# eBay scam warning



## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

Thought I would let you all know about a new eBay scam going around. It is very convincing and I almost fell for it myself, I contacted ebay and they confirmed that it is a scam. 
Here is the body of the email that was sent (It had all the ebay graphics, etc. and following the link took you to an Identical eBay page)

_eBay request: Please follow the Member Verification Procedure (Second
Notice)
Dear eBay Member,

Due to recent account takeovers and unauthorized listings, eBay is
introducing a new account verification method. From time to time,
randomly selected accounts (seller and/or buyer) are subjected to an
advanced verification process based on our merchant accounts/bank
relations and customers credit card. eBay may also request in an email
message scanned/faxed copies of one or more photo ID's. Your account
confirmation may go wrong if your credit card/bank account is expired,
or if you have changed your credit card number, billing address etc.
without letting us know about the change.
Subject of this verification process are also the accounts that have
unpaid dues to eBay.
Your account is not suspended, but if in 48 hours after you receive this
message your account is not confirmed we reserve the right to suspend
your eBay registration. If you received this notice and you are not the
authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of
eBay policy to represent oneself as another eBay user. Such action may
also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. eBay
is committed to assist law enforcement with any inquires related to
attempts to misappropriate personal information with the intent to
commit fraud or theft. Information will be provided at the request of
law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to
the full extent of the law.

Note: If this is the second time you receive this notice, it might be
because you have made a mistake when you entered your details or that
the account was not updated at all._ 

I hope that nobody gets scammed at this festive time of the year.


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## lindmar (Nov 13, 2003)

I just cant belive someone could fall for this....

you glook at the link in the email and it says http://www.ebay.com 

but then it takes you to something like http://www.ebayhotzoneportalnetwork.com/newuser/submit.php 

Then they ask for bank accounts, routing #'s, branch #

People really need to start taking credit for their own stupidty that fall for these things..

like "oh ok, eBay needs my entire banking history, so let me call up royal bank and get a copy of their transit and branch # and my bank account #"

Here is the paypal one I got today.

"Dear PayPal Member,

PayPal is currently conducting constant security checks on all of the member accounts registered with the PayPal service. PayPal Security Checks are an integral part of the PayPal Security Policy which has been developed with the purpose of bringing the highest level of security to all members of the PayPal community. You will need to verify your account by clicking on the weblink, provided below and following the instructions presented on the Secure PayPal Account Verification webpage. Verifications will be accepted until 20th December 2004. If you fail to verify your account before this date, your account will be rendered inactive and will be a subject of termination. We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your business.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr_cmd_verify-run?user=jjUiO96JmkOKoKAjjanhAJRweWePlNAm&business=jIonGrWoMHJHAWjJojahAewpofRtg 



PayPal Account Department" 

Link looks good, click it

http://paypal.piranho.com/ 
They want my email address
paypaul username and password
credit card
and bank account for security purposes.......no problem paypal









Just for fun I put "f&#* you" in every field and miraculously, paypal accepted my info! Mind you, their new web processing company used "cutandpastescripts.com" to send the info to somesones eMail!


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I have found the perfect way to avoid being scammed on eBay.

Never use it.

Cheers


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## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

> People really need to start taking credit for their own stupidty that fall for these things.


Stupidity? I'm sorry, but the URL in my email did not take me to any hotportal.com crap, it took me to a secure IP addy with the rest of the URL looking exactly like the eBay URL, which is why I was suspicious.

Most people that use computers are not literate to these types of things, try working at a computer store for awhile and you will see that 90% of the people have no idea what they are doing. I would not call them Stupid because of this, just uneducated on the processes of using technology. If I asked you to perform brain surgery and you couldn't do it, does that make you stupid? By your rational that people that fall for this are stupid, I guess you would be.

I can understand how people get hooked into scams like this, on the other hand, people that fall for the Nigerian Banking scams, well, I don't even know what to say to that!


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## simon (Nov 2, 2002)

Yah, I get two or three of these every month now and I have to do a double take everytime I look at one they are done so well ... phishing has gone pro ... 

I never click the link (nor do I have the images load in my email automatically - as this can be used as a confirmation of your email as a live address), I copy/paste it to my browser and then have fun Lindmar style ... I wonder how many F&^% U accounts there are?

One thing though and eBay and PayPal and ever bank I have ever dealt with - they all say they will never EVER contact you for your contact information, and it's a clearly written statement ... so why do so many people fall for this? Constantly?


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

> Stupidity? I'm sorry, but the URL in my email did not take me to any hotportal.com crap, it took me to a secure IP addy with the rest of the URL looking exactly like the eBay URL, which is why I was suspicious.


Well, stupid is harsh, but it is being a bit naive. I can copy and paste HTML from eBay and make my site look exactly like theirs with minimal effort. Faking a URL is so easy. It probably looked similar to ebay, but it wasn't. For example:

http://[email protected]/accountcheck.pl looks like an ebay URL but it won't take you to eBay. It'll take you to 23.44.21.345

Also, click on this link (don't worry, it's safe)
http://www.apple.com 

An email message only shows the text for the link, not the actual link itself.

Combine those methods above and it's quite possible to fool many people who have their guard let down.

Basically it comes down to common sense. If an email wants information from you or to click on a link, don't do it - no matter how real it looks.


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## lindmar (Nov 13, 2003)

I wasnt saying anyone of you was specifically stupid..

I was saying, I hear about this every day and read in the paper these people who give their bank accounts to those nigerian scams or give all their info to eBay.

Some people are kind of stupid


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