Bluegrass Wales
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Avoiding Online Guitar Fraud Andy Highfield |
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INTRODUCTION Buying or selling a guitar via online auctions can be a
risky business. It can also be very rewarding (I have made many excellent deals
this way). The key to avoiding disappointment and possibly heavy financial loss
is to know your subject, and to understand how easy it is for fraudsters to
take advantage of uneducated buyers and sellers. I have been involved with fine guitars for over 30 years,
as a player, maker and dealer. They were one my full time business, but are now
my hobby interest. Fakes and frauds have always been there, but the ease by
which frauds can be executed via the Internet has seen a massive explosion of
such activity. This short text is designed to alert you of some of the methods
currently being used by fraudsters in the online musical instrument auction
business. Do not be put off seeking that “holy grail” guitar - but
beware of the sharks lurking in the murky waters along the route! THE
BASICS Does the seller really own the guitar that is listed? This is the key to establishing if they are a genuine
seller, or a fraudster who has grabbed someone else’s photos and description.
Ask questions. Lots of them. As many as you wish. No genuine seller will
object. Some questions that are especially revealing: 1) Do not disclose your
location, but ask that should you win, could the guitar be collected in person
and paid for in cash? 2) Ask for EXTRA photos of
features that interest you. Try to include some that the seller will certainly
have to take especially for you (an odd angle, an unusual feature, etc.) Get
clear images. Don’t accept fuzzy photos or even fancy marketing photos or
ads from the manufacturer as an indication of the item’s condition. Ask!
Ask about condition, age, and where the item was purchased. Avoid the auction
if the seller is non-responsive or appears to ignore details or is otherwise
evasive. 3) Ask for serial number
(especially if not included in the online description). Check this against the
claimed date. 4) Ask for a close-up of the
neck-block in the case of a Martin instrument, or back of headstock in the case
of a Gibson. Ask for a close-up of the label (if any). 5) By all means, ask to SPEAK
to the seller by telephone. Genuine sellers will welcome this. Fraudsters
certainly will not. You can get a very good idea as to how genuine someone is
in a 10 minute chat on the ‘phone. Finally, a few general rules, whether you are buying your
dream guitar or selling your existing one: Make sure you get a phone number and a physical address,
not a PO box. Try the phone number to make sure it is valid before completing
the transaction. Never rely on e-mail as your sole source of communication. A
valid physical address and phone number will be vital in tracking down the
seller if you are scammed. Avoid any seller who is unwilling to provide these. Look out for
buyers or sellers who seem in a hurry. Fraudsters are anxious to use stolen
credit cards, or to dispose of stolen goods, before they have been reported
stolen. They may even offer a higher price if you will sell the item to them
before the auction ends. Beware of sellers who try to contact you to conduct a private deal. STOLEN DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES For obvious reasons, most fraudsters do not have access
to the instrument they are purportedly selling. It is also (thankfully!) very
rare indeed that such scammers have a really comprehensive knowledge of fine
guitars. They therefore need to steal “accurate” descriptions and images from
those who do. There are several clues that you can look out for that
may alert you that such a scam is underway: 1) Images obviously lifted from
catalogues or manufacturer’s sites. These tend to be much higher in quality
than typical auction site photos; 2) If the image is hosted off
the auction site, right click it, then click “properties”. Some scammers fail
to remove the original URL information! This can lead you straight back to
where the photo was stolen from. Only very unskilled fraudsters would make this
fundamental mistake, but you would be surprised by how many fall into that
category! If the auction pictures are embedded in the auction itself,
unfortunately, this technique will not work. 3) Run a www.google.com search
for the exact year, model and make of instrument being sold and a few key words
from the description. Google is
especially useful as it also has an “image search” facility. Look for
“duplicate” images - chances are, that is where the scammer found them too. 4) Do exactly the same thing
again, this time using www.gbase.com an online database of instruments for
sale. This is a very useful resource! 5) Be VERY wary of sellers who
list clean, easy to read auctions, but then communicate with very poor or
broken English. (This can be a sign that the auction was not created by the
seller and may have been copied.) KNOW YOUR SUBJECT This is by far the best defence against scam artists and
con-men. I would not dream of buying a supposed antique vase of any value,
because, quite simply, I know very little about the subject. If I did desire
such an object, I would only purchase one from an established antiques dealer
with an excellent reputation. I would not buy one from someone I had never
heard of via the Internet… when buying things you are not a real expert in, you
are placed in the position of having to trust the seller absolutely.
