05-22-2007, 10:02 AM
Quote:Lucy thought she had got something good: she was selling her tickets for the NME tour at the Brixton Academy on eBay, and with just 20 minutes to go the highest bid of £21 had abruptly been trumped by one for £56. The only odd thing was the new high bidder had no eBay feedback - suggesting they were very new to eBay. With the new offer so far over the others, nobody more bothered to bid.
But seconds before the end of the auction, the new bidder withdrew the bid, leaving the original £21 bidder in the lead with a bargain.
Lucy smelled a rat. Looking around, she found that that same "zero feedback" user was bidding high for tickets for the same gig - and then repeatedly withdrawing moments from the end. And the winning bid? Always from the same person who had just won Lucy's auction. She refused to sell the tickets, suspecting a tout trying to corner the market, and declined the PayPal transaction for the auction...
full article: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/...59,00.html