eBay "spoof" email messages - BEWARE!
 

Twice in the past week we have received email messages that appeared to be
from eBay but were actually someone trying to gather personal information.
They looked REAL, so we decided to post the response we got from eBay here
to alert anyone else who has received these messages! They message said
that our account information had changed and that we needed to re-enter our
information in either the email itself or a link that was attached. Here's
eBay's response after we sent them an inquiry about the messages:

* * * *

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.

The email you reported did not originate from, nor is it endorsed by,
eBay. We are very concerned about this problem and are working
diligently to address the situation. We are currently investigating the
source of this email to take further action. You may rest assured that
your account standing has not changed and that your listings have not
been affected.

We advise you to be very cautious of email messages that ask you to
submit information such as your credit card number or your email
password. eBay will never ask you for sensitive personal information
such as passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, Personal
Identification Numbers (PINs), or Social Security numbers in an email
itself. If you ever need to provide information to eBay please open a
new Web browser, type www.ebay.com, and click on the "site map" link
located at the top the page to access the eBay page you need.

If you have any doubt about whether an email message is from eBay,
please forward it immediately to and do not respond to it
or click on any of the links in the email message. Please do not change
the subject line or forward the email as an attachment.

If you entered personal information such as your password, social
security number or credit card numbers into a Website based on a request
from a spoofed email, you need to take immediate action to protect your
identity. We have developed an eBay Help page with valuable information
regarding the steps you should take to protect yourself.

To get to the "Protecting Your Identity" Help page from the eBay site,
please click on the "help" link located at the top of most eBay pages
and select the following topics when the "eBay Help Center" window
appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong Identity Theft

We encourage you to review additional information about protecting your
identity found in the eBay Help system. Please click on the "help" link
located at the top of most eBay pages and select the following topics
when the "eBay Help Center" window appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong& Account Theft Account
Protection

Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoof email you received.
Your vigilance helps us ensure that eBay remains a safe and vibrant
online marketplace.

Regards,

Ian
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

*******************************************

Important: eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information
(such as your password, credit card and bank account numbers, Social
Security numbers, etc.) in an email. Learn more account protection tips
at:

http://www.pages.ebay.com/help/account_protection.html
_____________________________________________

For our latest announcements, please check:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
_____________________________________________

In order to better serve you, we'd like to occasionally
request feedback on our service. If you would rather
not participate, please click on the link below and send
us an email with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line.
If that does not work, please send an email to the
email address below. Your request will be processed
within 5 days.



*******************************************






Original Message Follows:
-------------------------
From: PJZ
To: eBay Customer Support
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US

Form Message %44433% 033199
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US
Item:
User Feedback: 906
Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; Win 9x
4.90; (R1 1.3))
Message:
Account Security Account Security Issues Report email or websites
impersonating eBay

Email Header:
From: ebay
To: Pete
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 6:43 AM
Subject: 0fficial Notice for all E-Bay users


Email Body:
(it would let me copy text)

Message: I have received 2 notices over the past week saying you needed
to update personal information. One asked that I type my password in
the email, the other sent me to a suspicious website were I was asked
for my social security number, credit card number etc, but it did not
say "ebay" in the address. Is this ligit or a hoax to get personal
information. The address I was given is:

deleted

"PJZ" wrote in message . ..
Twice in the past week we have received email messages that appeared to be
from eBay but were actually someone trying to gather personal information.
They looked REAL, so we decided to post the response we got from eBay here
to alert anyone else who has received these messages! They message said
that our account information had changed and that we needed to re-enter our
information in either the email itself or a link that was attached. Here's
eBay's response after we sent them an inquiry about the messages:

* * * *

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.


Deleted body of e-bays response....

Thanks for the heads up-this seems to be a recurring theme,and most of
us have
dealt with it in the past,but we do appreciate knowing it's going
around again-thanks.
phil

I also received one of these emails. I almost fell for it until I got to
thinking that I had just finished placing some bids with no problems. I also
informed eBay about it but I never received an answer. Be very careful just
what kind of emails you answer that ask for any on your info.