Surprisingly, many people are ready to trust sellers who they do not know to
accurately describe and deliver guitars worth thousands of dollars. No wonder
there are so many frauds taking place. At the very least, do make sure you have a good working
knowledge of the precise brand you are interested in buying. Do some
research. There are now some excellent books available that deal with each
for the major brands of both acoustic and electric guitars. The relatively small
investment required is well worthwhile. These books detail the various minor
changes in manufacture and design that will help you to spot inconsistencies
and false descriptions, non-original modifications, and outright fakes. They
list serial numbers, label styles, and material changes from year-to-year. Most
also include excellent photographs of various models, and finish options, etc.
All of this information will prove invaluable when assessing instruments that
may be offered to you.
There are books on Martin, Gibson, Guild, Gretch, Fender,
PRS and most other major makes. A quick search on www.amazon.com should soon
bring something relevant to light. My own favourite texts include: · The
Martin Book by Walter Carter · Martin
Guitars; A History by Mike Longworth · Martin
Guitars - A Celebration of America’s Premier Guitarmaker by Jim
Washburn and Richard Johnson · Guitar
Identification by A. R. Duchossoir (A very useful general guide to
all major makes) · The
Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars (500 pages of useful data) · Gibson’s
Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars by Eldon Whiford, David Vinopal and Dan
Erlewine My personal interest is in acoustic, steel-string
guitars, but Fender and Gibson electrics are also well covered in print, and if
I was buying or selling these, you can be certain I’d have every book available
on the topic. Other great resources are available online. The major
Guitar Forums include: Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum Each of these is well worth visiting and participating
in. There are people in each who live and breathe collectable guitars. They
will happily advise on authenticity issues and frequently warn of fraudulent
auctions. METHODS USED BY ENTHUSIASTS TO WARN POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF FRAUD In the past, several methods have been employed by
collectors to warn bidders about fraudulent auctions when they were
noticed. These methods included:
1. Placing a bid and then retracting the bid with
explanation that item is a forgery or with an explanation of whatever the fraud
is. 2. Sending an email to a bidder directly informing bidder
that the listing is fraudulent. 3. Posting information regarding the lot in question to
one of the eBay discussion boards and then sending an email to bidders and,
after the sale, to the buyer, suggesting that they visit the discussion board
to learn why they consider the listing to be fraudulent.
eBay has now effectively blocked all three of the above
listed methods used by concerned observers to inform potential victims of
fraudulent listings. Their latest move, prohibiting the discussion on the
boards of fraudulent listings, has sealed off the most frequently used method. The fact that eBay has repeatedly turned a deaf ear to
complaints of fraud is very frustrating to those who strive for an honest,
viable and open internet marketplace. In addition, and perhaps more important
for long term health of eBay, sellers of correctly described goods cannot
achieve full value because their goods are in direct competition with
fraudulently described items. I believe eBay should hire category specific
advisors. A set of qualified advisors,
empowered to review complaints and act in a timely fashion, could substantially
reduce the percentage of fraudulent auctions on their site, which is growing by
the day. SOME SPECIFIC SCAMS
The False Logo Scam Fake Martin, Gibson and Fender logos are regularly traded
on Ebay and on other auction sites. It is a relatively simple matter to obtain
a low-cost far-eastern “clone” and remove the original transfer and replace it
with the fake. Some of these scams are fairly obvious - others can be quite well
done. In the case of Martin and Gibson, fake pearl inlay scripts are also
available. Again, fitting these to a “clone” can lead to a guitar that can
easily deceive. I have seen some 70’s TAMA and ALVAREZ Martin D-45 clones that
have had this treatment and could easily deceive, certainly if relying on
low-resolution photos on an auction site. They would not pass a personal
inspection, but have certainly misled people buying from photos alone,
especially if those buyers were not well-educated as to the minor giveaway
details that reveal such instruments as non-authentic.
