eBay Scams – Steps to Take if You Have Been 
Defrauded

eBay is a relatively safe marketplace. Unfortunately, 
like most online marketplaces, it is vulnerable to 
scams. eBay tries to keep instances of scams 
occurring, but with more than 100 million members, 
and approximately $40 million moving through the 
site on a daily basis, this can be a little difficult. 
Sometimes, scams occur.

If you have been scammed, there are certain steps
you need to follow to report the incident, and to try 
to come to a resolution. If you paid for the item 
through Paypal, the first step is to login to your 
Paypal account and open up a dispute for the 
payment. If you did not pay through Paypal, contact
your credit card company. In most cases, if you have 
used one of these two cases, you will recover your 
money.

The next step is to use eBay’s dispute process to 
report the seller. This is specifically for items that 
were not received, or items that were significantly 
different than what was described in the auction. 
eBay also has a purchase protection program to 
further protect buyers. If a settlement cannot be 
reached with the buyer, the next step is to make 
an eBay buyer purchase protection claim.

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