Internet auction fraud: The evolving nature of online auctions criminality and the mitigating framework to address the threat

Abstract

Online auctions have emerged as one of the popular segments of e-commerce. The popularity of this technology-aided business model is evidenced by the continuous growth of eBay and other e-auction markets. However, this growth of online auctions has also led to a corresponding rise in deception and online criminal activity. This paper presents the findings of an original experiment undertaken to examine the evolving criminality associated with eBay auctions. The article examines eBay’s existing fraud prevention framework and evaluate its effectiveness in mitigating the risk. The research has identified foundation of eBay’s fraud problem - the inability of eBay’s fraud prevention architecture to identify and eliminate rogue traders with obscure identity and questionable reputation. The authors have proposed a proactive and holistic e-fraud prevention typology to enhance trader’s authentication to fight online auction fraud.