WARNING!!! SCAM on EBAY
@whiteheather39 (24403)
United States
March 16, 2007 2:30pm CST
As some of you know I posted an auto for sale on Ebay.
When bidding or buying on Ebay you can ask the seller a question. My auto went on sale and the first day I got an email question, which was classified as being from a potential buyer. The person gave gave name and said he had seen a similar item as mine posted and gave a link to check it out. I copied the link to my browser and didn't realize the browser address had changed to red. I clicked on it and it took me to items for sale on Ebay in Germany, The items had nothing to do with the car I was selling. I responded back to the email saying I didn't know what they were referring to. 2 days later I get 26 emails from other people selling autos on Ebay and thanked me for my question on their cars they were selling. I never sent any questions to anyone so I contacted Ebay and checked my sent messages ..sure enough they were all with my Ebay ID. So I used instant chat to find out from Ebay what was going on. It took over an hours for me to find out that the red browser indicated it was a "phishing" site. So I changed by Ebay password because I had used it to sign in to the phony email site in Germany....and I get another email the same as the first phony one but with a different name. I forwarded it to Ebay and it to was a fake. Here is my big question all these emails came through the eBay site but were "phishing" and Ebay has no control over what email a buyer sends to a seller.!
NOW..today I get a charge on my credit card for $19.95 which I do not recognize so I "Googled" the website name and it gave me a warning about the site but I opened it as the warning said not to give any info and guess what it is a golf club company in Germany. So now I have the bank checking it out.
Do you think there is any connection. Ebay does not have my credit card number and neither does PayPal so I am at a loss to understand how it could be connected?
18 people like this
22 responses
@lonewolfnan (4366)
• Canada
16 Mar 07
EBay has recently frozen my account(which was previously verified) and I can not purchase anything with my funds.They tell me it is a security check but they want my banking information.Since I have already been verified,I am lost as to why they now need more info.Is EBay having trouble with hackers??If they do,then all our information could be at risk.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
16 Mar 07
DONT DO IT. I had the same thing happen a few months back from Paypal and I gave the info and it was a scam. Ebay, PayPal, any other company banks etc. NEVER ask for info by email.
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
16 Mar 07
If you are a seller for ebay didn't you have to list a credit card? I thought ebay filtered their emails too. I know I get some about paypal all the time but not through the paypal site. sounds like ebay is not as prtoected as I had thought. If you do not have this credit card listed with anyone on the internet, then the first email where you gave your info was savvy enough to take that information and find this credit card. I no longer have any active or opened credit cards due to things like this. I hope you get it all straightened out soon.
4 people like this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Thanks. I do not think it was that credit card which is linked to my bank. It would have been Dicover Card which is secured specifically for any online transactions
1 person likes this
@greengal (4286)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Oops that sure wasn't a good thin heather, hope your bank comes up with something and you will know how your credit card was charged. eBay was so reliable but now we seem to hear more and more people having scam troubles. I wanted to put up my poetry book for sale there but it is asking for my bank account details including routing numbers which I don't want to give. Hubby has created an account on eBay long back and he doesn't remember if he gave these details. Hope your issue is resolved.
2 people like this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Dont give any info related to your bank. The routing can take anyone directly to your bank account.
1 person likes this
@Eskimo (2315)
•
16 Mar 07
Looks like they might have put a virus or a keystroke logger on your computer as well, and although you have realised about the original scam, they may think that you won't check your computer out as well. Do a virus scan as soon as possible, and also get a scan for keystroke logging as well (doesn't always show up in virus checking). I would recommend using Adaware (free or paid) as an extra which usually finds keyloggers) get it from Lavasoft or from PCWORLD at http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,7423-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html
you can also get an addition free virus check from Symantic as well (it found a couple of viruses which Norton - from Symantic didn't find).
I would recommend not using your computer for anything sensitive until you have down complete scans of your computer.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
17 Mar 07
Thanks Eskimo, I did a virus scan and I have a keytroke logger shield marked "on"
2 people like this
@moumitamazumder (817)
• India
17 Mar 07
A very strange incident. But I believe what you are saying. That's because I too have gone through problems in ebay.
Once I tried to sell my used mobile phone through the site. The first person to enquire about it, contacted me directly outside ebay, by seeing my email id in ebay. She said she wanted me to send the item to Nigeria to her friend as a Birthday gift, for which she will pay me.
The next day I received another email from a guy, mentioning the same thing, that he needs to send me the item to Nigeria. I was puzzled, and asked both of tehm, if they knew each other. But they didn't answer.
