eBay Strat Fraud Alert

by Staff

Unfortunately the scenario is nothing new - someone gains access to a decent eBayer's ID, steals some guitar pics off the web and puts up a phony eBay listing hoping to rip off an unsuspecting buyer.

The one that came up today hit close to home. The owner of stratcollector.com, Mark McCann, found photos of one of his 1965 Stratocasters in an eBay auction that wasn't his. The "seller" had over 300 positive feedbacks without a single negative or neutral. He even had an "About Me" page.

Mark contacted the real owner of the eBay ID, and the two of them contacted eBay to alert eBay about the fraudulent auction. Before eBay could step in, the fraud seller ended the auction early to sell the item to the current high bidder, although that's unlikely since it appears that a few people who monitor eBay for this sort of fraud had run the price up to over $20,000 hoping to warn off potential victims. Some of these eBay fraud watchdogs use eBay IDs such as "thisauctionisfake", but the scammers now use the bidder protection option so the bidders' IDs are not public. I'm sure the outrageous price sends the message anyway.

What these frauds are really trying to do is snare an inquiry email from a potential buyer. They then write back that they are willing to sell the instrument for an outrageously low price, if payment is made quickly and under certain conditions. As soon as one or more victims is had, they end the auction early.

If you haven't yet visited and joined our Strat Collector Forums, I hope you do. We have created Forums to alert each other about possible eBay scams, and to discuss many other aspects of buying and selling guitars on eBay. Online auctions have provided an amazing boost to the used Strat market, but in order to keep it a safe and sane environment, due diligence is required. Make sure you open your eyes before you open your wallet. Strat Collector Forum membership is free and easy.