warning - fake ebay emails

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:30 pm

I got three emails today from ebay which look so fake.
they say from ebay security.
I noticed the to didnt even have my email address in them.
then they asked for my ss number and bankcard number with pin, among other things.

yeesh.

YouTube · Post by **wahiba** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 9:42 pm

Must be the season. Mine was about a supposed change to my email address with them. Looked very authentic, although the email address to reply to did not look right.

Changed my password with eBay and received the genuine reply, and the differences were then obvious.

Post by **Angus** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:26 am

I get at least three every month, from eBay and payPal (and from banks with which I don't even have an account).

Fake emails saying that if I don't update my info they'll cancel my account.

If you have a spam blocker between your mail server and your mail reader you can probably examine the actual script of the email and see easily that the links they provide don't actually link to eBay at all - though there will be picture links to eBay for the logo and suchlike.

I imagine a few people are caught out but these things must be sooo well known by now...

Post by **S8 Booster** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:32 am

From memory:

Emails from eBay allways starts with your username?
(not like anomymous Dear Customer or Dear Member etc)

Emails from PayPal allways starts with listing your real name?
Also Paypal seem to give me a Fraud Warning every time I log on there.

Some of the previous PayPal fraud mails linked you to a fraud server [main page looked exactly like Paypa one) with IP references only in the www adressline only like: http://192.893.1.1 not like it should be http://paypal.com or so.

R

Post by aj » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:07 am

Do not bother too much. You do not have to analyse it yourself.

When in doubt just forward a suspicious email to spoof@ebay.com

You get a message in no time to tell if it is genuine...

And in the mean time do not click on the links or even think off filling out the forms!

What do the crooks want with the data. Abuse the eBay account for what? You cannot pay using the eBay alone. Or are they speculating that the same data (=password) could also work on Paypal?

Post by **Patrick** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:39 am

Recently, Ive got quite a few authentic looking 'Question from Ebay Member' e-mails from buyers asking me about the cost of shipping to various locations. I have not dealt with any of these people before and I am not selling anything through Ebay. I hope my Ebay account has not been hacked or hijacked. Though I havent got any feedback relating to these inqueries.

Post by **super8fireman** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 4:22 am

I've gotten 2 of these emails in the last week. I just delete them and keep on going.

Post by **Angus** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 2:33 pm

I got one "question for eBay member" but it referred to an item number that didn't even exist...just some really stupid joke I suppose.

I'm getting a fair few pieces of spam these days that have the "question for eBay member" as the subject line...but they're usually advertising viagra.

Post by **Ericus** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:34 pm

I "bought" one week ago one dv/svhs deck from eBay and the seller had a very good rating. I paid the money, over 700 euros, and the very next morning received an email from the real owner of that account I thought was his already.

He told me that somebody had hijacked his account and put some items for sale in his name. So, I lost my money, and eBay doesnÃ‚Â´t even care!
I have sent them at least 10 emails complaining a fraud, but I canÃ‚Â´t get them to answer!

Any suggestions?

Post by **DriveIn** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 5:35 pm

Ericus wrote:I "bought" one week ago one dv/svhs deck from eBay and the seller had a very good rating. I paid the money, over 700 euros, and the very next morning received an email from the real owner of that account I thought was his already.

He told me that somebody had hijacked his account and put some items for sale in his name. So, I lost my money, and eBay doesnÃ‚Â´t even care!
I have sent them at least 10 emails complaining a fraud, but I canÃ‚Â´t get them to answer!

Any suggestions?

Depends on how you made payment. :? Did you cantact ebay through the online help system? If paypal payment, did you contact paypal? File a complaint against the seller, even though he contacted you about the hijacking. That may be the one way toget ebay to respond. If ebay knows about the hijacked account, they should have been in touch with you already to at least make contact about the incident. I don't hold much hope for your problem, as ebay/paypal is not very responsive when they really should be very quick about the problem. :evil:

Post by **Angus** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 8:17 pm

eBay typically takes 48 hours to respond to a complaint - but it does help if you go through their online complaint system. Don't try to send an email to an address you've received mail from, that just won't work.

In this case it is difficult to see however what eBay can do. The problem here is that the owner of the selling account let his/her details into the hands of a fraudster.

Post by **Ericus** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:04 am

Drive in: Depends on how you made payment.

Ericus: Yes, that is one problem, I usually like to pay fast, to get the item fast. It was Friday, the seller asked me to use Western Union, which I have used many times without any problems.
But if something happens, Western Union is the worst way, you have no possibilities to get your money back.

Angus:

eBay typically takes 48 hours to respond to a complaint - but it does help if you go through their online complaint system.

In this case it is difficult to see however what eBay can do. The problem here is that the owner of the selling account let his/her details into the hands of a fraudster.

Ericus: They should have at least responded to my complaints now. I have sent several complaints to them, but they have not bothered to even answer! They should have responded in 48 hours, now it is over 200 hours and nothing!
That is what I do not understand

Post by **Splee** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 8:33 am

Ebay's advice is that you should NEVER use Western Union or other money transfer services for payment for goods. It is not designed for this, and offers you no protection whatsoever. Western Union merely forward money, and do not question why it has been forwarded, or offer any insurance. It was never intended as a means of payment for goods, just a way of sending money to someone. If you come across someone who insists on this method of payment, it is 99.9% certain that they will disappear with your money and you will never get your goods. Once the person has collected their money, they are completely untraceable. I'm sorry you've got stung this way...a lesson for the future perhaps.

Paypal is the safest means of paying, but watch out for the scams there, too - there are numerous tricks going on with hijacked accounts. There are plenty of Russians who enquire about buying items "for a business partner in the US", who try paying with a US-based Paypal account, but asking you to ship to Russia. They then ask how quickly you can deliver, the scam being to get you to send the goods quick before the person who's account they've hacked realises what has happened. You have then parted with your item, and face Paypal recovering the money from you.

Lee

Post by **LastQuark** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 8:59 am

I won like 10 audio items at one time for about $5,000. These units were selling like $900 each so I thought I got a good deal. I asked the seller before the auction ended that we will arrange the deal through an escrow, escrow.com, because the amount is quite large. He agreed but he asked me to use escrowthrust.com instead. Not knowing much about these escrows at that time, I said fine. He got over 170 feedbacks at the time with over 99% positive so why shoudn't I trust him?

I filed my application to escrowtrust.com. Everything went well until I decided the last moment in my spare time before sending the money that I'll do a google search of escrowtrust.com. Guess what? It was listed in one of a Yahoo site that this escrow is a fraud! I reported it immediately to eBay and within minutes, his account was terminated.

Upon investigating further on his feedbacks, most of the time the transactions he made costs only $1 to $5. He was able to accumulate over 170 feedbacks with these small amounts. These guys are patient and determined to defraud unknowing buyers so watch out.

Ã‚Â

Post by **tgreathead** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 9:28 am

A friend of mine paid for a $220 auction last year with PayPal and got stiffed by the seller. He contacted PayPal since they (and eBay) say that payments are insured against fraud.

Long story short, he never got his money back.

Then he found PayPalSucks.com

Now, knowing what I know, I only pay with and accept US Postal Service money orders. If you commit fraud with one of those involved it's a felony