What is Phishing?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term. Phishing is when you receive an email from a hacker that appears to be legit asking you to click on a link in that email to verify your account.  If you take the bait and enter your personal information the hacker's will then use that to log into your account and take it over causing all kinds of trouble especially if your Paypal account is linked to your banking accounts or credit cards.

How to identify Phishing emails?

If you use eBay and Paypal, chances are you've probably received a few of these emails.  Often they appear to be from another fellow eBay member who's interested in your item.  They might say "I'm very interested in this item, Do you accept paypal?" or they may take on a threatening tone saying something to the effect of ,"I've already paid for this item, why haven't you sent it?  If you don't respond I'll contact eBay and the Police!"  These emails will look very similar to the one's that eBay sends you when another member sends you a message or inquires about one of your items and they include the "Respond Now" button.  However the link to the "Respond Now" button actually is a link that takes you to a site that also appears to be the eBay sign in screen real where you would type in your eBay user ID and password.  The emails that appear to be from paypal indicate that your paypal account has been compromised and that you need to click on the following link to verify your identity or to keep your account from being suspended or closed.  They also carry the Paypal logo and appear to be legit but clicking on the link would also take you to a fake website where you would be instructed to enter your paypal information.

How to Protect Yourself.

A good rule of thumb to follow is to never click on a link in an email asking for your personal information. The companies you do business with will never send you an email asking you to click on a link to verify your information.  If a message appears to be another eBay member, the best way to make sure it is actually valid is to log into your eBay account by typing www.eBay.com into your web browser and then checking the "My Messages" section under the My eBay tab.  It is also a good idea to have a good up to date internet security program because most come with an email filter that will recognize phishing emails and filter them accordingly.  Add eBay and Paypal to your list of favorites.  Then you can be sure you are only accessing the real sites.  Unfortunately phishing scams continue to become more sophisticated and aggressive everyday.  Hopefully this guide provides some information you can use to make sure you don't get lured into a trap!

I hope you found this guide helpful and informative.  Feel free to write me with any questions or comments you may have and don't forget to check out my other eBay guides! 

Lauren

eBay Member: lc_online1