"My user ID was stolen but the joke is on the hackers!"

Hello, I'm Scooter....

 I wanted to tell everyone on eBay that  User ID's Can Be Stolen! 

 Let me explain this so you can learn from my kitty mistakes.  A User ID that matchs your e-mail address can lead to big trouble.

Why? That's because the marketers who send out unsolicited commerical e-mail (or "spam") use computer programs that search the body of web pages for valid e-mail addresses. If your e-mail address appears in the body of an eBay auction page as your User ID, it can be indexed and added to the spammer's database.

Unwanted e-mail will surely follow !

Another eBay User ID related problem involves " indentity theft "- the assumption of someone's indentity to gain access to that individual's financial resources. 

Such as your: Pay-Pal Account , Bank Account, & Credit Cards ! 

This is getting to be a major problem for eBay. I sense as a cat that eBay has become a target for hackers who want to impersonate real eBay users by stealing their registration information.

Also, hackers send out fake e-mail messages or target open communications channels called  "ports" on your computer, in order to plant programs that track your keystrokes.  Trust me on this one, hackers can and do occasionally detect the entry of usernames and passwords by means of such software.

If this ever happens to you - Run a virus scan ASAP and get rid of the offending program.  Most virus scans can do this very effectly and quickly with no lasting problems.

But another, more common way of trickery in which someone can get your eBay user information is by fooling eBay users into giving out their User Id  passwords, not to mention phone numbers and other information.

You might have seen an e-mail like this:

Dear eBay User,

During our regular update and verification of the accounts, we couldn't verify your current information. Either your information has changed or it is incomplete.

As a result, your access to bid or buy on eBay has been restricted. To start using your eBay account fully, please update and verify your information by clicking below....

The following is a fake "eBay Notification" which is going round to sellers on eBay at this time:

Dear  (User ID)

Your Sales Report for 07/13/08 - 07/19/08 is now available! To veiw your latest report, go to My

eBay and click on the "Sales Report"  link in the left column.

Regards,

eBay

Looks, pretty good huh?  The problem is not the message but the links inside the message.

Learn More, Privacy Policy, and User Agreement

They look like eBay, but they are underlined and if you click on them... You will be Sorry!

If you get such a message, don't respond to it. Just forward the message to eBay Customer Support  (spoof at ebay.com)

Our eBay can then read the "message headers" of the e-mail message displayed. Whats that mean? A message header is supplemental information that tells you about the origin of that e-mail message and how it reached its destination. The message headers give eBay information it needs to trace the message and deal with the person who sent it. Now, you know what to look for and how to deal with it. That's my paws on this topic.

If you found the information helpful, please rate it with a yes vote.

Thank-You