"phil small p" wrote in message
om...
"PJZ" wrote in message
. ..
Twice in the past week we have received email messages that appeared to
be
from eBay but were actually someone trying to gather personal
information.
They looked REAL, so we decided to post the response we got from eBay
here
to alert anyone else who has received these messages! They message said
that our account information had changed and that we needed to re-enter
our
information in either the email itself or a link that was attached.
Here's
eBay's response after we sent them an inquiry about the messages:

* * * *

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.


Deleted body of e-bays response....

Thanks for the heads up-this seems to be a recurring theme,and most of
us have
dealt with it in the past,but we do appreciate knowing it's going
around again-thanks.
phil

Hope everyone reported it to Safe Harbor.


"PJZ" wrote in message
...
Twice in the past week we have received email messages that appeared to be
from eBay but were actually someone trying to gather personal information.
They looked REAL, so we decided to post the response we got from eBay here
to alert anyone else who has received these messages! They message said
that our account information had changed and that we needed to re-enter
our
information in either the email itself or a link that was attached.
Here's
eBay's response after we sent them an inquiry about the messages:

* * * *

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.

The email you reported did not originate from, nor is it endorsed by,
eBay. We are very concerned about this problem and are working
diligently to address the situation. We are currently investigating the
source of this email to take further action. You may rest assured that
your account standing has not changed and that your listings have not
been affected.

We advise you to be very cautious of email messages that ask you to
submit information such as your credit card number or your email
password. eBay will never ask you for sensitive personal information
such as passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, Personal
Identification Numbers (PINs), or Social Security numbers in an email
itself. If you ever need to provide information to eBay please open a
new Web browser, type www.ebay.com, and click on the "site map" link
located at the top the page to access the eBay page you need.

If you have any doubt about whether an email message is from eBay,
please forward it immediately to and do not respond to it
or click on any of the links in the email message. Please do not change
the subject line or forward the email as an attachment.

If you entered personal information such as your password, social
security number or credit card numbers into a Website based on a request
from a spoofed email, you need to take immediate action to protect your
identity. We have developed an eBay Help page with valuable information
regarding the steps you should take to protect yourself.

To get to the "Protecting Your Identity" Help page from the eBay site,
please click on the "help" link located at the top of most eBay pages
and select the following topics when the "eBay Help Center" window
appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong Identity Theft

We encourage you to review additional information about protecting your
identity found in the eBay Help system. Please click on the "help" link
located at the top of most eBay pages and select the following topics
when the "eBay Help Center" window appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong& Account Theft Account
Protection

Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoof email you received.
Your vigilance helps us ensure that eBay remains a safe and vibrant
online marketplace.

Regards,

Ian
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

*******************************************

Important: eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information
(such as your password, credit card and bank account numbers, Social
Security numbers, etc.) in an email. Learn more account protection tips
at:

http://www.pages.ebay.com/help/account_protection.html
_____________________________________________

For our latest announcements, please check:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
_____________________________________________

In order to better serve you, we'd like to occasionally
request feedback on our service. If you would rather
not participate, please click on the link below and send
us an email with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line.
If that does not work, please send an email to the
email address below. Your request will be processed
within 5 days.



*******************************************






Original Message Follows:
-------------------------
From: PJZ
To: eBay Customer Support
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US

Form Message %44433% 033199
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US
Item:
User Feedback: 906
Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; Win 9x
4.90; (R1 1.3))
Message:
Account Security Account Security Issues Report email or websites
impersonating eBay

Email Header:
From: ebay
To: Pete
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 6:43 AM
Subject: 0fficial Notice for all E-Bay users


Email Body:
(it would let me copy text)

Message: I have received 2 notices over the past week saying you needed
to update personal information. One asked that I type my password in
the email, the other sent me to a suspicious website were I was asked
for my social security number, credit card number etc, but it did not
say "ebay" in the address. Is this ligit or a hoax to get personal
information. The address I was given is:

deleted

Thanks, Aram. It's been a year or more since I reported to SafeHarbor and
did not realize they had that spoof address. In fact I just got a reply
from the original message with those same instructions.