The Guitar Case Scam This is actually quite an inventive one! Full marks to
the fraudsters for originality for coming up with this devious scheme! It works
like this; first you obtain a fake/clone instrument and an original, genuine,
Martin, Gibson or Fender case (with logo clearly visible). You then photograph
the guitar and case together, making sure that the detail on the guitar is not
too evident. Fraudster’s using this technique usually claim they “know nothing
about guitars… I got this from a friend/relative/in a deal, etc., etc., buy at
your own risk, you know more than me” (or something similar). This massages the
buyer’s ego, and makes them think they are about to take advantage of the poor
seller’s pitiful ignorance…. add a “Buy it Now” button to attract the
impulsive, and you are in business! Surprisingly, it actually works. In one
recent case some poor sap was sold a near-worthless plywood D-18 clone and a
genuine CF Martin thermoplastic case for $835! Avoidance: Do not jump to conclusions. Do not get carried
away thinking you are necessarily brighter or better informed than the seller…
Obvious though this is, many people have been
caught, often spending hundreds (or even thousands) on a totally worthless
piece of junk. Genuine C. F. Martin and Gibson labels are printed on
distinctive paper. Beware of “white label” guitars. Anyone with a photocopier
can manufacture them. The advent of cheap color laser printers also means that
higher quality fake labels are now within the fraudster’s clutches. Unfortunately, C. F. Martin themselves are
now using very easy-to-fake white labels in many guitars….. Avoidance: Compare carefully to genuine labels. Know
which type of label to expect on specific models/vintages. In the case of
Martin, ask for photos of the neck block and internal center seam (these should
be clearly branded). Never rely merely on labels - they are too easy to fake. Fender/Gibson/PRS Electric Scams The problem with electric guitars is that they are
essentially assembly line products made from a “kit of removable parts”. Necks,
bodies, pick-ups, bridges, controls, sockets, tuners - everything, in fact -
can be switched and substituted with ease. In this regard, Fenders are the
easiest to modify/fake and PRS and Gibson somewhat less so. This issue is
compounded by the vast quantity of very high quality reproduction components
that are available, as well as by the large number of very credible “clone”
bodies and necks in circulation. This makes buying a vintage electric guitar
sight unseen a virtual no-go area. It is perfectly possible to create excellent
quality fakes very easily indeed. Some of these are so good that even
experienced collectors have been taken in. There is, frankly, no way I would
buy any claimed “vintage” electric guitar without two things: 1) A close
personal inspection and 2) An independent appraisal from a recognised expert in
that particular brand. The opportunities for alterations or outright fakery are
just too great. The same applies to “new” models. It is extremely easy to take
a high quality far-eastern copy, add a fake transfer or inlay, and reap a
handsome profit before doing a disappearing act. It happens all the time. Avoidance: Do not buy high value electric guitars online,
sight-unseen. Insist on independent appraisals in the case of claimed vintage
instruments. Incidentally, check those appraisals carefully - even they have
been known to be faked! If in doubt, check back with the appraiser. A genuine
seller will understand your caution and will not object. WARNING
SIGNS AND ALARM BELLS A number of things about an action can give an indication
that all is possibly not quite what it seems to be…. these are the things that
set my own “fraud radar” off: 1) Three-Day Listing Think about it. You have a 1950’s Gibson/Fender/Martin
with a value in excess of $5,000, or a recent limited edition worth well over
$2,000. You want to maximize the number of people who view it and give people
time get into competitive bidding, right? So, you give it a 3-day listing? I
don’t think so! I have seen claimed pre-WWII Martin Herringbone models offered
with 3-day listings. Not one has been genuine. No seller in their right mind
would offer an instrument worth at least $35,000 in a 3-day auction. Three-day auctions offer substantial benefits to frauds
