What are the the Top 7 iPhone Scams?
Here is an interesting post.
iPhone Scams: ScamBusters.org Predicts the Top 7 iPhone Scams:
1. iPhone eBay scams:As we write the first version of this article on Wednesday evening, two full days before the launch of the iPhone, there are already 1,796 products listed when you do an eBay search for "iPhone."
Most of these listings are for cases, screen protectors, cables and other accessories. (Although most of these products are likely not scams, we personally would not buy an iPhone accessory from a company that has never actually seen or touched an iPhone.)
There are some auctions for brand new Apple iPhones (2 days before they go on sale, and sometimes with incorrect information).
We found that eBay was very good about removing these iPhone listings during the pre-launch. However,
after the iPhone starts shipping, it will be MUCH more difficult to know which auctions are real and which are bogus.There are also auctions for email addresses, some with bids around $50, like "apple.iphone.outlet@gmail.com." Although you will probably actually get these email addresses if you win the auction, they typically are worthless.
Our recommendation: Think hard before you buy an iPhone on eBay. Instead, if you want to buy online, order directly from the Apple store online. Ground shipping is free and you aren't ordering from an unknown person.
Since no one will be discounting iPhones to start (and they are only available from Apple online, Apple retail stores and AT&T stores), it's hard to think of a compelling reason to buy on eBay or other online auction sites.
The other six are: iPhone standing in line scams, iPhone scalper scams, Free iPhones, iPhone spam, Fake iPhone websites and phishing scams, and finally iPhone viruses, Trojans and spyware.
The bogus eBay auction for iPhones is interesting. It combines a couple of compliance techniques. First, there is the reliance on the secular version of Pascal's wager: even though the chances of buying a low cost iPhone is low, the "winning event" is so desirable as to mask the first low probability. Ironically, this type of naive skepticism is even worse than no skepticism.
Second, the auction mechanism always appeals to low-cost shoppers, despite the fact the auction mechanism will tend to attract people who over pay.
Finally, there appears to be a general trend amongst consumers to "reward" brand names by buying knock-offs or counterfeits, a topic I will return to.
All three of these compliance techniques are sufficient to ensure that the iPhone auction scam will have a decent run.
