eBay Copyright Theft - Scam?
Many eBay sellers, including dealers steal our copyright images, we suspect some of them may also be fraudsters. Does eBay care?
We believe that we averted a £1.2 Million fraud on eBay, and did it almost single-handed, without any assistance from eBay. What started small, as us spotting yet another eBay seller using our photos to sell his coins, rapidly grew, and could have easily been a million dollar fraud, if we had not taken action.
Is eBay Really a Lottery? - Is This Seller a Crook?
Whenever we send copyright infringement notices to eBay, which is a daily occurrence, we include a paragraph warning or alerting them that in our experience, may people who steal our images also steal other things, and that if a vendor uses stolen images, it is likely that he does not own the items he is offering for sale. eBay appear to take no notice of our "good neighbour" advice, and usually allow the seller to relist the same or similar items, sometimes they steal other people's images as well.
In a significant number of cases, although we don't keep count, we notice that a few weeks later, the seller is "no longer a registered user". We never get any feedback or thanks from eBay, but our guess is that the seller has failed to deliver the goods after being paid, buyers have complained to eBay or the police, and his membership has been revoked. Because we don't receive any feedback, we can only guess, and it does seem that eBay goes to great lengths to avoid bad publicity.
goingfast3 - Scammer?
This eBay member first came to attention because he was using one of our images in his listings.
As you can see from the first screenshot image, he was offering 2 lots, each or 10 Krugerrands, each lot being 10 of all the same date coins, 1979 and 1983 respectively. The photograph he was using is one of ours. It is the obverse (head side) of a proof Krugerrand. There was no mention in his auctions that his coins were proof, so presumably they were just ordinary bullion ones. We also guess he does not know the difference, probably because he doesn't own any!
Q&A
On one of his earlier listings, there were some questions, one was asking why there was no photograph of all 10 coins. The seller answered that they all looked the same, so there was no point. Hmmmm!
Bad Feeling
We just might be wrong about this person, but our gut feeling is that he is a crook. Ii our second screenshot image, he was offering 21 lots each of 10 Krugerrands. Gold has just hit $1,000 per ounce, so that make about $210,000 worth of gold coins.
Going, Going, Going Fast, Gone?
If we are wrong, and the guy is genuine (but naive), we may owe him an apology, but it's our guess that the most accurate thing about the whole thing is his eBay ID. Once he is in possession of the $210,000 of buyer's money, will he be gonefast? Perhaps he's already done it twice before, which is why he has called himself goingfast3.
Invalid Item
Soon after we uploaded this page, we noticed that the first two listings shown on the lower page had been removed by eBay:
This Listing Is Unavailable
This listing (290214162210) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number.
If the listing was removed by eBay, consider it cancelled. Note: Listings that have ended more than 90 days ago will no longer appear on eBay.
Earlier in the day, we did report the first item, asking eBay if they wanted a bet with us whether the guy actually owned any Krugerrands or not, and stating our opinion about it being a scam. Why they have cancelled only 2 listings, and left the other 19, we do not know. Time may reveal more, but we doubt it!
Thank You for Your Report (Community Watch) (KMM285175808V1335L0KM) Received: 13-Mar-08
From: eBay Customer Support Expires: 12-Apr-08
We will thoroughly review the listing(s) you have reported for
violations of our Listing Policies. In order to keep eBay a safe and fun
place to trade, we often rely on members like you to bring such listing
violations to our attention.
In light of our privacy policy, we cannot share with you any action
taken by eBay with respect to this listing. If we determine that the
listing violates eBay policy, we may:
1. Send the seller an informational alert;
2. Remove the listing; or
3. Suspend the seller.
Account suspensions are usually reserved for those sellers that
continuously disregard policy.
If you would like to review our Listing Policies in more detail, please
visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-ov.html
Thank you for your report.
Regards,
The eBay Community Watch Team
What a load of waffle, especially the bit about privacy. If eBay is a community, then why not share selected information?
