If you believe you have given sensitive information to a fraudulent auction Web site or if you think your auction site account has been compromised in some other way, contact the real auction site immediately and report your dilemma.

On eBay, you can get help by starting with the Securing Your Account and Reporting Account Theft page:

Also, eBay has a page devoted to E-mail and Web Sites Impersonating eBay. To reach this page, go to:

The page also contains a link to an online tutorial on how to spot spoof (fake) e-mails that claim to be from eBay.

On the Yahoo! Auction site, suspicious auctions can be reported at the Neighborhood Watch link:

This link allows any participant with a positive rating to review other auctions. Negative review information can help the Yahoo! Customer Care Department identify auctions that look like spam, contain “adult” items, belong in another category, or violate the site's terms of service.

When an auction has been submitted to the Neighborhood Watch three times, the seller gets a notice and cannot resubmit the auction. If more than three negative reviews are received, the auction can be permanently deleted.

Dispute Resolution and Mediation

Buyers and sellers sometimes disagree over the condition or actual worth of an auction item that has been purchased and delivered. They are encouraged to try first to work out their differences among themselves. If they fail to reach a compromise, SquareTrade is eBay's preferred online dispute resolution service. Sellers on eBay who display the SquareTrade membership seal have had “their identity and/or contact information verified as a prerequisite to being approved for the Seal,” according to the site's membership criteria descriptions. And: “[T]heir feedback has to remain strong” if they are to continue displaying the SquareTrade seal on their auction sites.

Econsumer

Econsumer.gov is a joint project of consumer protection agencies in nineteen countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, and others.

If your complaint involves an online auction seller or buyer in one of the member nations, you can file a complaint. “The information in your complaint will allow the government agencies to spot current fraudulent schemes and help us decide how we might take action,” the site's main English page explains.