Use online auctions safely

Avoid scams, buy and sell with confidence

Online auctions match willing buyers with willing sellers and are one of the success stories of the internet. However, they are also a market opportunity for fraudsters if you aren’t careful and don’t follow the rules.

Risks

* You pay for something but it never arrives.
* You sell something but the buyer doesn't pay.
* You are conned into selling early or at a low price.
* Your auction identity is compromised and used fraudulently.
* You fall for one of the common scams like sending off a laptop before you get paid for it because you have been promised a price that's too good to be true.
* You inadvertently disclose personal information to crooks.

Know how the system works

* If you are new to online auctions, take the time to read the online guides provided by the auction company so you understand how the system works and what the rules are.
* Understand what the auction company can do (and won’t do) if something goes wrong.
* Use a login name for the auction site that is different from your email address.
* Use strong passwords.
* Update your contact information, including email address, if it changes.

Know your seller

* Pick good sellers.
* Get to know the seller. Look at their profile, their rating and transaction history.
* Be wary of sellers who have lots of negative feedback.
* Of course we are all newcomers to auctions at some point and most sellers with few ratings from other buyers are not bad guys, but be a little more cautious with them.
* If the seller is a business, check their real-world existence. If they provide a phone number or address, give them a call or pay a visit.
* Sellers outside the UK may be harder to chase if something goes wrong.
* Ask the sellers questions by email. Prompt, helpful replies are more encouraging than slow or rude responses.
* Be clear about shipping and delivery costs and methods of payment and if any surcharges are likely because of your method of payment.

Use your judgement

* Never give out your password to anyone.
* Be very wary about giving out personal information to sellers, especially your auction site password. You may need to give some personal information to a seller once you have won their auction, for example a delivery address, but remain conscious of the risks and don’t give more information than you need to.
* Be wary of phishing emails. These may appear to be from a trusted organisation but are really from criminals trying to lure you to a fake website to get your personal information (see Avoid fake websites).
* If you think your auction account has been compromised, take action immediately. Check the site’s online help files. See Undo identity theft.
* Always make sure you are using a secure internet connection to change or access your personal information. Look for ‘https’ at the beginning of the address and the padlock symbol (See Learn about secure web pages).
* Although many trusted organisations do send emails containing legitimate links (for example to websites that contain more information on a given subject), always be careful when clicking on them. It is better to enter your bank's address into your web broswer directly or use a bookmark that you created using the correct address.
* Check that communications between buyer and seller are not being blocked by spam filters by checking your spam folder regularly.

Avoid common scams

* Avoid fake websites.
* Be wary of emails or messages which might be attempts to get your personal information by pretending to come from the auction company itself. Auction companies will never send you emails asking you to disclose PIN numbers, passwords or other personal information or which link to a page that asks you for this kind of information. If you click on a link in an email that takes you to a page that requires a password or personal information, it is very likely to be a scam.
* Don’t fall for requests to close auctions early. The best bids usually come towards the end of the auction period.
* Make sure you have been paid before despatching goods.
* Use a reputable escrow service for high value transactions and consider using an electronic payment service such as PayPal, for routine payments (see Make payments online safely).