It seems no matter how much publicity is given to fraud on bay there are still plenty of unwitting victims

I think eBay is wonderful and I use it all the time, but it is a haven for thieves. I'm an experienced buyer, considered a "Hard Case" but early on I personally was a victim of an unscrupulous seller but also of Identity Theft due to a forged notification from eBay.

All of this fraud can be avoided by following a few very simple, common sense rules.

1. NEVER use Western Union

2. NEVER use a debit card.

3. NEVER give anyone your PIN number

4. ALWAYS use a PROTECTED credit card

5.On high value items NEVER deal with an unknown entity. Make sure you have a bona-fide name address and telephone number.

I know of one person in the UK who actually visits the sellers. This isn't too practical in the USA. But you should take adequate precautions. Checking with the BBB isn't a bad idea, but is far from fool proof.

eBay has plenty of good rules to follow that can help. Can they do more? I think so.

But " God helps those that help themselves."

Here's one of the latest examples of what not to do.

This young man is one of the many victims of a bay fraud. He wanted to buy a used car for around 4 thousand dollars. He found one and bid on it. He didn't win. The car went to a higher bidder. But, wait!

He got an e-mail from the seller of the car, saying he had a second chance to buy the car, because the winner had backed out. He jumped at the chance and before he knew it, he was scammed.

The so-called second chance was a fake. It had been copied from bays own website, and made to look like it was official. It wasn't, and the victim lost more than four thousand dollars.

This is the way it worked. The "seller" told the victim to make the financial arrangements through Western Union. As soon as the money was wired, it was too late, it was gone.

The experts have simple advice for novice eBayers like this. Never, ever use Western Union for any eBay transaction.

Rosalinda Baldwin of the Auction Guild in upstate New York patrols the Internet for frauds. She says almost always when Western Union is involved, fraud is occurring.

Western Union agrees with that, saying that its service is only for people who know where they are sending the money. The company also says Western Union is not for anonymous commerce, like that on eBay.