4) Use an Escrow Service

For higher priced items you should consider an escrow service. An escrow service acts as a middleman between buyer and seller to ensure a fair transaction.

The escrow service holds item and money until buyer has inspected and approved goods. Only then does it release money to seller.

The only downside is that it will cost buyer extra to use this service. However, it is something to bear in mind when buying more expensive items.

5) Complaints/ Fraud Protection

Most online auction sites have a complaints' procedure. For example,if you're unhappy with goods or you have not received them, Ebay operates a fraud protection program. For more information go to : http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/fpp-guide.html

FlipShark has a useful site on internet auction scams. www.flipshark.com/scams/ebayindex.html

The US Federal Trade Commission has a useful guide for buyers and sellers on internet auctions which has relevance to other countries. www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm

To sum up, most buyers and sellers on internet auction sites are honest. However, if you use above tips, you should not fall victim to auction fraud.

© 2003 John Lynch

Visit http://www.merchant-account-service.com/ebay.html for a FREE extensive auctions course on how to start a successful online auctions business. ==========================

Hold boat! Why on earth would people use their website contact-type e-mail addresses for their investment program? It looked like website owner bought or harvested e-mail addresses to use as his "client" list.

A lot of addresses were for same domain, but with a different "name" - i.e. admin@business, contact@business, help@business, etc. And many of addresses listed were autoresponders to subscribe to newsletters or receive other information.

Here a few e-mail addresses that I got a real kick out of:

jeeves1@askjeeves.co.uk someone@nowhere gov@gov.state.hi.us comments@scambusters abuse@verisign

But absolute *best* one is .... (drum roll please) .....

dateline.consumeralert@nbc

Now, what should I do with that one? You guessed it! I'm sending them a copy of this article. I wonder what they'll think when they see that they supposedly invested in this program? What I really wonder is how fast they'll get it shut down so people don't lose money to such scam artists.

In all fairness, I looked at contact information at website. Here's what it says:

"Unlike many 'businesses' on internet, we do not 'hide' behind our website. You are free to contact us at any time, even CEO if need be. All information is listed below, or use our Live Help chat on left."

Unfortunately, live chat was "temporarily down" so, of course, I e-mailed CEO with several questions and I'm waiting for a reply. (But I do find it strange that his contact address is a hotmail account.)

At time of this writing, I checked list of "clients" again. They've updated it and e-mail addresses I saw 2 days ago are no longer there. Neither are domain names for those that have taken their place. And most of addresses now appear to be personal addresses, not those of business websites.

They've also posted this message:

"Sorry, but we had to remove ending of email address because we received a ton of complaints about someone spamming our investors"

I wonder if that's *real* reason. My guess is that at least one of people I wrote to contacted them, probably threatened legal action, and website owner bought a new list of e-mail addresses to post as his "clients."

But wait! There's more! I decided to check domain registration information at WhoIs.com. And *that* gave me yet another clue that something might be rotten in Denmark.

The website name, InvestWithGold.com, was registered on April 19, 2004 - a mere 10 days before I discovered website and 12 days before I wrote this article. And yet company claims to have been in business since 1998!

The dates "clients" supposedly earned huge returns on their investments were from April 9th through 16th first time I visited site. Today's update shows profits for April 17th through 23rd.

So, unless owner changed name of his company and/or registered new name with a different domain registrar, his "clients" made money *before* he even had his website!

Granted, he could have had his business offline until recently. But copyright at bottom of site says "2001-2004" which indicates that he's had website since 2001.

Alas! A scammer's work is never done! They'll always find a new scam to run and con as many people as they can. They have no integrity and they don't care who they rip off.

Always do your homework before investing in any income opportunity. Don't let yourself get caught up in bogus "get rich quick" aspects that can sound so good. You don't want to learn hard way that they aren't what they claim to be.

Denise Hall is the owner of Home Business on a Budget which specializes in tools and resources for your home business needs. Visit http://www.home-business-on-a-budget.com today. Get weekly articles, tips, information and resources here: http://tinyurl.com/4f9k8