Fraud
on eBay and Yahoo
Internet fraud is becoming much more common. For information
on how to better protect yourself see the MacInTouch
Security Resources, one of the most complete sources of
fraud information on the web. The best advice is buy only from
those you know, or from sellers your friends have dealt with.
If anything sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.
Direct
Scams
Be
careful out there, it has only been a few years since that
major
fax scam that caught a lot of NHS members
off-guard! Remember even savvy collectors can get caught,
don't begin to let
yourself
think you are too smart to get burned! (NHS, 42-16, 44-17,
49-13) For those of you who don't remember, a fax was sent
to NHS members (mostly in Europe) with a list of beautiful.
and rare, equipment, all at high, but very reasonable prices.
A number of members "persuaded" the
con man into taking a deposit. Needless to say he took number
of
deposits before he was caught collecting his loot from a
southern US Post Office box.
Ebay is
becoming a source of many scams personally directed at one
buyer. The scams are almost always a variation of "I
saw you bidding on a Nikon, I have a much nicer one I can
send
you for less." There is seldom a camera waiting for
you. Also very common now are just plain fake ads, here is
an example of one of the most notorious, a
Nikon One created in Photoshop.
Nikon
Rangefinder Repainting
Repaints are becoming much more common! Because most painters do a quick
one-day job, these repaints are easy to spot when seen in person,
but eBay is now a much more slippery slope for new collectors.
There
have always been repaints, but they are getting better.
Painters
in Japan all seem to be painting chrome cameras black, and
they are stripping chrome to make the repaints more authentic.
Some
collectors
love them, some hate them with a passion, but whatever
your feelings, be aware of them. When buying on eBay, or
elsewhere,
insist on the right to return repaints sold as original. Repainted
S2
Black SP, advertised on eBay as a repaint. Could
you spot it? Not easy from a photo!
