"BE AWARE" of Scammers When Selling Online - By John Vinters

The world today, especially on the internet, is full of nasty people who are all too willing to try to cheat someone. Especially on the internet because they are faceless and it easier to hide. So if you are selling items on Ebay or any other online auction and especially if you are new at selling online, there are things to be aware of when you receive offers.

This is my true story.

Just recently I started selling online and made my first sale on Ebay, or at least I thought it was my first sale.

I received an email regarding my product from a sincere sounding purchaser who wanted to buy the product for her son who lived in another country. They offered to pay me more than I was asking for the item. This should have been red flag No.1. But being new at online selling, the flag did not go up.

So I agreed and sent an email to the purchaser stating that I would ship the product as soon as the funds were in my paypal account.

The next day I received an official looking email from paypal saying that the funds for the online sale had been verified and withdrawn from the purchasers account and would be deposited into my account as soon as I sent paypal the tracking number and they could verify the shipment. This should have been red flag No.2. I waited a couple of days because the email that I thought was from paypal said it could take from 24-48 hours to verify the shipment and deposit the funds for the online sale to my account. Obviously the crook thought that by that time he would have the parcel. I didn't know then, but I know now, that paypal does not hold back funds and require a tracking number for an online sale. I started to get suspicious by this time, so I contacted paypal and they informed me that the payment email for the online sale was not from them. And I must say that it sure looked official. It did not look any different than actual paypal emails that I have received in the past.

Fortunately I caught this in time and was able to stop the package from being delivered to the scam artist. Although it is going to cost me a couple of hundred bucks for shipping costs, at least the criminal did not get the package.

The moral of this story is to make sure that you learn all the do's and don'ts of selling online and hopefully this will not happen to you.

A couple of triggers that should send up a red flag if you are selling online and a purchaser contacts you are:

1. If they offer more than you are asking.

2. If the purchaser is in one country and the package is to be sent to a different country.

3. Verify all emails from payment processors, no matter how official they look.

I hope this helps you in your online selling endeavors. Online auctions are a great place to sell your stuff and make money, just know that you have to be aware.To learn more about selling online you might want to check these out www.canambcventures.com

I am a semi retired mechanic living in beautiful British Columbia. I grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario and moved to B.C. in 1983 and have lived here ever since. I have been married to my lovely wife for 17 years and have a beautiful daughter. I enjoy 10-pin bowling and golf and go to the drag races as often as I can.