There have been suggestions that the online auction market has been flooded with smartphones stolen during the rioting that recently took place in Britain, with prices for these items plummeting.
eBay has said no unusual activity has been noted, but said that it would be keeping an eye out for anything suspicious in the coming weeks. The company released a statement expressing sympathy for the businesses and communities affected by the riots, and said it would be cooperating fully with UK authorities to ?identify and remove any listing which are linked to criminal activity.?
Before the riots, there were a few dozen iPhone 3GS handsets listed on eBay UK. In the wake of these events, the figure rose to around 150. A similar pattern has been witnessed on other online auction sites as well, which has inevitably led many people to conclude that stolen goods account for the increases.
Consumers have been advised to be vigilant towards this possibility by the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum, who have warned that people may be tricked into buying looted items without realising.
Even if you make a purchase in good faith, if it turns out you?ve bought a stolen phone you could end up with police knocking on your door. There?s also a strong probability that the handset will be disabled by the service provider as soon as it is flagged up as having been stolen. What you can do is go to Checkmend.com and enter the phones IMEI or serial number to check its history.
If you ask a seller to provide this information but they refuse to do so, this probably means they have something to hide. When making any purchases through online auction sites, it?s best to use a credit card or a service like PayPal, as that means you?ll be able to claim a refund if the item turns out to be stolen. You can also use non person-to-person auction sites, where you don?t have to worry about these risks.
A lowest unique bid auction is one such example.
real housewives of orange county the big lebowski the big lebowski crt apple store chupacabra ken block
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.