New powerseller on ebay offers fake capacity flash drives?
An ebay member in China since 17-Feb-09 silviajune built up a good feedback score and acheived power seller status in a short time mainly by selling packs of 3 stylus at a big loss. Most sold at 1p with free P&P!! Now why would anyone do something like this? Is silviajune mentally defective? Did this seller fail to grasp basic arithmetic at school? Somehow we doubt it. We think that this is probably yet another cleverly planned ID for the purpose of selling fake flash.
Just recently this seller has started selling very familiar models of flash drive that are commonly used in fake capacity USB flash drive scams – we present an auction listing for one of these below:
As always we strongly advise ebayers to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
Please be aware that there is a new FRAUD being implemented right before your eyes on eBay.
It’s is difficult to identify due to it’s cleverly hidden implementation.
Fake and nonesense accounts are being created and used to bid on high value items with no intention to pay.
These are actually account created and managed by eBay servers/people.
A normal non paying bidder situation used to be resolved by waiting the standard 7 days and filing a NPB Alert. After the expiry of an additional 7 days, the seller could choose to place a strike against the buyer and receive a fee refund. These buyers were often ones who had a problem with some term or condition they didn’t approve of or communicated they simply changed their minds.
BUT NOW….
Suspicious and mysterious account using fake or missing account information are being used to target items in the 1000-10000 range. These accounts having missing or invalid contact information are considered a violation of the TOS and used to be immediately suspended or the accociated transaction was nullified/cancelled leaving no trace of it on the system. NOW….these accounts are not being treated them same and it’s left to the sellers to finalize the cancellation process to receive a refund.
Often sellers will not do this because They fear that a negative strike against the buyer will cause them to leave a negative feedback. This fear for the seller is overwealming, especially for business owners who depend on eBay for a living.
With over 20,000.00 in npb sales on my two accounts in the last 30 days, the numbers being added to ebay’s sales figures and the subsequent FVF collected as a result are most likely staggering. It is my estimation, a high percentage of these fees go unrecovered or unclaimed by seller out of fear of a negative.
Although a new feature has been added to allow the immediate starting of the 7 day process for refund, it’s a little known feature and most likely would be used as a defense to this accusation.
The winfall from Ebay’s new NPB fraud coupled with the revenue from 21 day holds are difficult for laymen to comprehend. These two matters should be investigated by federal trade comission authorities and charges brought forth against management if crimes are discovered.
I am convinced that Ebay is involved with NPB Fraud. The next time you have someone who hasn’t said a word to you after 24 hours from invoice being sent….open your eyes to the truth. eBay is trying to steal your money while making itself look good to shareholders.
From a 10 year power seller with a retarded savant like illness which allows me to see the truth in situations easier than others.
Powr Seller
July 20, 2009 at 5:06 am
To be honest …. there is a LOT of truth in the above message.
Even I have thought very carefully about filing a dispute for a Non Paying Bidder. (Ebay will not normally remove negatives from Non Paying Bidders ….. I have two negatives and 1 neutral from NPB’s).
Last week I advertised over 600 items and sold about 36 items. 7 items have been classed as ‘Lost In Post, and 3 are NPB’s. I will, of course, start disputes and try and get my Ebay fees returned …………… but I am very worried that I’ll get more negatives on my Ebay account. Ebay have TOTALLY lost the plot and the fun has gone out of selling. Each day is now full of trepidation.
Reading what Powr Seller says …………….. it actually makes sense. If Ebay won’t remove negs received from NPB’s, then people will STOP filing for return of final value fees from Ebay/Non Paying Bidder, as the seller will be too scared.
Bo.
July 21, 2009 at 9:59 pm
As someone who had a false negative left by a non-paying buyer myself (which ebay refused to remove despite the fact that the ebayer de-registered himself with a feedback score of 1!) I fully agree that ebay has lost the plot.
The way things are going we have to say, in all honesty, that frankenflash project members wonder whether there will be anything except fraud on ebay in the future.
fightflashfraud
July 21, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I started to post a few warnings about fake flashes on the Ebay ‘community boards’. I have now been banned from posting
Good old Ebay trying to cover its tracks.
Not.
Bo.
July 22, 2009 at 2:36 am
Welcome to the club. A number of us got whacked for doing just that over the months.
ebay community boards? They are censored. You say something out of line and you receive a very threatening email from ebay.
The community boards are not for stark naked truth. The magnitude of the problem and also the sales for the last five years runs into the many millions.
ebay has to do anything it can to keep a lid on the truth. A fake or counterfeit watch or designer hand bag does not carry the same terrible consequences to a consumer. Only money is lost. Data and files is another matter.
ebay has permitted and continues to permit the sale of “data poison” plain and simple. What happens to those who sell or permit the sale of poison?
Do not expect “free speech” on an ebay community board. Once again, it is an illusion. Spin. Just like ebay enhanced buyer experience or paypal buyer protection. It is a marketing ploy to reassure members.
BTW regardless of continued persecution on eBay, the FrankenFlash Project is receiving reports that fake flash sellers in the Orient are getting extremely rattled and nervious by our sites. So regardless of sanctions on ebay community boards, word gets around.
My advice?
To any ebay member who reads this, and who is a victim, go post on a community ebay board. The more the merrier. Especially in different ebay countries. Keep them busy. Make them spend that fake flash profit keeping employee’s busy. Use mis spelling too, makes it more difficult in searching for your opinions. Remember computer programmes are very dumb. They are very cheap in hiring computer programmers. Translate your “fake” and some key words into foreign languages. Again, computer programmes dumb.
Since they are determined to choke the truth, be “CREATIVE”!
TechChips
July 22, 2009 at 4:39 am
This seller has stepped up listings to one every 5 minutes. That works out at about 300 in the next 24 hours alone.
Traveler
August 9, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Hi Traveler – I am going to put you in touch with another project member who is digging deeper into what is going on with this fraudster. Think the two of you have communicated before but may not have each other’s email addresses. We will be interested to read what your investigations reveal!
fightflashfraud
August 9, 2009 at 8:46 pm