The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "ebay" ...
-
The Dali Sculpture Mess
This article reveals the great abuses that exist in the Salvador Dali sculpture market, and what happens when an estate is not well managed.
Tags: wax maquettes; Madrid; Isidro Clot; copyright; eBay;
-
Steroid dealers use ruse to sell wares on eBay
A three month investigation proved that steroid dealers were selling their illegal steroids on eBay through a simple dodge: describing the drugs as "books about steroids" to avoid detection by the site's security team.
Tags: drugs; steroids; internet; eBay; Schedule III controlled substances
-
Steroid Dealers Use Ruse to Sell Wares on eBay
This investigation revealed that those interested in purchasing steroids could obtain them from eBay. Drugs were listed under the guise of books, pamphlets or pictures about steroids and therefore got past eBay site security. This was of special concern because of the availability to teenagers. This story resulted in eBay cracking down on steroid peddlers and them referring some cases to the law enforcement.
Tags: ebay; internet; auction; steroids; illegal drugs; pharmacy; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; NABP; web site; Drug Enforcement Administration; anabolics; postal service
-
"Airbags for sale"
When WINK-TV received a tip that a local teenager had sold the airbag out of his car for $900, the station's investigation revealed a troubling trend. People were selling their airbags -- 732 airbag auctions on eBay -- and often shipping them via the mail, UPS or FedEx without dismantling the discharge device. A fire marshal detonated an improperly packaged airbag to show the risk.
-
The Deal Makers
An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that America Online "was using a series of unconventional transactions to sustain the appearance of breakneck growth in ad revenue" -- even after the Internet boom subsided and it merged with Time Warner. " Time Warner executives were "mesmerized by the hundreds of millions of dollars in online advertising pouring into AOL ... (and) even when the bubble popped and dot-coms collapsed, AOL continued to report record-breaking growth in ad revenue, reinforcing its image as the medium of the future and overwhelming any second thoughts from Time Warner shareholders and employees." What Time Warner didn't know was that, "among other things, AOL turned legal disputes into ad deals, converted long-term contracts into one-time balloon payments, shifted revenue from one division to another, bartered ads for computer equipment and sold ads on behalf of eBay while booking all the sales as its own... (The) stories immediately prompted two federal investigations of AOL Time Warner."
Tags: America Online; AOL; Time Warner; AOL Time Warner; Enron; advertising revenue; merger; balloon payments; contracts; Internet boom; dot-coms
-
Online Auction Scams
An investigation by the MSNBC.com reveals that eBay, the No. 1 online auction site, may be lax in handling cases of fraud, despite the company's assertions otherwise. Ebay claims to have an "extremely low" fraud rate, but MSNBC.com found four cases of wrongdoing and "showed that eBay either took no action against the perpetrators or briefly suspended them; did not routinely notify victims of fraud or law enforcement; and did not reflect any of the cases in its fraud statistics."
Tags: online; auctions; eBay; fraud; online; tape; CD; Transcript