Heard of this Scam?

A

akivory

Joined
Feb 5, 2001
Messages
808
It seems as though someone hijacked my eBay password and sent about ten messages like the one below to people who were the second highest bidder on fairly expensive items. I received these messages in my inbox as receipts of message that had been sent by me. It is my guess that this scam originated in Nigeria.Maybe someone with more time than me can mess with these guys.
Is there a program that they use to crack passwords?

***Do not reply to this email .Contact the seller at this e-mail address : filip2234@yahoo.com*** You expressed interest in an item titled " Land Rover : Discovery " (Item 4561447121) by bidding , however the auction has ended with another member as the high bidder.In compliance with eBay policy,the seller of that item is making this Second Chance Offer to you at your bid price of US $6,000.00 . The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because either the winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction . If you accept this offer,you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a transaction,such as fraud protection . To purchase this item, don't reply to this mail,just contact the seller at filip2234@yahoo.com. Thank you, eBay, Inc ***Do not reply to this email .Contact the seller at this e-mail address : filip2234@yahoo.com***
 
Are the e-mail addresses (yours and the bidders) visible on the auctions? If so, then the emails you have received are possibly fake receipts and your eBay account has not been compromised.
 
I received an email from eBay this morning a telling me my account had been hijacked and how to secure it. .I have already changed my password.
In my everyday life I have no direct contact with thieves and crooks.
The Web provides for an incredible flow of information and commerce but it also gives the con men of the world opportunity.
 
What most people forget to do is .. change passwords frequently. And all your passwords should be random sequences of letters and numbers.

Make a list of each account with its URL and username and password. Make another list of random passwords. Every now and again go down the list and change the passwords.
 
akivory said:
I received an email from eBay this morning a telling me my account had been hijacked and how to secure it. .I have already changed my password.
Click to expand...

Ehum... that email was probably NOT from eBay...
 
I agree with gigante. That email was probably not from ebay. If you changed your password through the email then you are in trouble. However if you changed your password by actually going into the browser and typing ebay.com then you're probably safe.
 
The various Ebay and PayPal "phishing" scams are really pervasive. I must get one a day, usually along the lines of "there is a problem with your account".

(I don't have one)

Just before school ended, I took a report from a student who's bank account had been emptied after she foolishly replied to one of these things. She said she had entered all her information (bank account logon, password....etc.) and hit "send", whereupon the screen "just went blank". Two days later she was out 1500.00.

All of these places say right up front that they will never ask you for personal information. Any message asking for same will probably be a scam.
 
I get scam emails occaisionally telling me that my Paypal account has been hijacked and that I need to log onto their website (with a "convenient" link attached) and enter just about every piece of personal information that is mine. You know, screen names, passwords, checking account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc...Yeah, right! I very much want to email them back with expletive deleted type messages, but don't for fear they could gain some personal info by my simple reply to their link. I hate thieves.
 
Bad passwords: password, 1234, internet, www, georgebush, apple, etc...

Good passwords: Kiq7632c, Hiw293c9X, slkj29dja, applealpha20394fox2, etc...

Great passwords: Kskd@!2/&p3#, dksl-02$kdi\0, etc...
 
Good advice Esav. I changed my password through eBay security center.I never reply to any of these "phishing " emails.
Here is the email from eBay.If you notice they ask you to go through thier security center.You should never reply through a link in an email.

Dear akivory (akivory@gci.net),

It appears that your account was taken over by a third party in order to send unsolicited email to other community members, including email offers to sell items outside of eBay. At this time, it does not appear that your account was used to buy or sell on eBay. Please disregard any possible warnings you may receive from us regarding the email offers that were sent from your account.

The email address on your account may have also been tampered with, which is why you may not have received an email about this activity. We have restored your eBay account at this time.

To regain control of your account, please access the "Securing Your Account" Help page by following the steps outlined below:

- Click on the "Security Center" link at the bottom of most eBay pages.
- Click on the "eBay Account Protection" link in the eBay Marketplace section, within the Online Security Resources box.
- This will take you to the help page entitled Securing Your Account and Reporting Account Theft.
- Follow the instructions provided to regain access to your account.

As you take these steps, please be aware that you may need to repeat the instructions provided above or use the "back" button on your Web browser to return to the "Securing Your Account" page.

1. Change the password on your EMAIL account to verify that it is secure and cannot be accessed by anyone other than you. 2. Click the "Request a new eBay password" link and change your password using the instructions provided. 3. Click the "Change the Secret Question and Answer" link to select a new secret question and answer. If you don't have a secret question, you can create one by using the link provided.
4. Click the "Verify your personal contact information" to review your contact information. If necessary, follow the instructions provided to update your information.

Let us suggest a few ways this take-over could have occurred:

First, there have been a number of email messages recently sent to eBay members asking for User IDs and passwords. These unsolicited and spoofed messages appear to come from eBay Support, but in fact do not. eBay never requests sensitive information of this nature via email.

Second, if you use a fairly simple or easy-to-guess password, it's possible that someone could guess it after repeated attempts. For this reason, it's important to use a password that consists of a combination of letters and numbers making it very difficult to guess. The same applies for the password hint question. It's also important to use different passwords for the various online accounts you use (email, PayPal, etc).

Last, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that log and record keystrokes. It's recommended that computer users keep their virus alert software up-to-date, and check their system often for problems. A firewall for high-speed internet users is also highly recommended.

Any inquiries regarding your password, fees or other information about your account can be sent to us using the "Contact Us" form at the following address:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_inline/index.html

You may receive email from users that received unsolicited offers from your eBay account. Please briefly explain the situation to these members. If there are additional issues, please direct the members to contact eBay using the address provided above. This is especially important if a transaction has taken place.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc
 
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