WARNING! Ebay spoof email on the loose!

dutchgirl

Cathlete
Hi everyone,

I got a suspicious email from 'eBay' in my screened mail filter. It said that there was $15 due to my eBay account and that I needed to update my information at the 'billing center' by clicking on the link below. The email looked very official and appeared with the same background as the other ebay emails and webpages. I reported this to [email protected] and here's what they wrote back.

'Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.

The email you reported did not originate from, nor is it endorsed by,
eBay. We are very concerned about this problem and are working
diligently to address the situation. We have investigated the source of
this email and have taken appropriate action. You may rest assured that
your account standing has not changed and that your listings have not
been affected.

We advise you to be very cautious of email messages that ask you to
submit information such as your credit card number or your email
password. eBay will never ask you for sensitive personal information
such as passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, Personal
Identification Numbers (PINs), or Social Security numbers in an email
itself. If you ever need to provide information to eBay please open a
new Web browser, type www.ebay.com, and click on the "site map" link
located at the top the page to access the eBay page you need.

If you have any doubt about whether an email message is from eBay,
please forward it immediately to [email protected] and do not respond to it
or click on any of the links in the email message. Please do not change
the subject line or forward the email as an attachment.

If you entered personal information such as your password, social
security number or credit card numbers into a Website based on a request
from a spoofed email, you need to take immediate action to protect your
identity. We have developed an eBay Help page with valuable information
regarding the steps you should take to protect yourself.'

So, heads up everyone!
 
I had a similar one today but it was allegedly from Paypal saying that they have updated their servers and I needed to re-enter some details - when you hover over the link to click on however in the email, the website address is certainly not Paypal's!

Josie
 
Sabine, thanks for the warning. I DID get one of these in the e-mail account I keep for all my e-bay transactions. It did look very official, very believable. The e-mail easily went through my filters as it claimed to be from e-bay itself. The link provided, however, was a dead one.

I also got another e-mail, supposedly from Citibank. It told me my account was in danger and I needed to submit my bank account and ATM number so Citibank could rectify the matter. I reported it immediately as spam. I don't have a Citibank account. And every bank/credit card company who made some error in my account in the past has always, always rectified their errors through snail mail.

Pinky
 
I've received a couple of messages like this from "Ebay" and "Paypal" asking me to update some info. Luckily, I read a warning like this before I replied, so I wasn't a victim of the scam.

(FYI: Spoof = a humorous imitation of something).
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top