The Internet auction is a marriage of a traditional mode of doing business and 21^st century technology. Since bursting onto the scene in 1995, Internet auctions have become a popular way to buy and sell anything from ant farms to zithers. The online auction market was estimated to be a $15.5 billion industry in 2001. At the same time, the Consumer Sentinel, a complaint database developed and maintained by the Federal Trade Commission, received 51,000 complaints of auction fraud in 2002, involving claims of $37 million in lost money.

This website, the product of a collaboration between the Honors Scholars of Chicago-Kent College of Law and the City of Chicago's Department of Consumer Services, through funding from AT&T, will give you advice on avoiding and remedying fraud. This site has commentary for you to read that will teach you everything including the types of auctions, the safest ways to pay, and what to do if the buyer or seller doesn't live up to their end of the bargain. When you feel like you've read enough and are sufficiently online auction savvy, try your hand at our online auction quiz game "The Auction Watchdog Challenge!" for a chance to win a swanky new Chicago-Kent t-shirt.