Fraud on Internet auctions

Research was undertaken to assess the level of fraud and precautions against fraud in Internet auctions. A trial run was also carried out of placing items for auction with eBay and then bidding for them. It is concluded that Internet auctions are severely disadvantaged in comparison to traditional auctions because of their inability to check the quality or provenance of items on offer. The attempts of Internet auction houses to prevent potential fraud have loopholes and can therefore be manipulated of the unscrupulous.The current checks Internet auction houses impose are therefore not enough to eradicate this growing problem. Recommendations are made to a number of di ¡erent stakeholders,such as the government and the auction industry.