eBay Expands Fraud Protection

[Ares]

http://www.webfin.com/en/news/news.html/?id=39939

eBay Expands Fraud Protection

United States (Oct. 14, 2003 - 13:02)

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Dow Jones/AP) -- In a bid to bolster user trust amid a rising tide of online auction fraud, eBay Inc. (EBAY) Tuesday announced expanded anti-fraud protection for those who buy items from the site's more trusted sellers.

 

The new program, called PayPal Buyer Protection, gives buyers up to $500 of free coverage if the item is not delivered or turns out to be "substantially not as described" if bought from certain eBay sellers. There is no processing fee.

 

Transactions that don't qualify for the new program will continue to be protected by eBay's standard $200 coverage, which carries a $25 processing fee.

 

In order to qualify, sellers must have positive comments from partners in at least 50 transactions, and must have positive feedback from at least 98 per cent of all transactions. They must also accept PayPal, eBay's payment service, and be based in the United States or Canada.

 

A special logo will alert buyers to items that carry the added protection. They won't have to use PayPal to pay.

 

As the largest online auction site, eBay is also where most auction fraud takes place. More than 48,000 online-fraud referrals were made to state and federal agencies last year, triple the number in 2001, according to law-enforcement officials. Nearly half of these referrals involved auction fraud, according to a study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

[Rickdogg]

Hopefully this will work

[supapimp]

that's good news for the RAW gamblers

[Aces]

Good News!

[fantastic_four]

Very nice, but it doesn't fix the problem completely. I wish they'd lobby the federal government to assign law enforcement to policing E-Bay on a permanent basis. If it's a good idea to have cops at the local mall, why not on E-Bay?!?!?

[BronzeBruce13]

right... then Rick could really get paid a freelance detective wage

[fantastic_four]

right... then Rick could really get paid a freelance detective wage

 

YES!! Give him the ability to go to a judge for computer activity wiretaps and the frauds would be TOAST!!!

[BronzeBruce13]

...better yet he could make a bundle giving an "introductory ebay scam 1-day training seminar" to get these incoming eBay Cops up to speed.

[fazman]

It's nice to see E-Bay doing something to tide the rising amount of fraud, but will this move actually decease that fraud ? Or will the fraudsters find more innovative ways in which to circumvent this new fraud protection ? I guess only time will tell .

But for now ... Right-On !!