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Y'all,
Both of the recently-reported scams on Ebay -- the bogus "Congratulations,
you've won, and here's how to complete the transaction..." message and the bogus
"second chance offer" message have been going on for years. I have received
several during that time. They are just getting more sophisticated and official
looking is all.
About 18 months ago I was bidding on a genuine one-of-a-kind piece of
original artwork in a hotly-contested auction. Near the end of the bidding
I received a very sincere-sounding offer from someone who told me they had one
they could sell me for less than the current bid -- but I was bidding on
something of which there was only one in existence!
This is only valid reason I see for the big auctioneers like Bruce and
Heritage taking their auctions "Private" -- so no one can see the other bidders
and send them these kind of scam messages.
Along with email virus attachments and all the clever variations on
"official-looking" emails phishing for your user name and password, the bottom
line everyone must start adopting towards messages that ask you to "do
something" is this:
Always proceed very cautiously with any message you receive asking you to
do something. Even if it turns out to be genuine, it's better to take it slow
and double check before clicking on any links or sending any money.
Trust no one -- not even the people or sites you know you can trust --
because the message might not really be from them.
-- JR
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