch it). So i would also recommend making sure the picture matches the description.

The other day, when i was on ebay, i also saw a Madone SL 5.9 bike for sell at $1500. I figured it was a scam and showed it to one of my buddies. He looked at it and noticed that it wasnt even the right bike. (i was embarrassed i didnt catch it). So i would also recommend making sure the picture matches the description.

Ditto. Example A - Madone SL 5.9 (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-06-Trek-Madone-5-9-SL-Bicycle-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ7220951621QQcategoryZ98084QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

A 2005 listed as a 2006. I caught it but thought the guy was an idiot. Emailed him about it even. Also, he's listed as an account in France...but the item location is Ohio. All his feedback is in french, his items are pottery, decoration, and french related. So this bike, a 1 day $800 auction, is pretty much a scam. I just reported it.

Since it looked too good to be true, I decided to check here first - and voila!

This is absurd. First it takes way longer than necessary to get to it. In the middle it dumps you to a 'help' page. You cannot bookmark it. If I have to list every fraudulent bike separately by its eBay number it will be a full time job. They obviously don't really want to know or it would be as easy as it is to report fake emails - spoof@ebay.com. - TF
That is CORRECT. ?and why did "Bender" never respond to this? Be he slanted on this issue. In the same way that Paypal is in favor to the sellers, during disputes. Paypal (in cooperation with ebay) is only in favor of the sellerS.

Hello, and great post. Unfortunately, however, I think I fell for a scam (before I read this)! I have not sent money, and I reported the seller to eBay, because it looks very suspicious. However, I know the fact that I did win the bid on it makes things a lot more complicated. Still, is there anything I can do here? The seller is overseas and will only accept Western Union/Moneygram/wire transfer. Thanks very much!

If that is the only method of payment he is accepting, then it probably is a scam

I am not a regular member of this forum or into cycling but I am into shutting down Ebay scam auctions. I see from some of the posts that some members are finding it difficult to report fraud auctions to Ebay. I will admit that sometimes Ebay does not make it easy to report. I have posted some info and links that I hope you will find useful.

There are several types of scams on Ebay, here are a few of the common ones:
Bogus - non-existent items (most common - many posted on hijacked accounts)
Nigerian - (or other) bogus cashier's check payments or money transfers (Qchek ,etc.)
Ebay or PayPal Phishing - email (ID theft / credit card theft)
2nd Chance Offers

Bogus - The item for sale does not exist. Many times these listings are posted on hijacked Ebay accounts. The real owner of the account usually doesn't find out until it's too late.
RED FLAGS:
Usually a 1 to 3 day auction.
Bidders ID's are kept private.
Several times in the listing you will be prompted to email the seller directly. Usually they tell you not to use the "Ask seller a question" function (because this would go directly to the real account owner).It is important to shut these fraud auctions down early because of their nature. Most ask the buyer to contact the seller (scammer) directly via email so they can conduct business outside of Ebay. The scammer is not concerned about the successful completion of the auction; instead they are only concerned about contacting as many victims as possible, the auction is merely their billboard.
The scammer usually lists a great "buy it now" price, even though it is not a buy it now type auction. Keep in mind that the item does not exist.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/results.html?tier0=account_security.html&tier1=1&tier2=5&datafile=account_security.html&item_id=&routing_code=IV%C00246&contactTitle=Report+fake+eBay+emails+(spoofs)+and+ unauthorized+account+activity&continueButton=Continue+%3E#" target="_blank">Here</a>.
You will have sign-in to Ebay. Click on the Email link. Ebay will ask for the account name and a comment (ie: "I think this account has been hijacked.")

Nigerian / Fake Check - The buyer wants to pay you via a Cashier's Check, Western Union, MoneyGram (or other methods). Not always a scam, but due diligence is mandatory.
RED FLAGS:
Buyer wants to send you a cashier's check for substantially more than your item's value. You are instructed to wire (WU or MG) the excess back to him or to a third party. You go to your bank, cash the check, take the excess to WU and send it out. Since you already have the money, the only thing left to do is ship the item, right? Wrong you will never hear from the scammer again. He doesn't want your item. He's already got what he was after....YOUR MONEY! You see, in about a month, the bank will deduct the full amount of the Cashier's check out of your account. The authorities may be notified that YOU passed a fraudulent check. You will be out the full amount of the check, your account may be frozen and it might be a long time before your bank will cash one of your checks.
Buyer wants to pay via BidPay or other money order service, you agree to it. Shortly you will receive an email from BidPay confirming that your money order has been sent. So, being the good seller that you are, you immediately ship your item to the buyer. The problem is that the confirmation is fake. There is no money order. Many services allow you check the status of your transaction online. Unfortunately many people never bother to check. Do not click on any links in emails unless you are 100% sure where they will take you.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm" target="_blank">Here</a>.

Ebay or PayPal Phishing Scam - You get an urgent email from Ebay (or PayPal, bank, etc.). Your account will be suspended or has been accessed by someone else. You must click on the link and log into your account, now. You click and are taken to a page that looks like the Ebay login page. You login and an error occurs. You try again but can't seem to do it right. You have just given a scammer your user name and password! It is called phishing. Don't click on email links.
Report This Type of Scam: spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com or uce@ftc.gov
When reporting, be sure to copy and paste the headers of the original email.

Second Chance Offers - On occasion you will bid on an item and possibly not be the winning bid. You may be contacted by someone via email. They may CLAIM to be the seller (or someone else entirely). They may tell you that for whatever reason, the winner of the auction backed out of the deal. They will offer you a chance to purchase the item, even though you didn't have the winning bid. At this point you are out of Ebay's system and dealing directly with the scammer. Remember: There is NO item...it's a scam.
Report This Type of Scam: <a href="http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/" target="_blank">Here</a>.

The above information does not cover all the types of scams that are out there. New variations appear everyday. Don't expect a lot (if any) response from Ebay once you report an auction. The important thing is that the fraudulent auctions are reported. I seek out and report fraud auctions almost on a daily basis. Believe me, sometimes they post them faster than I can report them! Keep in mind that you don't have to report every individual auction. By using the above reporting links, you report which account was used and all of the auctions on that account are shut down (hopefully). So by reporting one account you may be shutting down 20 auctions. The shut down will not be immediate, Ebay has to check it out. I have been fairly successful with the above links.

You can get some really good deals on Ebay, provided you are careful. Remember : If it sounds to good to be true.....it's probably a scam.

If you would like more info regarding scams in general, check out these links:
<a href="http://www.419eater.com/index.htm" target="_blank">419Eater</a>
<a href="http://www.scampatrol.org/" target="_blank">ScamPatrol</a>
<a href="http://www.419legal.org/portal.php" target="_blank">419Legal</a>
<a href="http://webpages.charter.net/fraud-auctions/index.htm" target="_blank">FraudAuctions</a>
<a href="http://www.scam-watcher.org/" target="_blank">Scam-Watcher</a>
<a href="http://www.thescambaiter.com/" target="_blank">TheScamBaiter</a>
<a href="http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html" target="_blank"> Ebay Discussion</a>

Regards,
Vic

Good Stuff. Unfortunately scams are rampant on large ticket items on EBAY. As most find out, EBAY makes it difficult to report them and makes an effort to sweep the info under the rug. I had my identity stolen a few years back (the account was being used to sell washing machines), and you would have thought I had been the scammer instead of the victim the way they treated me. Over the last three years, there been thousands of scam bike auctions. There have been times when entire pages are scams! The best defense is to be be educated and pass the info along as it is being done here. Trying to contact EBAY is a frustrating and time consuming way to go.

b21