and cheats, however. It reduces the time for the fraud to be picked up, or for
the auction to be cancelled as fraudulent by the auction house. In the
meantime, you may attract a lot of bids. You can then contact those bidders by
email offering to sell and end the auction in exchange for $XXXXX by wire
transfer or Western Union payment. It must work. They keep on doing it… 2) Private auctions (bidders identity
protected) Beware of these. Even if everything else checks out, be careful. 4) Country of registration is different from
claimed location of instrument On Ebay, that little bit of info is very helpful. Not all
auction sites have it. If you see “registered in Canada/Italy/France” or
similar but the instrument is claimed to be in the UK or US, be very, very
wary. While there can be legitimate reasons why someone might do this
(temporarily away from their normal home, for example), this is the exception
rather than the rule. A high percentage, if not most, of such auctions turn out
to be fraudulent. If you do wish to bid on such an auction, contact the seller
and get a telephone number and their address in the UK/US where the instrument
is claimed to be. On NO ACCOUNT go
ahead with any transaction where the guitar is in one country and the seller is
in another. Make use of that phone number. Call them. Talk to them. Another
useful tip is to place a (low) bid and then use the “Request Contact Info” box
that Ebay offers. In many countries, you can use the street address and
telephone number to run a reverse look-up check to verify their identity. It is
very easy for someone in Romania, unfortunately, to register under false ID in
France, Germany, Canada, the US, or UK…this is why verifying any foreign
address is extremely important. 5) Zero feedback sellers I was once a zero feedback seller myself, as were most of
us, so by no means all sellers without feedback are bad news! It is, however,
cause for extra caution, especially where high value items are concerned. It
can help a lot to establish credentials by emailing, and the telephoning such
sellers. One tip: make sure you telephone them. That phone number
is very helpful should something go wrong. Avoid mobile/cell phone numbers. 6) False feedback sellers Be aware that some scammers deliberately build up some
positive feedback by making multiple purchases of low value items…. if you see
feedback based on these transactions, followed by a sudden flurry of high value
sales, BE SUSPICIOUS. By no means all
such sellers are fraudulent. They may well be genuine, but this should at least
set of some warning bells. You should also check (if available) the origin of
the purchases: were they all in US $
while the guitar seller claims to be in France or the UK? This again should
prompt further caution. 7) No reserve auctions Some “without reserve” auctions are genuine. Indeed, most
of them are, however… ask yourself a question: if you had a guitar worth, say,
a minimum of $3,000 would you offer it for sale without any reserve?
Things like this, while not conclusive, should certainly set of a few alarms.
If combined with other suspicious factors, leave well alone. Remember the old
saying; “If something looks too good to be true, it probably is!” 8) Users with Hotmail or Yahoo (or similar)
email addresses Many are genuine. A large number are not. Addresses such
as these can be set up in a few minutes by anyone, anywhere in the world (often
using Internet Café’s or school/college terminals). They are practically
untraceable, which is why they have such appeal to scammers and fraudsters.
Addresses from major ISP’s such as AOL, Verizon and BT are much easier for the
police to trace (should that prove necessary). A Yahoo! account created from
Indonesia, and set up in Canada is quite another matter. Be especially careful
when considering doing business with users of these, and similar “anonymous”
services. HIJACKED
ACCOUNT SCAMS These can be quite difficult to detect at first sight. It
works like this: 1) The fraudster locates an
auction account with fairly low recent activity, but with good accumulated
feedback. They prefer accounts where the legitimate owner buys, rather than
sells as these people are less likely to check the “selling” tab.
