Grrrrrr .... Anyone else having this spoofing problem??

[Jessica]

I keep receiving spoof e-mails from both eBay and PayPal -- the most recent one really appeared to be from eBay & said that my account had been suspended. So, like a dumbass, I clicked on the link & entered in my password. Fuuuuuuck. So - I have since grown a brain & changed both my e-mail & eBay passwords. I also reported it to eBay. Is anyone else having this problem ... and is there anything else I should do? I'm usually not paranoid like this, but a friend of mine recently had someone in Poland who withdrew $1,200 from her checking account. She uses eBay more frequently than is physically healthy - so I'm a little worried.

[Left Is Write]

1. Always forward those spoof emails to eBay.

Never, ever, ever follow the email links and enter any information.

Legitimate emails from eBay will address you by your username (never "Dear eBay user"), and legitimate emails from PayPal will address you by your full name (never "Dear PayPal user"). If there is action to be taken, legitimate emails will direct you to go to the eBay or PayPal home pages and go from there.

Neither eBay nor PayPal will ever ask for passwords or sensitive information in an email.

[warrens]

2. My office is getting snowed under with fake e-bay junk

Mostly saying that paypal has approved your $175 purchase and has removed the funds, and click here if you have any questions. And you know what will happen next.

[Sporadicus]

3. I've Gotten Lots of Them Lately

at my email account at work, oddly enough. I've always managed to keep that account relatively pristine as far as junk email goes. The only shopping I've done from that account was for machines & tooling, and the vendors ceased sending email to me after I 'unsubscribed' from them. These companies aren't notorious for selling their email lists to third parties anyway. I can only assume that the phony bank & credit card requests for passwords & other info were sent blindly. AFAIK, no one else at my company has received email of this sort, however, so it may have been the result of my visit to some shady website (no, I don't peruse porn at work). I run Spybot on a regular basis, but it usually comes up clean.

[Sabriel]

4. Don't help a Nigerian get money out of his country, either

I've gotten four of those in the last week, and the last one was annoyingly IN ALL CAPS THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH.

[Menshevik]

7. lol

Every Nigerian email I've received has been in all caps...I just don't get it...if you want me to help you move $83 trillion out of the country, there's no need to shout ;)

[Midlodemocrat]

5. These are all fake

...and don't follow any links from your 'bank' either. They are sites designed to steal your identity. If your bank has a question, they will call or send a letter to you.

[NJ_Lib]

6. I get them on a daily basis now...

both from "eBay" and "Paypal"...

A good rule of thumb to determine if these are fakes is to notice how the letter greets you.

Both of these companies will insert your NAME after "Dear"... A spoof will have some kind of general "Dear Customer" heading...

I NEVER respond to these spoofs, just forward them immediately to eBay ([e-mail]) or Paypal ([e-mail]).

If something looks legit to you, just get on the phone and call to confirm before you enter ANY information.

[Soloflecks]

8. In a new twist,

my boss received an e-mail with attached word document contract regarding a house he's going to rent short term out of town. He made some changes and saw a "send with changes" button which he clicked. But then he saw that the e-mail address it went to was different from the originating address. He got suspicious and called Microsoft who told him it was a malicious hijack of his personal financial information. Credit card had to be cancelled, etc.

[mcscajun]

9. Some recommendations...

Aside from what others have already mentioned, here are two more:

Most ISP's allow you some multiple of user IDs/e-mail addresses. Keep one for forums like DU and other surfing, one for family and friends, and one that you can use for all of your e-commerce stuff. It helps to make sense of strange things that pop up in your inboxes, and you'll recognize when mail shows up that doesn't fit the use for that address.

If you buy online, have a separate credit card that you only use for online purchases, and keep the credit line low. If it gets compromised, you can shut it down immediately.