A friend of mine had photos of her trailer copied and used on ebay as a scam.  She did not have a water mark or something to deter scammers from stealing her photos.   The listing has since been pulled, but I see photos on there now that looked familiar like I had seen those photo's on here at one point.  Here is the latest listing I have seen on there that is a clear scam.  You would not believe the people who do fall for these idiots, thinking they are getting a deal of a lifetime.  I used to laugh at this stuff, but after my friends photo's were used, I am not laughing any more!  http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-FOUR-STAR-HORSE-TRAILER-3-HORSE-10-LIV-QRTRS_W0QQitemZ7217230299QQcategoryZ3157QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If you have trailers listed here or on any other site, put a copyright mark of some type on your photo and resubmit onto your ad!  Just a suggestion.  This will help cut down on scammers.

Well you can sure tell that is not a person who has any idea of the trailers value. $5800 buy it now price.

So what would you "watermark" that photo with to prove that it's yours and not Johnystewarts? I think any photo is fair game for them.  It's a buyer's beware market on ebay and other online auctions.

That's the complaint I have about tagging all individual adds on here with the "I might be a scam artist" I don't like it at all, there are many ways to tell a scam(common sense being the first) without making a whole group of people look like crooks.

I hate putting the tag dislaimer on the individual ads too.  I also hate pulling off my cowboy boots at the airport and watching 80 year old grandmothers doing the same. 

On the other hand . . . we were getting fake ads at the rate of one a week, and yes, I recieved calls from people asking me what to do after they had gotten taken.  We racked our brains trying to think of ways to both discourage scammers and protect individual buyers.  This method seems to work.  We get one bad ad every several months or so.  That's all.   And I have not gotten any messages from anyone being taken for over a year.

By the way.  The scammers ARE getting a bit better, some are asking $20,000 for a $40,000 trailer instead of $5800 for a $80000 trailer . . . but the real tip off is the way they write.  I've seen tons of these scams and ALL of them are written poorly (bad English, grammer and syntax). . . you can tell the difference.

Scammers are not idiots. Its the people who fall for the scam that are. I mean these are not sophisicated schemes, they are pretty obvious. Free shipping-from Germany? Sending you a cashiers check for twice the selling price and you give them change? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.........you know.

I'd be more concerend if someone hi-jacked my user name and account on ebay to pass off a scam than using my photos. Getting good feedback takes time and work. That can be trashed pretty fast by scammer. I'd like ebay to tighten things up. If scammers are conning people with trailers, imagine what they can do wtih everything else on ebay.

See it's not just me that feels this way!!!

You cannot stop Stupidity!!!!

I would think those who get taken are probably the ones new to horses or they are parents of kid(s) who are into horses.  They probably haven't been around long enough to know the going prices on these things.  So they see a nice trailer on ebay or wherever..the price is up their alley and so they go for it.  Unfortunately for the greenhorns, they get taken and end up not just hurting themselves, but their kids because now they just blew the money they were going to use for their kids horse, etc.  Now I  scour ebay every day and as soon as I see a possible fraudulent ad I am notifying ebay.  I am a stay at home mom, so if I can prevent one person from getting snookered I will!  Guess you could call me a self made ebay vigilante..lol..  Besides, gives me something to do on these cold winter days.  Hey you guys down south...send us some warm weather up here in the northern states!!!!!! 

the problem with photo rip offs is that I go to alot of trouble to take nice photos of the saddles I sell and if someone uses that photo as a scam, then my legitimate real sale might get confused with the scam.  And it just freaks me out that the saddle that is in my livingroom is represented as being for sale in Spain!  It's like the scammer used my work to steal from someone.  That bothers me.

mrstacticalmedic,

Good for you. More people like you would make the internet safer for all of us that make dumb decisions from time to time.

THANK YOU!!!!!! 

Some folks GREED overcomes there STUPIDITY!!!!!!!!!

Shure, There may be bogus ads that trick anyone, But those that offer a $60,000 trailer for $5,800 only seems to atract the really greedy people.

Had a scam a short while back in our area where a woman claimed to have a huge sum of money on the way and was dying of an incurable desease and if you would help her out temporarily with some money to get by on for living exspences she would give you a large sum of money for your thoughtfullness as soon as she got her inheratence.The news reported that many people had been scamed and even one older couples life savings. What do you think most of there motivation to help was??????????

I have been pretending that I wanted to buy a trailer from one of these scam artists for $5800, I went so far as to pretend I have sent the money via Western Union and that it was been received by someone if not by him.

The emails he sent were exactly the same as above about the trailer being in the ebay warehouse, it was exactly the same as above, but his name was Jeff Hester. I said I had a sister in the San Jose area and asked if she could come see it. He said not possible due to "security" reasons. He said he had other buyers, it wouldn't last long. I finally pretended that I had sent $2900 deposit. Below is the last thing he sent to me. I haven't sent him an email yet telling him that I am now scamming him...The red font below is from the ebay trailer scammer!

Yes ..

Access the link from the western union site ... this transfer don't exist ... wath is that a joke .

I want you to know that I am a 55 year old man who owns his own successful business. I have been married to the same woman for 32 years and we have two grown suns who are successful in their own careers. We are all college educated. I didn't get to this stage in life by doing dumb things. My word is as good as my written signature. I want to take this opportunity to assure you that there is nothing to be worried about this deal. I would never cheat you or swindle you!! I have a reputation to protect and a good Christian and I do not want to be imprisoned. You have my word and good faith on the fact that I'll keep my end of the bargain. I have never lied and cheated anyone and I will not risk my career, my freedom and my future for anything in the world! I would rather close this deal with other person than to know that you'll be very stressed hoping that I am a honest person, until you receive your trailer. Your peace of mind is a lot more important than this deal!!! If you decide not to go through with it there is no problem. I got quite a few offers left. Please get back to me and let me know what you decide.

Thank you for your time and interest.

Whatever you decide I wish you good luck.

Sincerely,

Jeff