Gwent Police force are the latest to get up to speed with eBay, and to learn how to analyse User ID feedback and trading history to support their investigations.
eBay have a dedicated team for the Police, government and trading standards along with a hotline to enable government agencies to contact them. In 2008 eBay trained over 2000 Police and Trading Standards officers on how the site works.
This collaborative approach has contributed to over a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008, sending a clear signal to criminals that they won’t get away with illegal activity on our site.
Steve Edwards, eBay Senior Manager Law Enforcement Relations
12 Responses
We tried to get the police to investigate fraudulent transactions on eBay last year after getting no joy dealing with Paypal. Their officer in the Leicestershire Constabulary told us fraud was so prevalent that they no longer investigated cases under £2,000. He advised us to stop using eBay as a selling platform.
He also said that some Constabularies wouldn’t entertain the idea of investigating any eBay fraud, no matter how large the sums involved.
means nowt
you can have glowing feedback on ebay and still be hooky, and by the time the nasty feedback starts peculating thru ,you could have blagged millions and we have had dealings with a fraud officer, and he knew and we knew who was investigating was guilty but he was hobbled ebay and the law
“a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008”
Is a bit like saying you have lost 10 stone in weight and forgetting to mention you weighed 50 stone to begin with.
I don’t think that eBay and PayPal themselves help in a lot of cases. e.g. one INR claim I had (total amount, about $20), PayPal advised me I would have to go get a crime number before they’d refund any money. No wonder many police forces don’t take eBay seriously.
We were told by Paypal we had to get crime numbers before any investigation. The police did assign crime numbers to each case despite not intending to investigate them. The impression we got was that if the police investigated all reports of fraud on eBay, they wouldn’t have much time for anything else.
Training someone else to do something for nothing, sounds familiar.
I reckon it can only be a good thing.
I live in South Wales & a few years ago, someone who used to work here was defrauded for about £250 when he sold his mobile & got a chargeback. PayPal did nothing but the Police got involved & forced PayPal to disclose details they have previously refused to reveal. He got his money back but it took a while.
to be fair
to both the police and ebay, they dont have the easiest of tasks sorting out the real crime from the loony reports,,
every time the posts a day late some buyers start squarking fraud
This collaborative approach has contributed to over a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008, sending a clear signal to criminals that they won’t get away with illegal activity on our site.
Steve Edwards, eBay Senior Manager Law Enforcement Relations
So 80% getting away with criminal activity is acceptable ?
I recently went to my local police station to report the fact that I had been swindled out of £550 when I bought a laptop on eBay. The civilian at the front counter went and got a CID officer who said he had been to an eBay training session and was happy to help. Even thouh I got my money back due to paying with paypal I still wanted this idiot arrested and it looks like it’s going to happen. Many thanks eBay and Durham Police.
Hi Fiona
I am very pleased to hear that, good on Durham police, I have had zero joy with Cheshire and London police, with crimes against my eBay business, lets hope the tide is turning
Kindest wishes
Suz x
In my experience there are way more dodgy buyers than sellers on eBay. Amazing how many people with 0 FB have items get lost in post.