Cyberspace peril for Doctor Who fan

Psst ... want a bargain? Then you could do worse than to look at the internet. But be careful. The number of people setting up elaborate (or otherwise) methods of getting money out of you appears to be increasing.

Paul Flanagan found this out to his cost. A fan of Doctor Who , he found a half-sized Dalek for sale on Ebay for £550. 'I got a second chance offer,' he explains.

This happens when the winner of an auction can't fulfil the promise to buy, so the seller contacts the next person on the list. 'He wanted the money sent by Western Union to an office in Italy, but said the Dalek was in England.'

Flanagan was suspicious and contacted Ebay. 'I had a letter back saying "this man has a current holding of $20,000 with us".'

He forwarded the money, but no Dalek turned up. The letter 'from Ebay' had been faked - probably the result of Flanagan clicking on a spoof link to Ebay - and he now holds out little hope of getting his money back. As the Western Union payment falls outside Ebay's Paypal system, which guarantees transfers of up to £500, Ebay offered no compensation.

It also warns against 'second chance offers', pointing out that they are unsafe. Ebay users should not reply to emails asking for personal information but report such emails to Ebay or PayPal. A genuine Ebay log-in page will begin with http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ or http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk.

Andreina West and her husband came unstuck when they went to Ebay for a coffee machine. They found one that was apparently an unwanted gift to someone who didn't like coffee.

'When it arrived, it had clearly seen much more action than the seller claimed,' she says. 'It broke down after less than a week.'

When the Wests tried to warn other Ebay customers by posting negative feedback on the site, they discovered that the seller had changed his user name.

Some Amazon customers have also come a cropper. Amazon has a system under which people can sell second-hand goods, but this is open to 'drop-shippers' - people who advertise an item they do not have, accept money for it then look for it after they have the cash.

'Often the books they are listing at £60 to£70-plus can be found for anything from £2 upwards,' says one seller. The moral of the story? Prospective buyers should do their homework.'