32 % of eBay users report being scammed
32 % of eBay users report being scammed according to the latest survey commissioned by Consumer Reports WebWatch as part of its “Look Before You Click” campaign, supported by a CyberAwareness Grant from the New York State Office of Attorney General and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The survey represents one of the most comprehensive studies of New York state Internet users, their behavior and their problems with online fraud in a variety of environments: Online auctions, shopping, e-mail and spam, privacy and others. The whole survey is available today for the first time at :
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/fraud-reports-internetfraud.cfm
Online Auctions - Great Bargains, Possible Problems
For more than two years, online auction fraud has been the number one complaint of New York state residents to government organizations that keep track. The WebWatch survey shows that 27 percent of state residents who have ever used an online auction Web site, such as eBay or Amazon, have experienced a scam or deceptive practice - 32 percent of eBay users were scammed.
Eleven percent of online auction site users reported they never received the goods they bid on, the most common complaint. In addition, seven percent of survey respondents who received their goods said they were not in the condition they expected. Other common complaints included not being told a key detail about the item before it arrived (7 percent) and being sent an item of lesser value than the one they actually bid on and won (7 percent). Read details of our in-depth investigation of auction sites, including lessons learned by New York State residents:
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/pdfs/casestudies.pdf
Beware : eBay PR wants you to belive you are safe shopping on eBay but independent research proves otherwise. You are better off shopping at other venues. eBay derives too much profit from scams and eBay management is notorious for closing both eyes over the customers being scammed if curbing scams cuts into eBay’s bottom line.