This morning’s Observer column — on the eBay ‘reputation’ system…

It has become the linchpin of the eBay phenomenon. But as the importance of having a good reputation has increased, so has the temptation to manipulate the system. Fraudsters have been fooling the rating system by conducting transactions with friends or even themselves, using alternate user names to give themselves high satisfaction ratings – and luring unsuspecting customers to buy from them.

It’s difficult to know how widespread this scam is, and eBay is fanatically tight-lipped about it. Policing the billions of transactions that take place every year in its online auctions is a Sisyphian task. And reputation-faking rings have been difficult to spot, especially since there are lots of close-knit groups on eBay (for example, porcelain collectors) who trade intensively – and innocently – with one another…