I have JUST had someone try to steal my identity, through my email account.  This photo is a sample of the top of that fake email, then the bottom of the FAKE paypal sent to me.  ANd  it looks real.  Who does not have a heart attack when someone says your account is limited, and you can't get into it until it's restored. 

And when you log in as I did, YOU GIVE ALL YOUR LEGITIMATE INFORMATION TO SCAMMERS, AND THEN YOU IDENTITY IS GIVEN AWAY.  I FELL FOR THIS IN A MOMENT OF PANIC.

I AM WRITING TO PROTECT OTHERS, AND LET YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO.   here's the lowdown AND how to protect yourself.

1.  Someone faked the Paypal Logo in my Email account, attached to my Ebay account.  It looks EXACTLY like a letter from Paypal.  It had my whole name and address, and looked so reall.  HOWEVER, it's is not.  It is a copy of that Paypal LOGO, and exact, that it fooled me, in a moment of panic. 

I am a seller and PAYPAL had just let me know that a BUYER had purchased an item with a stolen credit card on my Ebay account.  So Paypal had taken the funds out of my account from this transaction while investigating the charges.   And it just happened that this fake Paypal scam wrote to me as well, and I was so upset already that I answered that fake paypal, and gave out all of my account info.  I realized it within 5 minutes, and had to CHANGE EVERYTHING, but in a moment of confusion, I gave it all away.  INCLUDING MY PASSWORD.  So then someone had my entire identity, ACCESS TO MY REAL PAYPAL ACCOUNT AND MONEY, and they could pretend they were me, and buy anywhere on the internet.  It happened so fast, and by the time I was aware enough to realized what I had done, and start to cancel my bank card, change my password, notify Paypal, and change my Ebay password, it was nerve wracking, and they could have stolen alot from me in the time that it took to change things.  Everyone has to be very careful for that.  If it happens to you, go change your password and information right away, and cancel your bank card.  And never answer an email in a panic like I did.

I am still getting those fake emails sent to me every once in a while, and although they look real,  you just have to read the whole thing before answering.  And if there's a problem in your paypal account, you need to LOG INTO PAYPAL, and double check.  They will have the info, right in your account.

If you just respond to the email, it will most likely be a fake.

2.  As for the Credit Card Fraud that went on, SELLER BEWARE.  This person, had a score of 4, when she used a fake credit card to purchase from me.  I was only protected to get reimbursed for this, if I was shipping to a confirmed address, etc.  If someone has a stolen card, and you have shipped the item, you are out the item, and the money, because Paypal pulls the funds from your account while investigating, and you are ONLY REIMBURSED if you follwed seller guidelines, and shipped to a confirmed address, etc.  If you have shipped an item that was bought with a stolen card, by the Post Office, and US mail, there is no way to retrieve it.  If you have shipped by UPS, and it's still in route, you can contact UPS, and they will reroute the package back to you.  There is a $10.00 charge, but my item worth retrieving, so I paid to get it back.  (1-800-PICK-UPS) is the number to get that item back, you need the tracking number.

I am now shipping through Paypal, and it makes tracking everything so much easier.  Your tracking is right there in Paypal.  So much easier, and it was instant to make a call and retrieve it.  I told UPS that it was it was paid for with a stolen card, so they were sure to ship it back to me.

Paypal is catching these bad cards within 48 hours, so I am now waiting that time period of 48 hours to ship and make sure that I am good to go on the shipping.  Not on everything, just things that look suspicious.  And it is the minority, so this is just a guide to protect other sellers, for the IN CASE mode we need to be aware of.

And you need to call Ebay to let them know.  This is a crime.

So, Like in all businesses, and in all aspects of life, some realities are hard to deal with.  But the main thing is to realize it's not personal to you, or to your account, it's just out there.  You don't have to answer every single email.  We automatically think that when someone writes to us, that it's for us.  And the average person is not waiting inside their account for scam and fraud mail.  It's just good to know that it's out there, and take time before you answer to make sure that person has business in your account.