The online auctioneers do little to verify who is selling what on the sites. More than 6,000 gripes have been received this year alone, and most deal with non-delivery of goods, FTC staff attorney Lisa Hone said. The National Consumers' League also is seeing a flood of Net auction fraud reports. In the first six months of this year, the group received more auction complaints than in all of 1998. Such reports now make up 87 percent of all Internet fraud cases called into the League.
People are willing to send checks and money orders without thinking about it.
It appears many auction bidders often don't avail themselves of third-party escrow services because doing so adds to the price of a purchase. Despite the one bad experience, Bourke has bought more than 150 items via online auctions and said he's unlikely to use an escrow service. Bourke notified eBay about the problem but didn't hear much back. He also filed a mail fraud complaint with the U.S. Postal Service, which could turn out to be the most effective remedy. The Post Office has its own investigation division, and penalties for mail fraud include fines and up to five years' imprisonment.