eBay is banning the use of money transfer providers such as Western Union and MoneyGram in a bid to prevent online fraud.

The auction site is working with the Metropolitan Police, and from mid-January it is unlikely that any police investigation will take place into eBay fraud cases where a money transfer service has been used.

eBay and Western Union have both long advised eBay members not to use money transfers when buying on eBay. Now eBay is going a step further and banning them outright from 15 January 2006.

Garreth Griffith, head of Trust and Safety at eBay.co.uk said: “Trading on eBay using secure payment services such as PayPal is very safe. But fraudsters do sometimes try to tempt people ‘off eBay’ by promising better deals when really they are just trying to get beyond eBay and PayPal’s protection.

Speaking to the BBC recently Mr Griffiths described fraud as an “off eBay” issue, Mr Griffiths went on to say said the problem was “nothing to do with us”.

Posted: 12|21|05 at 11:01 am. Filed under: Online Auctions.