The favored locations for Internet fraudsters? Try Ebay as the number one target. Are you a buyer or seller? Then I should suggest watching the ‘impulse buys’ and making sure you know who you’re dealing with, and what you’re getting.

Also for sellers – Ebay offers to the option to sell your items outside of your country. Do you realize that Paypal (which is one of the most widely used, un-insured electronic funds transfer service) will not cover you if someone takes the product and then does a chargeback on your credit card? That means they now have the item that you sold them, and your money!!

So while Ebay and Paypal are tied at the hip, they do not incorporate the same techniques to protect their buyers. This is prime breeding ground for fraud. Frequently it will be the honest person who pays in the end. I know this because I’m one of them.

Don’t get me wrong – I like Ebay, and I would like Paypal if they were insured and didn’t already try to help steal $2,000 from me (now they are having some lawyers hound me, you can read all about that elsewhere on this site). Ultimately all I’m saying is that no one is doing anything to protect the buyer, so you need to watch out for yourself.