[Previous entry: "Film review: Van Helsing [cinema]"] [Next entry: "It's a beautiful day in central London."]
05/10/2004: "Ebay scam e-mail: Your eBay Account Must Be Confirmed"
If you get an e-mail called 'Your eBay Account Must Be Confirmed', be warned. It's a scam.
The body text will be something like this, but in HTML (pretty) format:
_
Update Your Credit / Debit Card On Your eBay File
Dear eBay member ,
During our regular and verification of the accounts we couldn't verify your current information, either your information Has changed or it is incomplete . if the account is not updated to current information within 5 days then , your access to Buy or Sell on eBay will be restricted
Go to the link below to Update your account information :
REMEMBER SCAM!
http://signin.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn&ssPageName=h:h:sin:US - REMEMBER SCAM!
please dont reply to this email as you will not receive a response
Thank You for using eBay!
http://www.eBay.com
As outlined in our user agreement , eBay will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements, vist our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions .
Copyright © 1995-2004 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
_
How you can tell it's a scam.
1. Spelling. eBay wouldn't send out an e-mail with spelling mistakes in. I've worked in internet companies since 1998 and written e-mails intended for thousands of customers. None had spelling mistakes.
2. They're asking you to confirm your details but don't want you writing to them if you have questions? Any normal company would include a customer services e-mail for people to contact.
3. The site it goes to isn't necessarily at eBay. If you look at the URL - the address in the browser bar - you'll see it's just an IP (internet protocol) number. An IP address can point to any site - I don't know where it's going so I wouldn't trust it.
4. The site isn't secure. Look at the bottom left (or right) of your browser - the grey bit at the bottom. Can you see a padlock icon? If you are on a secure server, there'll be a padlock icon. Never ever enter credit or debit card details into a webpage unless it has a padlock icon in the browser.
5. THey ask for your card's ATM PIN number. I wouldn't give my PIN number to my mother. Why the fuck would I hand it out over the internet? The company I work for turns over several millions pounds a year through its online shop - we don't need a PIN number to process orders or to identify customers.
