Just a note to you guys about a possible ebay scam making the rounds. I received an email today from a person I have never heard of, signed with my ebay user ID. I have received several other such messages in the last couple days as well. (These messages did not originate from me.) My account has been temporarily suspended because of this fraudulent activity; however, I replied to the suspension notice immediately as per the instructions in said notice, and advised ebay that these fraudulent e-mails did not originate from my e-mail address and/or account.

There is someone out there impersonating me on ebay; there may be others out to impersonate other AK members as well, so again, I urge you to be very watchful and wary of emails from others which have been signed with your ebay user ID. Please report such activity to ebay at once, and certainly if you get a "TKO notice" from ebay (they are legitimate, as they originate from ebay.com) stating your account has been temporarily suspended pending an investigation into possible fraudulent activity involving said account.

I've only gotten a couple of those fake "please send us your password" kind of scams but never anything like you describe.

One thing to keep in mind is not to use a screen name that's the same as your e-mail address, and NEVER use the same password for both....same applies to PayPal of course.

Change your passwords often. You may consider keeping your passwords on a post it note instead of a file in case your machine is ever hacked......this assumes you computer is in a place where no untrusted people would have access to it.

Anthony
PS Just remembered, yesterday I got a letter "from" CitiBank wanting me to send my account number and password.....sure buddy, just need to open an account with them first!! Idiots, you'd think they'd go after just CitiBank account holders so as not to raise attention to themselves.

I get a LOT of that scam b.s. about tko, account suspended, fraudlent activity even the fake "question for seller" emails.
I was told to watch for those especially as they have some sort of keylogger virus in the header.
Those are easy to spot because they have an item number that is too short and have odd names.
I ignore them all and still have full use of my account. I never respond to an "ebay" or "paypal" email that tells me to use a link, Just go directly to ebay or paypal and log in if you think there is a problem.
F**K those jerks.

Also beware of a seller "surpluselectronics2003" on Ebay. The seller listed his city as Grand Rapids Mich. I bought a tube tester from him in January. Sent money and he confirmed he got it. I NEVER got the tester. I email him repeatedly and filed a complaint with ebay. He is now kicked off ebay. Beware of a seller in grand rapids selling electronics stuff. He may morph into another seller. Folks have to realize that this is stealing. This was the only time I have been ripped off on ebay. They provide a great service to us. It is a shame that some folks are attempting to destroy a good thing. They need to be punished for their efforts.

polaraman

I get a lot of e-mails that have the title "question for seller" and an invalid item number. They always say something like "Hi, please add another $3 for shipping to Navada". They have what looks like a link to an ebay item, but it actually points to some IP address. The one time I looked at where the link went it was invalid. I'm not sure if it's a scam, or virus, but they are annoying because I can't flag them as junk mail since I don't want real questions about ebay items getting lost.

Good news. My ebay account was reinstated late yesterday afternoon. The reason it had been suspended (the TKO notice I had received a day or so earlier was not a hoax but an actual suspension, as I found out when I tried to register my ebay toolbar) was that someone had been impersonating me on the service after all; as a precaution, my account was put on temporary suspension until the matter was investigated.

I changed my email password and the password associated with my account, as advised by an ebay customer service representative who reinstated my account within 15 minutes. Hopefully I'll have no more trouble like this. I've been an ebay member since February 2001; this is the first time I've ever had this type of problem.

BTW: Have any of you noticed that when ebay's reps call you to discuss your account, the telephone call shows on your caller ID unit as originating from British Columbia, Canada--not San Jose, California? (It did on mine, which threw me for the heck of a loop the first time they called.) I always thought ebay's headquarters were in California. Do they have a separate business office in Canada? :dunno:

eBay's phone force (phorce?) may be headquarted there---typical outsourcing of labor.

At least with Canadians working the phones you'll have a good chance of someone politely speaking English!

Anthony
P.S. This stuff about passwords etc has kinda hit home for me, see my post about Terry Wise HERE (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=149279)