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With regards to the current scam, all who have been affected recommend removing BACS for one single reason - NPB! As soon as an auction ends, the buyer receives email confirmation of their winning bid, which includes you name and address. They then request to make payment via bank transfer before disappearing as a Non-Paying-Bidder. Within a few weeks, any number of automated mandates can be set up on accounts using ONLY the information provided via the unpaid auction. eBid is NOT the only website affected, it IS, without doubt, one of the ones being targetted by the culprit/s.

I've just been informed that 'harvesting' information is also a technical term, so my apologies for using the word in the traditional sense to mean 'gathering'.

I want to clarify a couple of points. When selling items online, the buyer/winning bidder receives the seller's contact details - name, address etc - in order to send payment. Many websites display these details openly.

If a buyer / winning bidder then offers to pay via bank transfer, those bank details are requested from the seller. As soon as these are provided, the buyer / winning bidder has enough information to set up a direct debit on that account (if it allows debits to be made). Banks and building societies do not check for signatures on mandates, these can be set up remotely and electronically.

I am sorry that some find the above facts disturbing, to say the least, but there is absolutely no getting away from the fact that this scam is going on right now and that certain sites in particular are, WITHOUT DOUBT, being targetted.

The following is an updated list of company names that could show up as fraudulent direct debits:

Allianz
B Mid
Cornhill
eSure
Halifax
Liverpool Vic
Zurich

You'll notice these are all insurance companies.

Update on Scam Alert

The following list includes all of the financial institutions that have been used for the setting up fraudulent policies -

Allianz
B Mid
Cornhill
eSure
Halifax
Liverpool Vic
Tesco Finance
Zurich

I must repeat the previous warnings - if you sell online and offer BACS/Bank Transfer, please check out authenticity of buyer details prior to divulging payment information. If you have already arranged for payment to be made direct to your bank over the past 8 months, please request a full list of direct debits on whichever account you use for processing incoming payments.

It is also adviseable to check your credit file, as it has now come to light that at least one victim of the fraud has had a credit card taken out in their name.

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All irrelevant or inappropriate posts will be removed.

I also would like to know the answer to Val's question. The amount of information given out on a cheque is greater than that for a direct debit. So if a d/d can be made up from that information, how are people supposed to make payments? Also is this Police advice or from eBid or the Banks? If it is from the Banks I would view it with great suspicion, as they are only interested in shifting the blame from their dodgy/non-existant security systems.

I, for one, would recommend removing BACS options unless you are prepared to post the invoice with bank details to a traceable address. I can't see the significance of comparing acceptance of BACS payments and paying for something with a cheque. For starters, in order to pay by cheque, you need the correct address to guarantee it gets there by post. The scammers on eBid are probably using fake details all the way through their joining applications and mobile numbers so they cannot be traced. As far as I am concerned, the Internet is awash with scammers and the more places like eBay flush them out, the more they will be seeking alternative sites to infest! Nobody knows the extent of this scam as it has been around for some time, but 10 people confirmed as having been caught out by this over the past 48 hours isn't to be sneezed at - who is next? That's my worry.

Hi Nykmedia, I understand your point about possibly sending the BACS details by post, but would either you or the seller be prepared to pay the £5+ to ensure safe delivery?

Recorded post is a farce as the items are just dumped in the ordinary mail, until it reaches the destination sorting office. When if you are lucky it will be retrieved and a signature obtained. The only secure means of delivery via Royal Mail is Special Delivery, where from what my sources tell me each person that handles the item has to sign for it, and the SD items are kept behind locked doors.

How would you go about verifying an address? For the suspect buyer we shared I checked out the address on the Royal Mail address finder; it came up as genuine. The only other way I can think of is to check the electoral register,but this isn't fool-proof. We have all heard of the people who went awol when the poll-tax was around, plus forgein nationals don't have to register.

Hi Lofty,

These people are not buying anything, they are collecting bank details. The more difficult it is for them to get what they want, the less chance there is of them hanging around to get them. Offering to telephone a landline or post to their door is a simple, added precaution. Not fool-proof, just an extra step they don't usually anticipate. If they refuse or disappear at that point, then no harm done, invoice 3 times then reportas NPB, leaving negative feedback. Just as an example, one telephone number I was given was for WISEMAN DAIRIES HEAD OFFICE, and they had never heard of the person concerned. When I eventually contacted eBid directly and requested a contact number, the so-called buyer had managed to register using only a mobile number.

Owing to the continual misuse and spamming of theses messageboards, they will shortly be deleted.

Many thanks to all who signed up to Cyberdosh and have contributed here. As this was a free service, we have no authority over who posts messages nor do we have access to email addresses of those who signed up originally, so closing the boards is the only option we have.

We will be closing ALL the NYK & Cyberdosh associated messageboards.