We’ve all seen them, the email letter’s with the too good to be true promises of easy money or the Nigerian letter scam where a Nigerian or foreign government official asks for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts. Well, the scam artists are at it again, and this time they are targeting auction sites like Ebay.

Here’s how they work:

First they end your auction and shoot you over an email saying that they are sending a cashier’s check to cover the cost of the auction. When the cashier’s check arrives they will usually have over paid or purchased something exceptionally valuable for you to ship. If they have overpaid they will ask you to wire them the difference.

Because you are a trustworthy person you will probably ship them the item they won at auction and will wire them the difference. You go away thinking that everything is fine. You cashed your check, got the item shipped, and all seems well and good. But all is not as it seems.

The cashier’s check is rubber. Even though the bank let you cash it, when they do discover that it is bad they will take the money out of your bank account to cover the costs. Ouch! And unfortunately for you there is absolutely no way for you to get the money back once it has been wired.

Here are some tips for using Ebay and other auction sites to sell things:

1. Only accept payments through Paypal or by bank check. If you do accept bank checks be sure to not ship anything until the auction has completed.
2. Don’t ever click on a link from your email to get to eBay or the other auction sites. Instead go directly to the site and login direct. This will ensure you don’t get tripped up by a phishing scam.
3. If something seems wrong with an email you received send a message to the auction site’s “spoof” team. On eBay it is spoof@ebay.com
4. Report the crime to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov