This is only relevant to those of you who sell on eBay. There's a new scam
email (been around for a week or so) purporting to be from eBay Customer
Support, and I've just received one.
The subject is: NOTICE eBay Obligatory Verifying - Invalid User Information
The message starts:
"Dear Ebay user,
We regret to inform you that your home phone number had an error on
Ebay Inc. databases.
We use your phone number for your identification purpose only.
If the requested information is not provided to us then we will regret to
inform you that your account will be suspended from our database until
required information is provided.
* Invalid User Information - Our records show that there are some
discrepancies
with the information that you registered with on our service. Due to this
violation your account will be suspended indefinitely from the site until
valid
information can be provided.* "
There's a link to a web site on which they ask for your name address,
telephone number, social security number, bank name, address, account
number, mother's maiden name, credit card details including the security
number on the back, and passwords - in fact everything except your bra size.
Ebay and Paypal don't ever ask for this information after you've registered
with them If something has changed, you do it yourself through the
appropriate ebay or Paypal page, not in response to an email rom them.
Exposing the headers shows that this particular email originates in Korea.
I've sent mine to eBay.
I've looked at the eBay chatboard, and the writers there seem to think that
addresses of sellers are being obtained by asking the seller a question.
Some say that they know this because they keep a separate address for
answering questions, and this is the address the scam email has been sent
to. The say they only reveal their main address to the winning bidder.
On poor person said they'd fallen for it and sent all his/her details. The
only thing they can do now is close their bank account and credit card
accounts, and open new ones. The scammers will still have their address,
phone number and social security number though.
If you're an eBay seller and get a suspicious email send it to
[EMAIL PROTECTED], with all the headers showing. Whatever you do, don't answer
it and don't give them your details.
There's also another scam/spam email which says the person's offering
laptops at knockdown prices to people he's dealt with some time in the past
before he puts them up for sale on ebay. This is another scam. Don't know
the purpose of it, but it's not a genuine offer. Again from eBay chatboard,
several people have had this email but from a different person and at
various email addresses. I received one of these as well, and didn't realise
it was a scam, but didn't respond as I've only recently bought a laptop.
Could be just a method of establishing live email addresses.
Jean in Poole
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
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