eBay历险记

前不久我在 eBay 网站用投标的办法订到一台 Canon 1Ds Mark III 的相机。这是我想了很久的相机。以前有一次因一两百元的差距，以 $4100 元丢了一次机会，一直觉得懊恼，因为这可是市场价为 $6600 元的相机。这次在 eBay 又看到同一型号的全新相机就动了心，虽然卖者没有其它成交记录，我还是以 $4600 的最高价下了订价。一天以后，居然以 $4300 成交，而且卖者住在休斯顿，非常高兴。

不久收到两封电子信件。一件是订单的确认，也告诉我如何用 Paypal 去付钱。后一封信说这位卖主希望我以 Western Union 的方式汇钱过去。这种办法很麻烦，所以我没有留心。按第一封信的链接，我很快就用 Paypal 付了钱。只等心爱的相机早日寄到。

我给卖者去了两次 Messages 都没有下文。过了两个星期还没有看到相机的影子，我心里有些发毛了。是不是这次遇到了一个以前只听说过的 eBay 骗子？我把那第二封信再拿出来细读了一遍，才恍然大悟。这真的是一个骗局。原来， eBay 早就给大家发过警告信，无能如何，不要用 Western Union 去付钱。这封信明确地说，他的 Paypal 帐号还没有办好，现在只收 Western Union 。 Western Union 属于电汇，钱一旦寄出，就“包子打狗，有去无回。”

我赶紧去查 Paypal 的历史，发现我寄出的 4300 元还没有被取走。 Paypal 有保险，如果我没有收到货，完全可以把钱拿回来，对行骗者来说，有些不方便。我立即取消了这笔付款，钱又回到了我的帐户。真是有惊无险。

我虽不是eBay的PowerUser，但用 eBay 购物已有一段时间，一般都只从评分好的卖者买东西，从没有出过问题。这是第一次遇到这样“第一次”卖者，结果就遇到了骗子。其实要识别这种骗子并不难。在这里把这段经历写下来，和各位朋友分享、共勉。

前两天，这位“卖者”居然又送来一封信，说什么因为库存问题，希望取消这个订单，还给我送来 Login 链接。如此继续大胆行骗，叫我吃惊。看来得找找 eBay 的“保安部门”了。 可惜的是，我还得继续寻找我的1Ds马克三世，也许真该等即将问世的马克四世。

以下是第二封信的部分内容。其中破绽不少。比如，信看上去是从eBay来的，但细看回信地址，实际不是eBay。

We know that we encourage every buyer to send the money for an eBay Transaction with Paypal.This seller is an verified PayPal member but for the time we have problems with his PayPal account so he won't be able to receive payment if you pay with PayPal but if you pay with Western Union we will offer you the same protection like you are paying with PayPal directly.   Payment instructions Payment must be sent by : Western Union. Next step to be taken: The buyer must send the payment to the seller. To submit the payment with Western Union you have 2 options: 1. Pay for the transfer with cash at a local Western Union agent. 2. Or you can make the payment online www.westernunion.com Once the payment was sent, forward to the seller, by email the following information to verify this transaction: 1) 10 digit MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number). 2) Exact sender's name on file with Western Union. 3) Exact sender's address on file with Western Union. 4) Amount sent. Currently, this seller has a US $7,174.00 deposit in an ebay managed purchase protection account. Transactions with this ebay seller are covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, this account was locked today, for 30 days time. The seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period. Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, by check or MoneyOrder. The way you are refunded is at your choice. You have 30 days from the above verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within 3 days. The account is managed by ebay's Live.com system. This transaction is supervised by ebay's Safe Harbor team. Conditions to be meet before you may ask for a refund Here are the situations suitable for a refund request: 1) If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after the payment was received; 2) If the merchandise you receive has different specifications than the ones you agreed on; 3) If your merchandise arrives in a much longer period than the one you agreed on (more than 15 days from the payment clearance day). For cases 2) and 3) you have to send back the merchandise to the seller prior to ask for your refund. If you did not pay the seller by the required payment method, your refund request would be declined.