Ebay.uk

[weirdid]

Hi
I'm one of the weird guys that roam around ebay.uk, i only work part time, so have the time to try and find a few scams every day.

This morning i found and reported 51 matrix links, 9 hours later, every one of them is still there.

Its time ebay.uk had a wake up call, there must be something we can do to get these fraudsters removed, take a look at this site;

www.20poundfones.150m.com

This is a ladder, not a pyramid, but even the lowest priced mobile phone has 500 steps, this means the owner collects £10k thats about $19.000.00 befor he has to give a phone away, and we all know what will happen when the ladder is full.

I have reported this seller to ebay many times,but his auctions are never pulled. Today i went one step more, contacted PP and his hosting company, i wont be holding my breath.
So, anyone in the uk want to help? come and join up.
cheers
weird

[mercinary]

If you are finding auctions that are not in my ebay auctions thread, they should be reported there. I can even beef up my search and destroy scripts to seek those auctions out too (will save you hours of work).

At the very least, post them and we can report them. The more people who report, the more attention the auctions get, and the more likely they are to be closed.

Contact me via PM if you're interested in putting heads together to try to automate some searches on UK Ebay.

-Merc

[MatrixWatch]

Perhaps we could also have a part of the script that mailed a copy of the infringing auctions to several employees at eBay, with a friendly message attached. :cool:

Keep up the great work!!!!!

Our eBay Watch Dogs have gone international!

[mercinary]

Despite having reported nearly 9000 ebay auctions, I still do not have a single ebay contact name....

I would be glad to integrate that into the script if I had contacts.

-Merc

[weirdid]

Give me a day and i will find some for you, i dont know a single one myself.
I'm sure they have more staff checking the posts to the boards then they have removing reported auctions.
cheers
weird

[weirdid]

Found a few, but these are the low ranking staff that advise on the boards.
Will try to get more tomorrow.

hnutford@ebay.com
alexiab@ebay.com
richard.uk@ebay.com
stan.m@ebay.com
terry.m@ebay.com
thomasr@ebay.com
bev@ebay.com
nigel.jenkins@ebay.com
sam.west@ebay.com

cheers
weird

[MatrixWatch]

Here is an interesting post on their forums:

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jsp?forum=7&thread=400001401&modified=1085400037381

[MatrixWatch]

Originally posted by watchdog
Here is an interesting post on their forums:

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jsp?forum=7&thread=400001401&modified=1085400037381

This page loads up very slowly for me. Can anyone here read the whole thing? If so, feel free to copy it here if you have the time.

[mercinary]

I'm a little hesitent to SPAM the life out of some lowly message board OPs. If we had contacts in the abuse department, that would be different.

-Merc

[0verdrive]

Hi! I'm brand new here, so a big hello. I don't bother reporting scams to ebay anymore. I just go ahead and wreck the auction. Last night, I bid £195 on a scam phone-link auction, with the help of two of my alter egos, that is. The scammer now has to sort out with ebay about the final value fees that they will be asking for:)
I saw one of these 'auctions' only the other day, where a teenager sent £56 thinking she was getting a phone. I had wrecked the scammers other auction, but missed this one. They are scum.

[weirdid]

Hi overdrive, welcome to the forum.

I can understand how you feel, i have had to call in the wreckers a few times.
As you can see, the watchdogs on here report a very large number of matrix link auctions every day, but on ebay.uk more new ones are listed than are removed.

The main problem is response time, on ebay.uk an auction needs at least 12 to 16 hours to run, to stand any chance of being removed.

I feel we are fighting a losing battle at times.

cheers
weird

[0verdrive]

Hi, there. Know what you mean. One problem is that ebay have a vested interest in allowing these auctions. They could, if they so wished, crack down on them, but are reluctant to do so. Their excuse is that ebay is a venue, and as such cannot be policed. Conversely, so much as put a scammer's details on the Community Forum and the thread will be removed in double-quick time.
Perverse.
Off to see if I can find some more dodgy auctions:)
Overdrive

[0verdrive]

Well, lookee here at what I found http://tinyurl.com/3cr89 I already wrecked one of his auctions, but to see that this one is a link scam, you have to scroll right down the page. When you do find the warning line, it's in something like 6 point.
Edited. The auction appears to have been removed by ebay.

[0verdrive]

Just wrecked another one. ipods, phones, etc. He now has to argue with ebay about his final value fees. Good luck to him. He had run up a dozen positive feedbacks by buying cheap items, hoping to mislead, then puts up this auction. Hopefully, he'll think twice next time.

[weirdid]

A friend did the same thing a few days ago, ebay had failed to remove the auctions even after 5 days, over £1200 worth of mobiles.
Seller wanted him to send cash, so friend mailed back to say that his son worked in the same town, and would collect and pay cash.

Seller asked,"where does your son work", friend mailed back the address of the main Solicitors office, all has now gone very quiet :D

I'm waiting for the outcome.

[0verdrive]

Very nice, too:) If you want to PM or email me, I can give you the auction number of the one I did today for a laugh. Put it into the ebay 'search' and take a look. He hasn't emailed me for the money yet. Wonder why?
I use sniping software which puts the final bids in 15 seconds before the end of the auction, too late for them to do anything. Also means I don't have to be at my computer all day.

[matrix__avenger]

Have a look at this link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3716&item=6706042980&rd=1

Is this deliberate sabotage?
The trouble is that many people, seeing a high price, will be more likely to assume that the item is genuine (i.e. not a link), and will put in their own high-price bid without reading the description.

The item above seems a pretty clear description, and isn't at all misleading as to what is actually being offered. I've seen far, far worse sales than this. If this is a case of deliberate 'sabotage', then I think it's rather misplaced.

[MatrixWatch]

Avenger,
Please start a new thread for discussions like this instead of posting it on the end of an older thread.

We call this "thread hijacking" and it keeps others from accessing a new discussion. It is often easier to get a greater amount of replies to your post when it is a new discussion, rather than on page 2, 3, 4, etc. of an archived discussion.

Thanks.

[matrix__avenger]

Watchdog,
I wasn't trying to 'hijack' this thread. It concerned ebaY.co.uk and so did my post. The discussion concerned 'vigilante bidders' and so did my post. I honestly thought it was a completely coherent follow-on, not a 'hijack'.

Feel free to move it, however, if you want. I'm not sure how to do this myself.

[0verdrive]

Personally, I would have said that M-As post was relevant. It seems to be within the area of discussion. Perhaps someone would like to explain the reason for it not being admissible here?