The internet. That big jumbo of words like Taobao, Youtube, Server, Cloud and Facebook. But you have to be careful because the internet is also full of scams. We’ve compiled a list of Chinese internet scams to avoid and how to stay safe. Even sellers can find themselves the victim of a scam, and not even know it until their money and their item is gone. Unfortunately, Chinese methods of settling disputes between sellers and buyers can be time-consuming, frustrating, and ultimately leave you with no conclusion.

Item Never Received

A popular scam that some sellers deal with is the “item never received” scam. The buyer will pay for the item, receive it with no problem, and then contact you saying they never received it. The scammer then asks for a refund for the purchase price and the shipping. If you don’t comply, they may threaten to leave you negative feedback, or file a dispute through PayPal or eBay.

How To Protect Yourself

Always, always, always get a tracking number for your packages, and require that there be signature confirmation upon delivery. This may be frustrating for some of your buyers since someone has to be home to sign for the package, or else pick it up from the post office at a later time, but it will protect you from being scammed, and protect your buyers from having their packages stolen. If a buyer tries to claim they did not receive their package, you merely have to forward the signature confirmation to PayPal or eBay to prove that the buyer did, in fact, receive the package.

Wrong Item Received

Another popular scam involves the buyer claiming they received the wrong item. They offer to ship the item back, but only after you either charge a full refund plus to a cost of additional shipping, or ship the correct item. When you refund their money or ship a new item, they never send the original item back.

How To Protect Yourself

It’s not uncommon for sellers to accidentally put the wrong item in the package, especially when they have a house full of kids distracting them. You can’t protect yourself 100% against human error, but you can check and recheck your packages and addresses before sealing them up. If a buyer claims that they received the wrong item, always require them to return the item first before you will process a refund or send a new item. This way, you have the original item in hand beforehand, effectively protecting yourself from being scammed.

There are many other scams that sellers can find themselves the victims of, as well. Remember always to be alert, especially when something sounds suspicious. Check your bidders’ feedback; if instances of scams pop up in their feedback, you have every right to cancel their bid and protect yourself from being the next victim. You can’t afford the time and money that goes into correcting the damage from a scam, so protect yourself before it happens!

Phishing scams are on the rise, and fraudulent minds have infiltrated China school. Whatever the reason you use the internet is to be it to do some online shopping or to generate an additional income you need to be wary of phishing scams. If you want to protect your personal information and finances, you need to be careful of these scams.

What are phishing scams? They involve the creation of same websites meant to mislead innocent eBay users into logging in their accounts on the sites. To lure you in, they create an email that informs them of an error with your accounts. You will then follow the link to the fake website, where you enter your eBay account and password. Once the scammer gets hold of this information, he will have full access to your personal information stored on eBay. He can also use your eBay account to make purchases.

Many people fall for these scams because they think that there is indeed a kink with their eBay accounts. Phishing scams often alert you to an unpaid item that requires your immediate action. Worried that your account would get suspended, you promptly click on the links and rectify the problems. Note that the fake websites always look almost identical to the official website, thus making it hard to distinguish between the two.

The main purpose of any phishing scam is to get the person to click a link! The e-mail is specifically crafted and formatted to make you believe you have to take the action they suggest.

Do some research

1. If you suspect you have a China school phishing scam email on your hands, then the best advice is to do a little ground work.

2. Look at the name that the email addresses you with. If it says, China school Member then something is up. Official emails often address you by your eBay screen name or even your real name.

Where does the link go?

3. Roll your mouse over the links that are attached to the email. Do they bring you to an external website instead of eBay.com?

4. The next step is to log into your school account. Check your inboxes for any new messages and if these messages have any pertinence to the email you received.

What to do with a phishing email

5. If you had received a phishing scam email, it is advised that you contact the school directly or turn to the China school help center. Instructions are provided on the steps you should take to report such emails.

6. Don’t delete the email it is used to track to phisher and prevent other people from being affected, but you should do your part to make a safe marketplace for all.

7. Reporting a China school phishing scams to the relevant authorities allow them to take actions and eradicate the problem.

Now that you have some knowledge about China school phishing scams, you should be on your guards. When shopping online, always proceed with caution. If in doubt, always contact the school. If you come across such scams, be sure to notify the school immediately.

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