Alternatively, they may send an email to bidders on high value items, offering
to sell outside of Ebay. See below for a genuine example of this kind of scam. 2) The fraudster emails the
owner of that account and (possibly using web forms designed to look like they
originated with the auction house) persuades the account holder to impart their
account password. 3) One they have that, the first
thing they do is edit contact details and email settings. Paypal settings too,
if they can also access that….. 4) Immediately they post
auctions for high value, fraudulent items (mostly using 3-day sales). 5) The genuine account holder is locked out (their
password has also just been changed!) and before the auction house has time to
react, several fraudulent sales may have taken place, the buyers trusting the
“seller’s” genuine-looking feedback 6) Auction house fees for those
sales, meantime, are charged to the unlucky original account holder… This is a really nasty and quite sophisticated fraud. Prevention: 1) Never give your account
password to anyone in response to an email. The staff of genuine auction
houses will never request it. I have heard of people giving this away,
though, in response to a telephone call or a simple email…. the next thing they
know, their account is listing Rolex watches, Apple Powerbooks and Taylor
guitars…. not that they can do anything, as they are, by now, locked out of
their own account! 2) Check the type of items the
account regularly trades in. Place a low bid. Get the contact info. Was it
updated just before the auction began? If there is a telephone number, make use
of it. Does the seller seem genuine? 3) Change your own passwords
regularly. Use a different password for Paypal than you use for Ebay. This is an actual “spoof” message from someone trying to
obtain the details necessary to hijack an Ebay account: “Dear ******* If you would like to change your temporary User ID, please sign in at
pages.ebay.com/ with your new User ID. Then use the 'Change User ID' feature
(Preferences area of My eBay) to choose your new eBay User ID. If you have any
questions, you can learn more about the 'Change User ID' feature and how it
works in our Help section. NEVER, EVER RESPOND TO ANYTHING LIKE THIS! PASSWORD CRACKS AND HACKS Gaining access to your account
is the “holy grail” for scammers. Some use quite sophisticated methods to
achieve this. Others rely on guesswork. The best type of online accounts (such
as those operated by banks) allow only a limited number of tries, say three,
before suspending access. Other accounts allow unlimited tries. This last type
is very vulnerable to scammers running automated password cracking programs.
The 'crack' utility runs through combinations of passwords until it finds the
right ones. There are different programs, but they typically run through a
series of stages: 2. Runs through all the words in the dictionary
and lists of common passwords. 3. Runs through all the words in foreign
dictionaries and special "crack" dictionaries. 4. Tries all combinations of random letters to a
certain size, such as 5 letters. 5. Tries all
combinations of letters, upper/lower case, numbers, and punctuation out to a
certain size, such as 4 characters The difficulty in running the password cracking utility
is that it takes a long, long time. The problem size grows exponentially. If we
consider passwords that just use letters of the alphabet, this is the size of
the problem: 1 letter - 26 tries 2 letters - 26 x 26 = 676 tries 3 letters - 26 x 26 x 26 = 17 thousand tries 4 letters - 456 thousand tries 5 letters - 11 million tries 6 letters - 308 million tries 7 letters - 8 billion tries 8 letters - 208 billion tries These figures
reveal that even a supercomputer cannot crack a sufficiently large password.
So how can a complex password be easy to
remember?
Try this: Ydw2#twn (doesn't look easy does it?) Some more examples: Here are some of the complex characters you can
substitute for phrases:
0 = "O"
What should I be sure NOT to do?
1. Don't re-use passwords or share them with
friends. 2. Don't use words from the dictionary
(including foreign). 3. Don't use parts of your user ID, biometric
data, family names, etc. 4. Don't use common acronyms. 5. Don't use above examples! SAFE BROWSING TIPS Before clicking on a "link", hold your mouse
over the "link" and look in the lower left corner of your
browser. You should see where this link is going to take you. If
you think you are going to AOL or Ebay and it is pointing to some other
location, beware that it is probably a fraud! It is possible for a crafty
web page designer to disable this "mouse over" feature and feed
misleading information into the box in the lower left. If you use this
"mouse over" feature often, you'll be able to tell the
difference. If you are in doubt, to be safe you can hold your "mouse
pointer" over a link and RIGHT click. Choose "properties"
and this will tell you the URL address of the link. You can be certain
with this method. As
always, you should be *very* suspicious of any email asking you to “verify your
account information”, no matter how official it looks. You should hear those
warning bells again if the URL you're being asked to visit starts with
'http://' rather than 'https://'. The extra 's' stands for secure, which means
your information will be transmitted through a secure connection. Should you need to access your account, go to the Web
site directly (for example, type http://www.ebay.com in a Web browser window).
