Online auctions, like eBay, are great places to find deals and purchase items that you cannot purchase anywhere else, but if you are not careful, you can also get ripped off. Some people have been swindled out of thousands of dollars at online auctions. My losses have not been that drastic, but I have had losses.

For example, once I purchased an electric motor for my car's window. I could have bought it at the local auto parts store but it was cheaper online. I spent half a day installing it and it only worked once. I wrote the seller. He told me to return it to him and he would replace it. The second part only lasted one month. When that happened, I went to the local auto parts store and bought the part. It is still working a year later.

Another time I purchased an expensive used tripod. When it arrived, one part was broken and another was missing. After writing back and forth to the seller and providing pictures, he refunded part of my money to me and sent a replacement part. It still does not work good enough for me to use.

Yet another incident happened recently when I purchased a brand new, in the box, laptop computer from an auction. When it arrived, it was in the box, but it was not brand new. It was remanufactured.

The two main types of fraud for online auctions are misrepresentation of the product and non-delivery. You can protect yourself from fraud by taking the following precautions:

- Fully read the product description. Sometimes the product description will state certain exceptions that may apply to you.

- Always check the Feedback of the Seller before you bid on the item. Feedback is where other buyers can tell of their experience with the seller. Bad feedback can be a tip off to a bad seller. Be sure to read the actual comments and not just look at the rankings. If the seller has bad feedback or no feedback, it would be smart to rethink whether you want to bid on the item or not.

- Pay only with PayPal. PayPal has some great advantages. One of those is their return policy. If the item was misrepresented and you returned it or you did not receive the item, PayPal will give all of your money back. The seller does not have much say about it.

- Do not wait too long before trying to resolve the problem. Both PayPal and eBay have a limit in how long after the sell you can file a complaint. It is not very long.

If you do not want to listen to me and follow the above suggestions, at least follow the following suggestions from the FBI Consumers are strongly cautioned against entering into Internet transactions with subjects exhibiting the following behavior:

- The seller posts the auction as if he resides in the United States, then responds to victims with a congratulatory email stating he is outside the United States for business reasons, family emergency, etc. Similarly, beware of sellers who post the auction under one name, and ask for the funds to be transferred to another individual.

- The subject requests funds to be wired directly to him/her via Western Union, MoneyGram, or bank-to-bank wire transfer. By using these services, the money is virtually unrecoverable with no recourse for the victim.

- Sellers acting as authorized dealers or factory representatives in countries where there would be no such dealers should be avoided.

- Buyers who ask for the purchase to be shipped using a certain method to avoid customs or taxes inside another country should be avoided.

- Be suspect of any credit card purchases where the address of the card holder does not match the shipping address. Always receive the card holder's authorization before shipping any products.

Yes, there is fraud on online auctions, but if you take these precautions the benefits will greatly outweigh any loss you experience.