MOBILE fans eager to get the hottest new handset in time for Christmas have been warned about eBay rip-off merchants advertising non-existent phones.
Swedish phone giant Nokia has said traders advertising its long awaited N91 music phone for immediate delivery are fraudulent, as it will not be released until next year.
There are currently dozens of the advertisements for Nokia N91 handsets for sale on eBay from British-based accounts – many claiming they are available now and offering 20 or more phones.
As with anything bought on the internet auction site, the principle of buyer beware operates but there are fears scams involving items such as mobile phones are more likely to dupe naïve teenagers and youngsters.
The Nokia N91 phone sales have highlighted a practice used by con artists, whereby they hack a legitimate eBay user's account with good feedback ratings and advertise their goods on there. A Hotmail or Yahoo-style e-mail address is then put into the listing, telling buyers to contact the seller first rather than following the usual eBay purchase procedure.
An investigation by eBay into three adverts brought to the auction site's attention by This is Money revealed them to be account takeovers. An eBay spokeswoman said: 'When account takeovers happen, generally the proper owner will have given out their details in a phishing incident.'
Ebay shoppers have been advised to check out listings carefully and can spot a bogus seller, using a hacked account, by looking at the trading history in their feedback section and see if previous transactions are wildly different to the advertised item.
Among the sellers advertising large numbers of Nokia N91 phones for sale on eBay are one claiming to be from Hampshire with a history of selling assorted clothing and toys, and another claiming to be from Gloucestershire with a history of selling VW Camper parts. Both have no track record of selling mobile phones.
Nokia said any advertisements for N91s offering immediate delivery were fraud. A spokeswoman said: 'Nokia is aware that many of its new unreleased products appear as items for sale on eBay, on investigation the usual reason the seller gives for the advert is 'pre-selling' of the item for shipping on the day of release. Where this is not the case Nokia pursues the matter through the appropriate channels.'
Ebay has advised people never to give out their eBay details in response to unsolicited e-mails, to forward anything suspicious to the address
spoof@ebay.com, and said it was working on a project with the Department of Trade and Industry and other online retailers called www.getsafeonline.org.uk.
Earlier this month the company behind the UK's first pre-pay MasterCard warned the public to beware Ebay scam artists offering the cards, but after paying up to £25 all they got was a link to the official Cashplus website. The card's creator, Advanced Payment Solutions, stated it was not affiliated with the eBay vendors and would take immediate action.