Then, when you log on to your account, you can be sure you're using the
official site. Do not use embedded “links”. They are not safe. SHILL BIDDING So-called “shill bidding” is where a seller (using
another account, or accounts) bids against themselves to raise the final
selling price. It can be hard to detect. One method is to review the seller’s
past auctions, and check to see if the same user ID’s are bidding on those
auctions too. Click on those user ID’s and try to determine if they are genuine
(have they made purchases? Where from? What kind of things?). If they have no
such history, be suspicious! BID SHIELDING The buyer uses bogus ID’s, or co-conspirators, to place
multiple bids on an item to inflate the selling price to scare off competitors.
The scammer will pull out the high bids at the last minute and enjoy a low bid
win. Prevention: Review the IDs of the last minute
bid-withdrawals. Research those IDs against other auctions where they may have
done the same thing. You are under no obligation to accept a bid. If you
uncover a common theme with these IDs, notify the auction site immediately. OFF-AUCTION OFFERS This is the response I had from one “seller” of a Martin
HD-28 on Ebay in response to a general enquiry as to condition of the guitar: “Ok sir, The price is 1100 USD. Like you saw in the auction for
the payment i accept money order transfers via Western Union and i will shipp
the package via UPS Air Express.I will pay the shipping taxes and you must pay
the money order fees because i think this is fair for both of us ! Thanks
and i will wait your full name and address because i need to know where i must
shipp the package. Here's my full name and address for Western Union : Thanks and hope to hear from you soon to close this deal and the auction for
you” The alarm bells were already at full volume over this one
because “Marco” was supposedly selling a guitar in the UK, while his user ID
revealed he had registered the very same day, just a few hours previously, in
Canada! Not a very likely scenario. Placing a low bid opened the option of
obtaining his address details: User ID: xonte24X Name: Marco XXX Attempts to call the phone number were unsuccessful. A
reverse directory look-up revealed the number to be non-existent. Using online mapping tools, it turned out that the
address in London was that of a hotel. In this instance, “Marco” was almost certainly a false or
stolen ID. With false or stolen identity documents he would have been able to
collect the Western Union payment and disappear without a trace….. WESTERN
UNION or THOMAS COOK MONEYGRAMS For a long time, this has been the favourite method of
online fraudsters to transfer their ill-gotten gains from your bank account to
their pockets. It usually goes like this. Here’s a fraudulent auction of a
supposed 1969 Martin D-18 I had just “won”: “Congratualations for winning my auction!
I have left the misspellings and poor grammar intact,
though to avoid infringing Ebay’s rules I have partially “XX’d” out actual
names and addresses. These are another indication that all is not quite as it
should be here. Look out for this - it is a dead giveaway
of a fraud. Especially those operated from Romania and Indonesia. It was also odd that the
seller wanted the funds in US $ (though he claimed to be in the UK) and
mentioned “UPS Shipping” - not a common method in the UK at all, though pretty
much the standard in the US. He also mentioned a “Zip” code. Not “Postcode” as
is used in the UK (and Canada). I continued to pose as an innocent buyer, pointing out
that there was no need of UPS or Money grams as I could pick up the guitar in
person, and pay in cash as I lived quite close to London (I don’t!). This was
the response: “I am not in London at the moment. i am in vacation in I then informed “Rodriguez” I was having doubts about the
deal, as I had no concrete proof he would ever supply the guitar… I could not
understand why this “friend” could not be there or show me the guitar: “I realize that sending payment for something that Here, “Rodriguez” is trying to offer re-assurance, by
claiming that as a “legitimate auction” it would be covered by Ebay. It would
not. In the UK, compensation is limited to 120 GBP…. This is a typical fraud pattern. Learn to recognise it! OFF-EBAY
OFFER WITH A HIJACKED ACCOUNT SCAM I was bidding on a legitimate Martin D12-35 12-string
guitar. Before that auction had even ended I received an email.The worrying
this about this was that although the email address it came from was, as usual,
set up on Yahoo!, the message was forwarded via Ebay’s own internal
member-member contact system (or least appeared to be). On checking the genuine
Ebay User ID the person was located in England, and had a positive rating of
over 400, which is very impressive. They also seemed to buy, rather than sell.
