There seems to be alot of eBay related posts at the moment regarding suspect Auctions, so I thought I would post a few little ideas in the hope that we can rid the Forum of needless questions.
1 - If the Auction looks too good to be true IT IS
2 - NEVER pay using Western Union, that is sending cash. Even Western Union will advise you against this.
3 - Ask for more pictures of the unit, if they had a camera to put up a picture in the first place they will be able to do this.
4 - Ask Questions only an owner would know.
5 - Do not risk Zero Feedback sellers, many are scam artists.
6 - Do not deal with people who post an email address on their advert saying they get spam via eBay, they are CROOKS
7 - Try not to sell to people who are in Singapore, many use stolen Credit Cards.
8 - Stay away from sellers who are registered in one Country but the item is in another.
9 - Please try not post every item you think is a scam, if you/other people follow simple rules they should be able to spot a scam as well.
10 - Ask for a sellers telephone number and get them to play a few notes down the phone if your still unsure!
11 - Accounts can be hijacked, so check Feedback and see when the account was last used.
12 - Some sellers also just buy a few cheap things so they get a few Positive Feedbacks, this is easy to check.
13 - Watch auctions where the bidders name is hidden, often suspect.
14 - If you can not satisfy yourself DO NOT take the risk. A cheap deal can turn in to a heavy loss.