Buyer beware of counterfeits, scams, and fake store receipts on eBay and iOffer

[mandy]

Rob Holmes, a Los Angeles-based private investigator who ferrets out online counterfeit retailers for fashion houses, said there are things people can do to minimize -- though not eliminate -- the risk of being ripped off, such as investigating the seller's track record through the feedback left by previous buyers.

"If someone's eBay feedback is private [or blocked], don't touch them with a 10-foot pole," Holmes said.

Then again, some feedback is clearly manufactured. One eBay seller's feedback box claimed a response that was 100 percent positive, but the text of all the feedbacks was nothing but a series of question marks...

As far as "authenticity" cards go, Holmes said those can be counterfeited, too.

Buyers relying on receipts to prove that items are genuine -- as in, "I just bought this last week from Coach" -- are also in for a surprise.

"On ioffer.com, an online auction site, they were selling a CD-ROM of receipt templates for all the major boutiques," Holmes said. The templates allow anyone with a computer and a printer to create a bogus store receipt...

full article: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/news_to_...046648.htm