There was no evidence they had ever bought or sold guitars, however. Here’s how it actually looked: “Hello, Thank's for your reply ! I replied, appearing to be interested. The “seller” sent
this photo: I pointed out
that the guitar on offer was not a D12-35, but something else - what was it?
Before long, a reply was forthcoming: “Hello, No mention of the model of guitar. He plainly didn’t
know! He also did not know where I was, so the offer of “free shipping” was
pretty generous of him…. I could have been in Australia for all he knew. Look
out for things like this. No genuine seller would make such an offer. The price
was also ludicrously low - another good indication of fraud. I played along with the “seller”. I asked why he was
prepared to ship a valuable guitar without receiving the money first, and how
we could conclude the “deal”. This is his response: “First i will deliver the guitar, after that in the same
day you send me the money and you have the posibility to return it in 7 days
and money back. I think there is a bit of a conflict over the term
“deliver” here! What he actually means is he will dispatch the guitar, then I
send him the money! In other words, I send him 500 GBP or about $700 without
actually receiving the instrument. I did reply, and asked about the anomaly concerning
location. The genuine account holder was still conducting purchases in the UK
only 3 days before this guitar was listed. Here is the scammer’s response: “Sir, Here’s one way this scam works: In order to persuade you to part with the $$$ the
“seller” actually does send something to you by UPS or other carrier with a
tracking system. It may be an empty box. It might be a box weighted down with
bricks… he then has a “legitimate” tracking number. You feel confident he has
kept his word. You send the money. You receive the “shipment”. He has already
disappeared. You’re out of luck. He’s already spending your $$$.... The less sophisticated version, as practiced by the
“seller” above requires you to send your money merely on his say-so that he
will dispatch the guitar on receipt of payment confirmation. You would be
amazed at how many people continue to fall for such an obvious scam, but then,
Nigerian ex-dictators seem to continue to not only proliferate but also to
profit handsomely from fake “Money Laundering” schemes! Avoidance: Do
not respond to offers to sell “like items” off EBay or the auction house. Never
use Western Union (you know that already by now!). Never trust anyone making
offers that are too good to be true. Ask questions. In this case, the fraudster
did not seem to know what the guitar in the photo he sent actually was. Check
feedback for anomalies. Check registered user’s location with the location
where the supposed “offer” is coming from. SENDING PAYMENT There are many ways to send payment. Some are relatively
safe, some not. The one method NEVER to be used is Western Union or similar
“Moneygram” type services. This is the preferred method of almost all conmen
and fraudsters to extract $$ from their victims. · Wire
transfer: Second only to WU and “Moneygrams” in appeal to fraudsters. Many
legitimate sellers do use this method too, however. Certainly NOT to be used to
send payments to Indonesia or Romania…. you’ll never see a penny of your money
again and I guarantee you will not be receiving that ’61 Fender Telecaster,
either.. · PayPal:
PayPal only offers (limited) fraud protection when buyers send payment to
"verified" PayPal sellers. If you make payment to a non-verified
seller, chances of recovering funds are minimal. Fairly safe if seller is
verified and transaction value is low. It is safer still to add funds via
Credit Card (but check your card agreement to see what level of fraud protection
they offer in addition. In cases of fraud, initiate a chargeback). · Cashier's
Checks, Cash, & Money Orders: No protection whatever. False names and
addresses can be used, chances of recovery minimal. Avoid unless you really do
trust that seller 100%... cashier’s (bank) checks CAN BE FORGED. Never accept
one in person if you are a seller. Put it through your bank and confirm cleared
funds. The use of fake cashier’s checks/drafts is growing. Beware. · Personal
check (cheque in the UK ): Fairly safe in that if crossed it has to be put into
a genuine bank account, which should be traceable. It will also need time to
clear, however, so slows things up. · Debit
Cards: Little or no coverage in most cases. Avoid. · Credit Card: Cards vary, but many offer very good,
sometime excellent, coverage against
fraud/defective goods. Check your cardholder’s agreement. The drawback is that
many sellers cannot accept them directly (i.e., they are not authorized
merchants). Most genuine BUSINESS sellers (music stores, etc.) can accept them.
