I, like many other modelers use ebay to buy models I cant find elsewhere snd sometimes thin out my ever growing pile of “to do kits” of models that where bought as part of larger auctions and I dont want them or I bought them and found out they were crap (zengdefue’s F-111) and resold them with a little more honesty than the original seller.
Any ways, I have just become a victim of identity and computer fraud. What I want to do is share with you the whole story in hopes that some other schuck doesn’t make a fellow modeler a victim like me.
About the 2 weeks ago I recieved an email that “looked” like it was from ebay asking telling me my account was temporarily disabled and would remain so until I updated my account informtation. It was even thoughtful enough to provide a link to update said information. When I clicked on the link it sent me to what appeared to be ebay’s log in page asking your user id and password. I did this and was linked to another page that looked like the one I filled out when I set up my ebay account asking for address, phonenumber, email info and credit card info. I was about to start filling out the info when I noticed the web page wasn’t a secure link. This got me a little curious and in another window I went to Ebay’s home page and was going to go to thier help site and ask about the email, well my computer somtimes goes straight to my account when I go to ebays web site. You can imagine I was pretty suprised when an account that was supposed to be temporarily suspended opened right up. Well I sent off my question to ebay and got an almost immediate response stating that the email I received had not originated from ebay. Well thinking “no harm” done, I hadnt entered any address,personal, or credit card info… nothing to worry about. Well I forgot that I had entered my user id and pass word on the first link thus giving the rotten lowlife who started this email access to my ebay account. First thing he or she did was change my personal info and shipping address’s so anything I won over the last two weeks was mailed to his/her address. Then changed my email address. Now I know why I stopped getting those anoying “bid confirmation” “you have been outbid” “congratulations you are the buyer for item #…” email that ebay sends out. This was a very smart move for the scum ball who did this for reasons other than the above listed. Now this is where it gets intresting. This person listed for sale
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2248790643&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1
If the link doesnt work the details are. 6 tickets for MLB All Stargames and the auction sold for more than $1’000 Ive tried to contact the buyer and hope he hasnt payed for this item yet but nothing so far. By changing my email addy I did get any of the email traffic between the guy that one the auction or the[:(!][censored][:(!] that listed the item.
If this sounds familiar to any of you in regaurds to your ebay accounts I suggest you quickly check your ebay accounts, change your passwords, check and change any personal info thats not correct, and also change your email passwords. Im going to post this in all the forums so hopefully no one else will get suckered like this. Please if your so inclined, copy and past this and email it to your friends especialy if you know they use ebay. Sorry for wasting your guys time with something not as nice to hear about like how my current builds are going but I want as many people as possible to know about this. I wonder if its possible to to get FSM to run an article about this seeing how they advertise the use of ebay to so much. Dont get me wrong. Ive found some awsome deals on ebay and will continue to use them. Now Im just a little bit smarter and hopefully so are you
report it to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@ebay.co.uk just forward the message
A sad story, trully. I’m sorry that you had to go through this experience. Recently in Toronto, a bank had a computer glitch that did not record transactions of users for a few days. After they had it fixed, some scammers sent e-mails not unlike the ones you received, from “official” bank employees asking that the personal info be updated. it just so happened that these unwitting customers also had to enter their account information and passwords.
The online world is not as safe a place as many would like to believe, even over a secure connection. But it’s not that bad either. The most anyone can do is BE CAREFUL and AWARE of what you’re doing, and where you’re doing it.
I’ve so far had one bad experience with e-bay, but it was not this drastic. I’ve been unable to contact seller, but he took my money.
FYI, don’t buy from seller called mymarket.
And make sure that you report this to the e-bay authorities, as they are usually very quick to deal with this kind of trouble.
Thanks, Aidan. I hope e-Bay can get it straightened out! What a scumbag!
Sorry this happened to you. Thank you very much for the warning.
Well, that seems like a dumb thing for the person to have done. If he’s getting paid, that means there is some way to trace the payment, and then he can be tracked down and prosecuted.
No quarter for thieves!
To say nothing of the fact that it sounds like “he” listed his address in the personal info area, if he’s getting the kits routed to him instead. Sounds like one of those “America’s Dumbest Criminals” shows! I hope they roast him!
I still am amazed at the people who fall for these “phisher” e-mails. I get fake e-mails from “PayPal” and “eBay” and “AOL” often and always forward them to the proper spoof@ addresses listed above.
The fake e-mails look exactly like a real e-mail but if you hover your cursor over the enclosed links, the url pops up and you can tell it is a fake. While you have to feel for someone who has been duped, you have to wonder if they ever read some of the identity theft articles that are posted on eBay, PayPal, AOL, MSN, etc.
These scams are as common as the “Nigerian” scam where you give the deposed ruler your bank account number so he can deposit a billion dollars in it. Guys, these scams have been around a while and if you’re smart enough to figure out how to post here, you should be smart enough not to fall for the “account suspended” scam.
i’ve bought only 2 models off of ebay. no problems so far, but here is an idea:
this guy is buying stuff right? tell the seller you story, and ask the seller for this guys mailing address, and get payback…[8D][}:)]
I too fell foul of this scam. Ebay found the fraud and cancelled the parasitic user of my account. Unfortunately £135.00 had been spent. Ebay have credited the money to me so a happy ending this time!
Thanks for the warning have had trouble when ordering from Hong Kong but did get it in the end and have gotten emails like that from ebay and paypal.
I got the exact same scam, I entered username and password and I also became suspicious and didn’t enter credit card info etc…I reported it to spoof@ebay.com and immediatley changed my ebay password…It was a very well done copy of ebay info…scary[:(!]
Yep I fell for the same thing some time back. The people responsible racked up several hundred dollars in eBay fees for crap they were selling under my acct (with my 100% feedback rating). Luckily I found out about it and notified eBay before any of the items ended. They credited me for the fraudulence and that was that. A close call but a happy ending with me being the wiser. I still get a spoof every now and then asking for my info which I immediately forward to eBay. Wonder what ever happens to these crooks? Does eBay prosecute em or what?
Just to add a bit of advice ( and this coming from a victim a ways back when I first got my computer 4 years ago ) secure websites will NEVER ask for passwords or any of that type of personal information , never give that out period , it just makes it so much easier to access your account info if you have the virtual key to it ! Keep your password informatin to yourself only you can change it and NEVER change it unless you are on the legitimate site with the encryption lock icon showing at the lower right corner , if you don’t see that klik off immediatly . I responded to an AOL update info email ( found out later AOL never does this thru email DOAH!!!) they got all of my info including license , credit card , and other stuff that should never be given out ) But they were caught in my case and now are probably doing a bit of time in federal hotel somewhere! Be careful folks and preferably use a credit card for all online purchases as they will cover you in the case of online fraud ( with a phone fight of course ) BE safe !
Everytime I get those e-mails, I just delete them I get that e-mail a lot.
You should forward them to spoof@ebay.com. The more of these they get, the harder they will work to prosecute those who originate the e-mails.