Here at PC Protection we will alert you of scams doing the rounds on the Internet, there are many out there, today were going to take a look at the picture only scam which is common on auction sites such as eBay.
How it Works
It's a really simple scam, but catches out thousands of people and makes a group of dishonest people a lot of dishonest cash. Here is the scam in easy steps
a) The scammer will take his digital camera and take a picture of an expensive item, such as a games console or a plasma, he/she may even just copy and paste the image from the Internet.
b) The scammer will list the expensive item he supposedly has as if it was an existing item in his possession, he now has a nice shiny photo to put to his nice shiny description and list it on eBay or another auction site.
c) The scammer will slip a sly comment usually at the bottom of the listing in a very small font saying something on the lines of "you are only bidding for the picture, not the actual item"
d) The item is listed, people bid on the item to a high value thinking its a legit item
e) The scammer receives his cheque through the post or in his paypal and pockets it
f) The scammer emails or posts the picture of the item to the winning bidder
Conclusion - Complete and utter stitch up
How to prevent being scammed
Always read the descriptions carefully and read any small print, if this happens to you, contact eBay and paypal immediately
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