If so, USE THIS METHOD. As a second choice, pay via credit card through PayPal.
· Cash on
delivery/collection: Payment with cash after you have inspected and verified
the goods is the safest method of all, but may not be possible due to distance.
If C.O.D. (Cash on Delivery) do make sure that really is a guitar in the box
before you hand over the $$$$.... THE
FAKE ESCROW SERVICE SCAM This scam is growing rapidly on Ebay and other online
auctions. Especially since escrow services are now being used more and more
often for high priced auction transactions. The purpose of an escrow service is to prevent fraudulent
transactions between buyers and sellers.
An escrow service is used to accept money from the buyer on the behalf
of the seller Once the buyer's payment is approved, the escrow service contacts the seller
and verifies that payment has been made. The escrow service keeps a hold of
this payment until the buyer confirms that the seller has sent the item, and
that the item is as described. After the buyer's confirmation has been made,
the seller receives his/her money from the escrow service. One of the most used escrow frauds is the arrangement of
false escrow services. This scam is
often very skillfully set up, and usually appears to be highly credible. Many
people lose large sums of money. One individual I heard of lost $14,000! The fraudsters first create a website. As mentioned, some of these look
incredibly genuine and are very hard to tell from “the real thing”. Once this fake escrow site is setup the scammers begin going to various
auctions as both buyers and sellers, and begin bidding on, and selling
expensive items in order to gain "customers" for their fake escrow
service. If a scammer goes into an auction as a buyer, the scammer
often will bid as high as needed to win the item. Once the auction is over the buyer contacts the seller with an email saying
something along these lines: "I would
like to use an escrow service for this transaction and I have found that
www.fakescrow.com has been very reliable in the past, and I would prefer to
only use this particular escrow service." Shortly after agreeing to use the fake escrow the seller
will receive yet another email, this time reading: "Your buyer has just sent payment in the amount of
(the winning bid price). This amount has been verified and will be held in a
non-interest bearing trust account, until the buyer receives and approves their
item." Once the seller gets this notice, he/she sends the item
to the buyer (believing that payment is soon to follow). The buyer receives their expensive item; however the seller never receives
payment from the fake escrow service. When the seller tries to make contact with either party (buyer or escrow) all
attempts fail and the seller never hears from the buyer or the fake escrow
service again. If the scammer goes into the auction as a seller, the
scammer often begins by listing several very expensive items for sale. Vintage
Martins, Gibson’s and Fenders are a big favourite. These auctions state that
the bidder must use an escrow service to make payment for the item. After the auction ends, the winning bidder receives an
email like this: "I would
like you to use an escrow service for this transaction and have found that
www.fakescrow.com has been very reliable in the past, please use this escrow
service to safely send your payment. I am willing to pay all escrow fees for
this transaction." If the buyer proceeds with the transaction they must use
the seller's fake escrow service. After the buyer sends payment to the fake
escrow, the fake escrow takes the buyer's money and the buyer never sees their
money again. Needless to say, they don’t receive the item they “purchased”
either. I would never agree to use an escrow company I did not
know in advance, and by independent means, to be genuine. One that can be
recommended is www.escrow.com Once again, never use links from an email
you may receive. Type the address yourself into your browser. This will prevent
you from being misdirected to a “fake” website run by the scammer. CONCLUSION: Buying guitars via online auctions can be a risky
business. You can reduce the risk by knowing your subject adequately, and by
being aware of common scams. The golden rules: 1) Never send payment by wire
transfer or Western Union 2) Contact sellers before
bidding. Ask questions. If you are not totally satisfied, avoid. 3) Verify sellers are who (and
where) they claim to be. Use the telephone. Do not rely on email communication. 4) If selling, wait for all funds to clear before
shipping, even cashier’s cheques.
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Copyright (c) 2007 Bluegrass Wales. All rights reserved.