01-12-2018 9:37 AM
If eBay can scan ever message between its millions of members for signs of fee evasion they could scan listings in high risk categories such as motors for signs of fraud. If you and other users can easily find potentially suspicious listings, so could eBay.
EBay can't be unaware that in a recent TV programme about organised crime a senior police officer reported that one criminal gang alone had registered "multiple hundreds" of fake accounts on eBay specifically to place fraudulent listings for motor vehicles.
At the very least they could send a message to buyers in the motors category, warning them of the risks and advising them not to pay anything until they have seen and inspected the vehicle. But they don't.
It's hard to see any other explanation than that eBay simply doesn't care.