A recurring pattern in fraudulent listings looks like this: the photographs are lifted from other, genuine auctions and show real pens that do exist, while the description has been taken over unaltered from an entirely different product. The heading offers a Meisterstück 146, say, the text describes a Noblesse propelling pencil taking 0.7 mm leads, and the same text appears in every one of that seller's listings. This mismatch between title, picture and description is often the only thing that gives the fraud away — nothing about the photograph looks wrong, because it shows a genuine pen.
Listings of this kind often run through hijacked seller accounts whose accumulated feedback is meant to suggest respectability. Very short runs of only a day are another hallmark: experience shows that it takes three or four days before reports from buyers or the brand owner take effect and a listing is pulled — by which time the auction has long since closed. In some cases there is no pen behind such an offer at all, only an attempt to get hold of payment details. Anyone examining a listing should therefore hold text and picture up against each other, treat very short durations with suspicion, and look at the account's previous selling history (as at 2005).