Auction Fraud Case Study

Week 2 – Auction Fraud

What is auction fraud?
Internet auction fraud is the use of the internet for an online transaction between a buyer and a seller to use deceptive means to defraud the buyer which includes failure to deliver merchandise, intentionally delivering defective merchandise, or delivering merchandise that was promised or purchased of lesser quality than mentioned. Auction fraud can happen on places such as Ebay, where the potential auction fraud is high. Especially for sellers over-seas. I have even been a victim of auction fraud. If one is not careful and is able to research who they are buying from to confirm they are a legitimate seller, then they are subjecting themselves to fraud. Some of the things, such as Ebay, has in process is a strong investigative team to investigate any cases of fraud reported, though it takes time. Other things in place are disclaimers warning people of fraud and what to do if they find themselves in a fraudulent situation.

Two measures that law enforcement has been taken by law enforcement to combat auction fraud are to work with the FTC and companies like Ebay to track down the culprits and arrest them, as well as to assist the victim in the investigation and locate the merchandise that was bought. Either the victim will get the merchandise purchased, or they will get a refund if the item cannot be located, once the investigation is completed. Other than that, there really isn’t much in the ways of law enforcement doing anything else to investigate auction fraud, though there are private organizations that are now growing to do that. Including the CUFF, which is Citizens United to Find Fugitives (CUFF). They all band together to track down fugitives in cases such as auction and ...

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... somewhere else. This may mean you have become the target of a phishing scam, which is only the start of auction frauds. The site you might get directed to could be less secure, full of malware, and programmed to get your credit card numbers or other personal information. Also, if you get an email from what looks to be a reputable site saying you have another chance, don’t. Contact that site immediately and report it, as well as delete the email you receive. Popular sites like Ebay and Yahoo don’t send emails like that at all.
Those are just a few of the many ways you can protect yourself from internet and auction crimes! The only person who can protect you is yourself. Take caution when going onto websites that you use your credit card on to buy things online, as with todays’ technology, your security could be taken and gone within a second with one foul step.