How to Report Abuses on eBay

By Marsha Collier from Starting an eBay Business For Dummies, 4th Edition

As a member of the eBay community, you have the responsibility to know and abide by eBay's rules and regulations. This responsibility includes notifying eBay when someone tries to sell an illegal item, because this is an integral part of keeping eBay a safe and lucrative place to do business. If you see some questionable activity on eBay, here are the basic steps you can follow:

Contact the buyer: If you're involved in a transaction, get the buyer's contact information. Then call the buyer to see whether you can resolve the situation diplomatically.
Seek out eBay security: Use the Security Center to report any shady actions, policy violations, or possible fraud, such as a community member impersonating an employee or a suspicious auction. Likened to the front desk at your local police station, eBay's Security Center report form gets results. On an item's page, scroll to the bottom and click the Report Item link. On most other eBay pages, click the Security Center link, which usually appears at the bottom. Then find the Contact Us→Customer Support link at the bottom of the left side Choose a Topic area.

You'll find an all-purpose security form on this page to help you in your eBay transactions. These forms will be routed to the right department for action.
Contact the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC): If you feel you've become a victim of fraud, be sure to file a report through eBay channels. To really bring down wrath on your nemesis, report the malefactor to the NFIC by calling 1-800-876-7060.
Contact local law enforcement: If you become the target of a check-bouncer, contact local law enforcement in your bidder's hometown. eBay will supply any information necessary to help law enforcement clear the world of fraud. Provide eBay with the name of the local law enforcement officer, agency, telephone number, and case number or police report number. Also include the offending user's ID and the auction item's number.

eBay's Security Center is the eBay version of the FBI. By rooting out evildoers, it serves and protects and puts up with an immense amount of e-mail from users.

If you see an item on eBay that isn't allowed, be sure to make eBay aware of the auction. The Community Watch team will then take over and investigate the item and, when necessary, end the auction and warn the seller.

When you click the Security Center link, located at the bottom of most eBay pages, you can click the Report Problem button to get action. You then fill out a step-by-step customer service report.