I got scamed for a about $700 for a Dell computer on ebay. All sorts of excuses for delays in shipping, would never send a tracking number. He had 4 or 5 positive feedbacks as a seller of items in the $30-$75 range. I was the first big sale. When things started to smell I started following his other auctions that started after mine closed. Three more Dells almost identical to what I bought. Seller finally claimed the computer was destroyed by UPS and that was the latest cause for the delay. When I started checking I found the seller's phone number listed with ebay was bogus.
What I did was watch as each of his auctions closed on ebay and emailed each buyer to beware of what looked like a scam. I filed complaint with ebay and made a claim with paypal. I emailed the seller that I had warned off his other buyers.
I figured he had to be locatable through his paypal account because it requires a bank account, social security number etc.
He refunded my money through paypal very quickly at this point. Two of his other buyers had responded to me and I told them the whole story. Ebay closed his account. The third buyer emailed me sometime later saying he never got his computer or money back wanting to know what had happened to me. I was lucky I caught him at the beginning of his ebay spree where he wanted to keep other fish on the hook. Paypal insurance/satisfaction gaurantee is a good idea in my opinion, pretty cheap.
