( 
)
Hello! I just saw a story
on the news which showed how there are thiefs out there are selling
eBay user ID's & passwords to other thiefs who will then commit
fraud using your good account. Then, I checked my emails &
here is the email I found waiting in my inbox:
Subject: eBay Unpaid Item Strike Received: #6787143731
I am writing to you in the hopes that you will see this before you actually click on the blue link in the middle of that email & give your eBay ID & Password to a thief. This email looks real!...especially if you have never received an Unpaid Item Strike (& do not know what that email should look like!)
((Just an added note 10/06: As this email continues to circulate, many eBayers have emailed me thinking that I have sent them the unpaid item strike. I have never sent an unpaid item strike to anyone nor ever will, especially without personally emailing you 1st to resolve the issue. Please forward your email to spoof@ebay.com))
This spoof / fake stuff has been an issue bothering me for a while now & I hope you will share this information with friends & family so that they will not fall into the traps set by these thiefs! Over time, you can spot them more easily, but once in a while they trick you...like this one.
Peace, PaCRat! =^.".^=
PaCRatzCollectiblez
P.S. Please VOTE YES if you find these tips helpful...as this is my 1st "Guide" I have written for You...Thank You!
I am writing to you in the hopes that you will see this before you actually click on the blue link in the middle of that email & give your eBay ID & Password to a thief. This email looks real!...especially if you have never received an Unpaid Item Strike (& do not know what that email should look like!)
((Just an added note 10/06: As this email continues to circulate, many eBayers have emailed me thinking that I have sent them the unpaid item strike. I have never sent an unpaid item strike to anyone nor ever will, especially without personally emailing you 1st to resolve the issue. Please forward your email to spoof@ebay.com))
- I always pay for my eBay items purchased in a timely manner, so I got suspicious.
- When I put my cursor over the blue link in the email & then
looked down at the bottom of my email...it looked real...it started
with signin.ebay.com & had a lot of stuff at the end, but it seemed
real enough to get me to check it rather than just forwarding it to
eBay & then deleting it.
- So, I copied the item # from this email & then I opened up a new window - www.eBay.com
- I then pasted this item # into the search box in the upper right corner & no item came up...it did not even exist as it will not for you either.
- THIS EMAIL IS A FAKE TO TRY TO SCARE YOU TO GET YOUR EBAY ID & PASSWORD!
Some tips I can think of to share re: fake / spoof / phishing / junk emails.
"SPOOF EMAIL TIPS 101"
"SPOOF EMAIL TIPS 101"
- Fake emails look real & contain logos that look real too.
- If you open the email...never click on a link on that page.
- Most of the time, when you put your cursor / arrow / whatever
yours might look like over that bold blue link or other color you
choose, you will find that they are coming from an address that
does not even match the company it says it is coming from such as eBay,
PayPal, or your bank. (My sister told me this is a good way to see the actual address a link is coming from.)
- There is a bar somewhere on your page in which you can see the address...on mine it is at the bottom line of my page & you can see web address it is originating from. If not, You can right click on link & choose properties to see this same information of origination.
- If for any reason like this email it looks real...copy the info & paste it in another new window as mentioned above.
- If it is real, there will be a spot in the real company website to enter
your email, id, password & other personal information & that
site such as eBay or PayPal will have some sort of alert on your page
if there is a problem.
- eBay & PayPal always addresses you by name...not "Dear eBay user, etc."
- These emails are called "phishing," sounds like fishing & thats what they are doing...trying to 'fish information' from you.
- By just being aware of the fact that thiefs are constantly trying
to get personal information from us via email or even the phone, you will avoid problems.
- Do not ever give this same personal information to anyone over the phone
either...unless you called them & you know who you dialed & are
talking to. They just tried to do this to my father over the
phone saying his credit card had been stolen & they were going to
help him resolve the issue. He later called his bank from the phone # on his card statement before he gave any information &
found that his card was fine! The thiefs will also give you a toll free number call back # which goes to their own call center that sounds official, but, it is not the real bank, card company, etc.
- So...the bottom line...never click on a link directly from any email when it is telling you to "click here to resolve, etc." They are trying to scare you & make you think you have an unpaid strike, or that you have paid for something you did not, or that you are suspended, TKO, etc. etc.
- If the email originates from eBay they will address you by your registered name on your account. eBay also has a toolbar which when downloaded it will tell you if it is real or not too. I just downloaded it last week & don't know all the features yet.
- Oh yeah, all emails that come from eBay will be found in your 'My eBay' section under 'My Messages' on the left column. So, you can pretty much ignore them in your email account. Any email sent through eBay will be found there! That is the best way to verify if it is authentic or not.
- These thiefs very often make spelling errors, forget to put a
subject, accidentally send it off 2x's or more to "undisclosed recipients", multiple names,
or make other dumb mistakes in the emails. (But these are the ones that
are easy to spot as fakes, especially if you have a good eye for 'proof reading'!)
- To help catch these thiefs...you
can forward the email directly to spoof@ebay.com or if it says it is
from PayPal then you can send it to spoof @PayPal.com They will send you back 2 emails, 1 to acknowledge they got it and a 2nd to tell you if it is real or not.
- Take the time to read the tips they give you on these stock emails...they are very helpful.
- If there are any questions or comments or things I have left out that you feel should be in here...You can email me...through eBay!
- If you think you have compromised your account in any way...CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS immediately & Start to take action NOW!
- Periodically change your passwords anyways...So, because you actually got to the bottom of this page, I am going to be your reminder to "Change Your Passwords" if you have not done so in a while.
This spoof / fake stuff has been an issue bothering me for a while now & I hope you will share this information with friends & family so that they will not fall into the traps set by these thiefs! Over time, you can spot them more easily, but once in a while they trick you...like this one.
Peace, PaCRat! =^.".^=
PaCRatzCollectiblez
P.S. Please VOTE YES if you find these tips helpful...as this is my 1st "Guide" I have written for You...Thank You!
Guide created: 07/10/06 (updated 08/20/08)
Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our 
