Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction

E-auction are being used by councils to secure batter contract terms and prices for goods and services they buy. E-auction allows councils to set up a scheduled event where companies can bid against each other to win the council's business.

Before bidding for a product, we should consider some aspects. Fraud might be conducted by customer or by sellers. Sometime consumers may send fake cheque or fake account details to the seller. But most of the fraud cases are conducted by sellers.




Tips to prevent e-auction fraud:
1- Become familiar with auction websites where we should look into the websites protection policies, never assume we are protected from auction fraud

2- Before placing a bid, learn as much as you can about the seller, but when u cant find anything about the seller, the avoid doing business with them. Never fall for promises of better deals by moving away from the original auction websites.

3- If the sellers want us to use an escrow service, we have never heard of, look into it. We have to check out the website, call up customer support.

4- Never ever give out our social security number, driving license number, credit card number, or bank account information until we have throughly checked out the seller and the escroe service.

5- If after the sale we feel the item or payment should have been delivered already, try to work it out with the seller or buyer. If at that point we feel that fraud is involved, immediately contact our state attorney general's office and the FTC at www.ftc.gov or call toll-free for help.


RELATED LINKS:
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=939784
http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/whats-internet-auction-fraud-and-how-do-i-prevent-it