E-mail Scam Warning

[kennbo]

So far, over the last couple of months, I've received official looking e-mail from E-bay stating something about my account being accessed from overseas, and I need to update my account info. The e-mails even have E-Bay graphic headings on them, but they also have stupid spelling mistakes. It seems like they want me to click on a link to send my credit card info to update for security purposes. Here's the kicker, I don't have an E-Bay account, never used the service. I doubt anyone on this board, with an E-Bay account, would fall for this scam, but just in case, don't click on the e-mail link. If you're concerned, go to the official E-Bay site and let them know what's going on.

[Realgirls4me]

I believe the cyber world has coined the term, phishing.

I've received quite a few from not only Ebay, but from my bank and web based mail. Watch out for these frauds.

Yes, it's generally their writing mechanics and grammar that give them off.

Thank you anyway.

[BeardedOne]

There are some of these scams that are scary-good in their appearance, even to the point of cleaning up all of the grammatical mistakes (Though they do like to overstate the word "fraud" a lot - "This email is to alert you to fraud and prevent fraud from our department of fraud prevention preventing fraud").

One was ballsy enough to put what was effectively an interactive credit application right in the email, asking for everything it would take to not only hack your eBay account but to completely rape your identity and credit record as well.

Ebay's banking cousin, PayPal, gets a lot of similar stuff. The big PayPal scam is to scare someone into thinking their account has already been hacked and asking them to click on the link and log in to verify information. Once that's done, they change your password to lock you out and drain your accounts via the PayPal links.

Both PayPal and eBay have report functions:

spoof@ebay.com

spoof@paypal.com

I send stuff to them daily.

I doubt anyone on this board, with an E-Bay account, would fall for this scam, but just in case, don't click on the e-mail link. If you're concerned, go to the official E-Bay site and let them know what's going on.

I don't even click on the link when I =know= it's from eBay.

[Ecstatic]

Also be wary of the link itself: it will look like a real link (e.g., https://www.paypal.com/fraud/ or something), but if you hover your mouse over the link to reveal the underlying code, it'll be a something else altogether (e.g., https://123.456.789.012/paypal/ or https://paypal.securesite.cz or something).

Banks, AOL, PayPal, Ebay, etc.

[BeardedOne]

but if you hover your mouse over the link to reveal the underlying code, it'll be a something else altogether

I actually drew down a sample phishing scam and printed it out as it appeared and then used the Create/Edit Link menu to print out the actual URLs that the various links sent you to and brought it in to show to people at work that had been "...having trouble with PayPal...". They were completely freaked out that these official looking/sounding emails could be anything but genuine.

The sad thing is the effect this shit has on the populous at large, creating such a distrust in online commerce that they absolutely refuse to use the tools that are now so conveniently at their fingertips. When I got several people to look at the Revlon Walk/Run for Women charity last year, they all balked at donating online (And wimped out totally when it came to licking a damn stamp) becasue they didn't trust putting their info out on the internet.

These are generally the same people who were scammed in the early days of ATMs when they'd receive a very official sounding call from the "bank" instructing them to go to the ATM, print out a balance ticket, write their PIN on the back, and place the card and the ticket under the door of the bank so that a "security expert" could make sure the machine was working properly. Since the machines did not 'talk' to one another in those days, even accounts with small balances could yield thousands of dollars to the speedy crook that would fetch the card and drain the account via every ATM they could ht before the account got shut off (Sometimes as many as three days later).

While I have a rather morbid admiration for the likes of Frank Abagnale and his ilk (He took several banks and corporations, high among them Pan Am and First National Bank of Boston, for millions of dollars in cash and services in a 'victimless' four-year crime spree that began when he was sixteen years of age), I'd really like to do the five-minutes-alone-in-a-room tango with these shits.

[Andrew Johnson]

I agree with all the posts above about spotting these "phishing" attempts.

It pays to always look at the actual url of the websites you are on. A hyperlink can be made to say anything. Either hover over it or go to the site and check the url in the address bar.

Not just links in e-mails, but links on websites too. Once you get to where you are going make sure it's where you want to be. Think of it as virtual self defense.

[Saintrose]

So far, over the last couple of months, I've received official looking e-mail from E-bay stating something about my account being accessed from overseas, and I need to update my account info. The e-mails even have E-Bay graphic headings on them, but they also have stupid spelling mistakes. It seems like they want me to click on a link to send my credit card info to update for security purposes. Here's the kicker, I don't have an E-Bay account, never used the service. I doubt anyone on this board, with an E-Bay account, would fall for this scam, but just in case, don't click on the e-mail link. If you're concerned, go to the official E-Bay site and let them know what's going on.

I've had the same thing happen to me !
I too don't have an e-bay account !
Scams everywhere ! Be careful people !

[Hugh Jarrod]

Ebay never sends links in their emails. If it's legit they'll send you and adress by which to write too in order to handle things. It's right down the street here in San Jose.

[BlackAdder]

Actually....I do believe that a certain amount of social and technological Darwinism is essential to our society......People running cons is as old as the hills......and we've evolved since then because of it.