Sample Listing:
You are bidding on a very rare set of TEN (10) one ounce coins of pure gold. These Krugerrands have never been circulated and are stunning. Bid with confidence, for I have lots of feedback on my gold sales. Plus, Your satisfaction comes first! Only Check or Money Order allowed on this Auction. Payment due within three days of auction close. Good Luck, Goingfast3 Common Questions that are asked: 1)Why will you not take credit cards for this? A) I do not take credit cards on commodities. 2) Will I end the Auction early and meet in person to exchange? A) Absolutely not. I do not end auctions early, and I ship every item Insured and Expedited. I do not meet with people to exchange. No Exceptions! 3)Why do you not have an actual picture of the 10 coins together? A) Every Uncirculated 1974 Krugerrand looks that is up for Auction looks the same, and they are in a Bank Vault. 4) I am really nervous about sending such a large check, will you allow partial payments? A) If you are nervous, or can not afford items, then Please do not Bid. PLEASE! I will cancel bids that I find to be not in the Spirit of the Auction. I will cancel bids that have a user rating of 0 and do not contact me first please, and if you have less than a 90% feedback rating, your bid will be cancelled. 5) Can you tell me the cost to ship to my country? a) There is a flat rate to ship these coins to the US. It is 150.00 to insure and 32.00 to expedite to anywhere in the United States. That is the actual cost to ship and Insure. International shipping insurance is also 150.00 and costs 75.00 us dollars to expedite to any country allowed to bid on this Auction. note: International Bidders will need to have a stellar reputation and make contact with me after placing their bid to verify their understanding of Auction. International bidders that do not make contact within 24hrs of their bid will have their bid Canceled. If an International Bidder wins, they must expedite payment within the next business day. Contact must be made immediately upon winning. Gold fluctuates daily in Price. There is the collector's value and the weight value. A Ten Pack from 1974 is rare and a great addition to any collection. These coins are not graded, but they are in pristine uncirculated condition. I love them and know you will as well.
The above photo is one of the coins in the ten pack that was taken by myself, and it is not a stock photo. No one should copy and paiste this photo, for I do not realese my rights to my photos to anyone. Please check out my other gold auctions. Do not hesitate to ask any questions.
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Seller ID | Item Number | Date | Description | Value
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goingfast3 | 290213347749 | 12th Mar 2008 | 1979 South African Krugerrands ( 10 pack) Gold Coins ! | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290213325468 | 12th Mar 2008 | One Ounce 1983 South African Krugerrands ( Ten Pack) | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162210 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1974 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1974! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162332 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1974 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1974! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162401 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1974 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1974! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162529 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162602 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162812 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1978 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1978! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214163065 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1978 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1978! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214163148 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1978 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1978! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214163223 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1978 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1978! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214165091 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1978 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1978! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214162561 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214174518 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214174824 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175120 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175183 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175271 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175531 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175599 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214175687 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
| |
goingfast3 | 290214180806 | 13th Mar 2008 | 10 Gold 1972 South African Krugerrands! Ten Pack!
Ten Ounces! Ten Coins! No Reserve! All 1972! 10 pack | $10,000
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Notes
Seller ID. There is nothing to stop eBay members changing their "Seller ID", or opening a new account.
Item Number. We may have shown only one out of many similar items.
Date = End date or date added to this page if item still current.
Description = Description as used by the seller as his item title.
Price = Final selling price if known, otherwise "Current Price", or "Starting bid".
More!
We must have missed a few of his listings, because today, 14th March 2008, we find a list of 27 similar listings, out of which 26 sold, with a grand total of $235,947.03 US.
Working on our theory that the Krugerrands exist only in the mind of goingfast3, and assuming that all the buyers pay promptly within a few days, then Mr goingfast3 will have made over $230, 000 US for one weeks work. Now, if he can repeat that every week without getting caught, he can make $12 million per annum. Who says crime doesn't pay?
Also assuming that eBay make 1.5% commission, eBay will make over $1.8 million our of the deal, so no wonder they are rushing to investigate his listings!
More eBay Fraudsters!
A partial index of some fraudulent or misleading eBay listings we happen to have noticed. A complete list would need an entire website of its own, and probably a large dedicated editorial staff.
Copyright Notice
Please see our "Copyright" page for further information.
Copyright Infringements Remedies
Our suggested draft remedies for copyright abusers dependent on category - competitors, bloggers, pseudo-expert & advice sites acting as eBay & Google portals, eBay & other auction site sellers.
Other Copyright Abuse
Other Copyright Abuse
Buying Gold Coins & Bars on eBay
Selling Gold Coins & Bars on eBay
Copyright Thieves on eBay
We already have a page naming and shaming dealers using our images without permission. It's time we did the same for eBay, although if we include them all, this could be a very long page.
Alphabetical Listing of Other Copyright Theft Sites
Other Scams
Other Web Sites
All comments about copyright also cover content of all our other websites including, but not limited to:-
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Our Proof Krugerrand Image
eBay Index
21 Lots of 10 Krugerrands For Sale - Worth $210,000!
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