Scammed by Ebay

Beverley_Bill

There is an item for sale on Ebay which is stolen. I spotted it and reported it to the owner and tried to report it to Ebay. After going round and round the site for an hour or more clicking on links and trying to get to speak to a real person, we gave up. There was a phone number to call: 0913 1300 181 which purports to be an Ebay Helpline

My colleague called to explain his plight and was told they can help him. After about 30 minutes he finally put the phone down after asking for a transcript to be emailed to him. The transcript arrived and it said thanks for using this service, you were charged £1.53 per minute for this advice.

I was livid and did a simple search to find out it was a helpline with no ties to anyone, just a website who have stolen several logos presumably.

http://www.online-help.co.uk/

The shot in the tail came this morning when BT called to ask if we were aware that this was a premium rate and our bill had come to £58 with that one call. apparently they have had several complaints.

If this posting does nothing else it may make people aware there is no free lunch, so not only has my friend lost his motorbike, it cost him £58 to report it to someone. The police were not interested in the theft, they just gave a reference number and told him to contact the seller or to contact Ebay

soolin

So you were scammed by a fake website and blame that on eBay?

The number for eBay is there in the eBay contact us tab, you can't blame them if you choose to phone a random number found on the Internet instead.

Re the stolen bike go back to police and harass them into helping, also phone the correct eBay number and talk to them as well.

soolin

Incidentally, the link you posted is quite clearly a third party.

http://www.online-help.co.uk/

The home page, following YOUR link states


Disclaimer;Calls are charged at £1.53 per minute plus network extras with a £1.53 connection charge. When calling you will be connected to a live UK based advisers who will assist you with your queries. You may be able to locate contact information for the website/service for free on their website. Callers MUST be aged 18+/over and have the bill payers permission. Calling this service shall be deemed as your acceptance of our service terms & conditions. As an Independent online customer support company, we are not connected or affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on this site. The advice given is impartial and is to the best of our knowledge. There are no guarantees or warranties with regards to it's accuracy or effectiveness.

Sorry, but how can the thread title here be accurate, you were not scammed by eBay.

Beverley_Bill

soolin wrote: »

So you were scammed by a fake website and blame that on eBay?

The number for eBay is there in the eBay contact us tab, you can't blame them if you choose to phone a random number found on the Internet instead.

Re the stolen bike go back to police and harass them into helping, also phone the correct eBay number and talk to them as well.

The helpline was advertised on eBay, or it was a link that popped up whilst on eBay.

Incidentally. I have had reason to speak to eBay in the past, quite recently in fact and it was much easier, when you follow the link and get the 15 minute verification code, they will not accept a call about theft unless you are a law enforcement agency. It isnt me who called them, but it was my telephone he used as a BT line was thought to be cheaper than a mobile, and yes the information you pointed out is shown clearly on the website, but not mentioned on eBay.

I don't expect any help from this site but did want to warn others as BT are aware of the cost of calls.

RFW

Beverley_Bill wrote: »

The helpline was advertised on eBay, or it was a link that popped up whilst on eBay.

Which? Surely that's the most important part, if it was on Ebay it's a serious matter, if the latter it could be a virus on your computer.

Beverley_Bill wrote: »

Incidentally. I have had reason to speak to eBay in the past, quite recently in fact and it was much easier, when you follow the link and get the 15 minute verification code, they will not accept a call about theft unless you are a law enforcement agency.

I would expect them to want some evidence rather than a random phone call. After all if they pulled listings on the back of a phone call there would be lots of sellers calling to say their competitors are selling stolen goods.

If you think someone is selling stolen goods anywhere go to the police. There's a pretty big trail to catch a thief if they are selling on Ebay, so they're easy enough to catch.

sequence

Looking at the link you posted, they couldn't possibly make it any clearer that they are independent and have nothing to do with ebay.

AmyPyeh

I never trusted eBay will never trust. It's full of scammers and if you are not careful you get screwed.

Beverley_Bill

sequence wrote: »

Looking at the link you posted, they couldn't possibly make it any clearer that they are independent and have nothing to do with ebay.

Hindsight, my dear is a wonderful thing, that website did not come to light until after the phone call and they do lead you to believe you are getting somewhere. The actual owner of the bike is on holiday, this is his son who is trying to prevent it going through.

ballisticbrian

If that number popped up while on eBay, it's very likely you have a computer virus. Make sure you have anti-virus installed, updated and be alert to this. Many similar pop ups, tell you your computer has security issues and needs "scanning." Sorry you've been scammed and thanks for bringing it up.

Just be doubly aware, the second call from BT may be a follow up scam. It's highly unusual to get a call from BT saying they had lots of complaints about a number. Did you give them any further identifying information when they called?

ballisticbrian

I see you are still up, if you did give out any card or bank numbers when BT called, you need to get those numbers changed asap. Good luck.

Beverley_Bill

ballisticbrian wrote: »

I see you are still up, if you did give out any card or bank numbers when BT called, you need to get those numbers changed asap. Good luck.

No I believe it was BT as they asked for me personally and I didnt give any further details.

Thanks for your suggestion. I shall check this thread again in the morning before we regroup and consider the options