But when the package arrives days later, it's no Beanie Baby. It's not even a zebra. It's hell spawn -- evil incarnate, a thing from a world not our own. You've been slimed by the dark forces of eBay.

Only a tiny fraction of the 1.3 million daily transactions on Internet auction sites result in fraud. But that still means thousands of people get ripped off each day. In fact, auction fraud accounts for nearly three-quarters of all complaints posted to the Internet Crime Centre. Still thousands more experience terrifyingly annoying auction hijinks, including sky-high fees.