We were contacted recently by the organiser of an online auction of engineering equipment. Apparently we had bid for a second hand laser and our bid was silly £180,000 instead of others at £70,000. Were we sure, was it a mistake, did we want to correct the entry? Our company, address, etc had been entered correctly by a David Watson - not one of my employees. 

We said that we were not bidding, please remove our bid.  We called the bank and asked for close monitoring of our account. We have asked a solicitor for advice but not heard back yet.

Presumably, with a winning bid, matey would have turned up with a truck, loaded and disappeared. The seller would have invoiced us and been surprised when we rejected the invoice.

There seems to be extensive information on online auction fraud but mostly for eBay and the like.  Trying to take a £70,000 laser seems to be on a different scale

Has anyone else had this happen to them or heard of it happening?

If this is common or recognised I will try to gather information and get an AILU position to help members. If this is a one off, well, beware.

Neil