eBay scam costs Illinois man $10,000

Diesel mechanic Ron Kuzma of Glen Carbon, Ill., had a positive experience buying a tractor through eBay so he saw no reason for concern when purchasing another piece of equipment from the site. He ended up losing nearly $10,000 in what turned about to be a scam.

Bill Smith, an investigator with the St. Louis Better Business Bureau looked into Kuzma's case. Kuzma first began questioning the transaction when the photo of the item directed him to a separate website. This site asked him to communicate with the seller directly by e-mail and to avoid eBay's "ask seller a question" feature, Smith told Consumer Ally.