"Aram H. Haroutunian" wrote in message
...
Mineralogy wrote:
===================
I think it is important that everyone understand clearly that a report
to
safe harbor is not the way to go. Specific instructions are to forward
the suspected
spoof email WITH COMPLETE HEADERS and with nothing else said or added
to:

If you do otherwise, I suspect that you will not hear back. That was my
experience. I forward one or two per day, on average. I get two
replies to
each forwarded spoof. A "Thank you, we will investigate" and an "It
wasn't from
eBay." HTH
Aram.
==============================

Hope everyone reported it to Safe Harbor.

"PJZ" wrote in message
...
Twice in the past week we have received email messages that appeared
to be
from eBay but were actually someone trying to gather personal
information.
They looked REAL, so we decided to post the response we got from eBay
here
to alert anyone else who has received these messages! They message
said
that our account information had changed and that we needed to
re-enter
our
information in either the email itself or a link that was attached.
Here's
eBay's response after we sent them an inquiry about the messages:

* * * *

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about
email
solicitations that are falsely made to appear to have come from eBay.
These emails, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages, are sent in an
attempt to collect sensitive personal information from recipients who
reply to the message or click on a link to a Web page requesting this
information.

The email you reported did not originate from, nor is it endorsed by,
eBay. We are very concerned about this problem and are working
diligently to address the situation. We are currently investigating
the
source of this email to take further action. You may rest assured that
your account standing has not changed and that your listings have not
been affected.

We advise you to be very cautious of email messages that ask you to
submit information such as your credit card number or your email
password. eBay will never ask you for sensitive personal information
such as passwords, bank account or credit card numbers, Personal
Identification Numbers (PINs), or Social Security numbers in an email
itself. If you ever need to provide information to eBay please open a
new Web browser, type www.ebay.com, and click on the "site map" link
located at the top the page to access the eBay page you need.

If you have any doubt about whether an email message is from eBay,
please forward it immediately to and do not respond to
it
or click on any of the links in the email message. Please do not
change
the subject line or forward the email as an attachment.

If you entered personal information such as your password, social
security number or credit card numbers into a Website based on a
request
from a spoofed email, you need to take immediate action to protect
your
identity. We have developed an eBay Help page with valuable
information
regarding the steps you should take to protect yourself.

To get to the "Protecting Your Identity" Help page from the eBay site,
please click on the "help" link located at the top of most eBay pages
and select the following topics when the "eBay Help Center" window
appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong Identity Theft

We encourage you to review additional information about protecting
your
identity found in the eBay Help system. Please click on the "help"
link
located at the top of most eBay pages and select the following topics
when the "eBay Help Center" window appears:

Safe Trading If Something Goes Wrong& Account Theft Account
Protection

Once again, thank you for alerting us to the spoof email you received.
Your vigilance helps us ensure that eBay remains a safe and vibrant
online marketplace.

Regards,

Ian
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

*******************************************

Important: eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information
(such as your password, credit card and bank account numbers, Social
Security numbers, etc.) in an email. Learn more account protection
tips
at:

http://www.pages.ebay.com/help/account_protection.html
_____________________________________________

For our latest announcements, please check:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
_____________________________________________

In order to better serve you, we'd like to occasionally
request feedback on our service. If you would rather
not participate, please click on the link below and send
us an email with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line.
If that does not work, please send an email to the
email address below. Your request will be processed
within 5 days.



*******************************************






Original Message Follows:
-------------------------
From: PJZ
To: eBay Customer Support
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US

Form Message %44433% 033199
Subject: IV%C00163 Report email or websites impersonating eBay #US
Item:
User Feedback: 906
Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; Win 9x
4.90; (R1 1.3))
Message:
Account Security Account Security Issues Report email or websites
impersonating eBay

Email Header:
From: ebay
To: Pete
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 6:43 AM
Subject: 0fficial Notice for all E-Bay users


Email Body:
(it would let me copy text)

Message: I have received 2 notices over the past week saying you
needed
to update personal information. One asked that I type my password in
the email, the other sent me to a suspicious website were I was asked
for my social security number, credit card number etc, but it did not
say "ebay" in the address. Is this ligit or a hoax to get personal
information. The address I was given is:

deleted