Calgary man loses $20K after eBay sale hijacked

RCMP investigator says eBay trying to hide scam problem

Last Updated: Monday, December 3, 2007 | 11:39 AM ET

CBC News

A Calgary man is one of 1,000 Canadians who have been scammed on eBay through a tactic known as hijacking, and the RCMP says the online auction service is not co-operating with their criminal investigations.

Shaqir Duraj, a Calgary bakery owner, found a car on eBay in early October. He thought he was dealing with a reputable seller with a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating.

Duraj, a refugee from Kosovo who started his life in Canada with $75, has purchased costly items from eBay before, including one of the big ovens in his bakery.

'If you ask me I would never, ever trust that logo anymore.'—Shaqir Duraj, eBay consumer

But six weeks later, there's no sign of the car or the $20,000 he wired to the alleged seller.

When Duraj complained to eBay, the company wrote him a letter saying someone had temporarily taken over, or hijacked, the seller's page, and that he would have to contact police and the FBI.

About 1,000 Canadians have reported being victims of a similar scam since 2000, said RCMP Cpl. Louis Robertson of the criminal intelligence and analytical unit of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre.

Robertson said eBay is trying to hide the problem and has not returned any of his phone calls.
  
"They don't want to share this intelligence," he said. "I don't think it will be in the best interest of eBay to say that X number of Canadian consumers have been the victim of a fraud."

Robertson said he believes eBay is ignoring police and customers because it doesn't want people to know criminals have figured out how to abuse the site.

"If you ask me, I would never, ever trust that logo anymore," said Duraj of eBay.

There needs to be tougher laws so internet companies will act more responsibly, said Robertson.

EBay did not respond to several phone calls and an e-mail from CBC News.