The following I received 1 more mail from another guy, who sent me the same request, to send the phone to Nigeria to his friend as a Birthday gift. I was scared, and astonished.
Thereafter I reported the matter to ebay, and found out that all three of them were unregistered users. I am still clueless about the matter.
2 people like this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
17 Mar 07
It was not a coincidence they were doing it for a nefarious reason
@susanwright (16)
• United States
17 Mar 07
I got scammed big time on ebay not too long ago. I was selling an item and had a guy that was so intereseted in my item and kept e-mailing me. I was like wow he really wants the item. He bid on it and was the high bidder and so I thought that he was going to send me my money and that it would be over with. Well, he sent the money but it was in the form of a money order and was way over the price of the item that he was buying from me. He told me to just send him back the extra amount because he misunderstood me because he was foreign. Well, being new to ebay and naive, I did just that and sent him my item. The money orders came back as fake and the bank charged me for the money orders because I had sent him back what I thought was his money but it ended up being my money! You have to be very careful on Ebay because there are people all over that are looking to steal your money and they are not really interested in your items. I think that it sounds very weird that the charge seems to be connected to the ebay thing. I would have it investigated asap and try to find out what happened. Try looking on Ebay at their place where you can post about scams and see if you can find anyone else that has had a similar buyer contacting them.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
17 Mar 07
Sorry this happened to you. It seems that every way you turn these days someone is trying to rip you off.
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Oh sweetie, I don't like what happened.in both. Go to your bank, and alert them. I am so happy that you let Ebay know, and that you changed your passwords. Now call up your credit card company, and explain this, so that you won't get charged. There are so many pro cheaters out there. Please let me know what happens. Alert the spoof on Ebay too.
I didn't know you put your car on ebay. Did you get any bids?
Many blessings, M&M
I'm saying a prayer for you right now.
2 people like this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
16 Mar 07
Oh Heather please be more careful and watch it
As for them getting your Card Number they have done something and I think you will have to get a new Card as they will keep getting it and going back for more. You are not having a lot of Luck at all Sweet.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
16 Mar 07
I just hung up the phone from the bank and the card has been cancelled. Thanks gabs
1 person likes this
@classy56 (2880)
• United States
17 Mar 07
ebay should have some control over what emails are being sent to seller an buyers.specialty if they are comeing thur ebay website.hopefully your bank an figure out what is going on an cancel your credit card.an issue you a new one.be carefull from now on.but if ebay an paypal dont have your credit.than someone must be getting your credit card off of your computer somehow.if you use it on the internet.i would do a scan on your computer an see if you have any hackers.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
17 Mar 07
I can't even pretend to understand half this stuff but I just had to change my eBay password about twoweeks ago. Ebay notified me (and it really WAS eBay) that someone in Europe had recently tried to access my eBay account and it was necessary to change the password. Awhile back I had to change the Paypal password also.
1 person likes this
@onabreak2 (1161)
• United States
16 Mar 07
It sounds like they hacked into your computer when you responded to something. I think that you must have at one time or another used that credit card on line. Make sure when you go to a site that needs information that there is a lock in the bottom on your task bar and a s in front of the http. shttp means it is secure..Or supposed to be. There are so many creeps online ruining it for everyone.
Change your password often on ebay if you are going to buy or sell there too. good luck
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
18 Mar 07
Actually, I believe it's "https" for the secure sites (the "s" at the end).
@maria_k (925)
• United States
16 Mar 07
As a matter of being cautious, I never open any email sending from paypal even a notification of payment received. i go to the wepage instead.
@kneetoeg (10)
• United States
17 Mar 07
About a year ago I had posted some things for sale on ebay. Pretty soon I had gotten an email about a BMW for sale under my user ID (in Mexico). Well, I didn't have a BMW for sale, changed my ebay user ID, and never heard another word. I'm guessing it was a stolen vehicle. Don't know how they would have gotten you credit card, unless they guessed your ebay password. Ebay does have your credit card, you needed one to sign up for an account. remember?
It just goes to show you, nothing is sacred when the internet is concerned.
Good luck, and my advise even though I'm not very good at it myself is to change your passwords about every 6 months.
1 person likes this
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Wow, I hope nothing else comes out of it. I hope you stopped it before it got too far out of hand and thanks for the heads up. Maybe it will help someone else so they don't get caught up in the same thing.
@UcoksBaBa (800)
• Indonesia
17 Mar 07
# Never Pay by Western Union or refilling someone's Debit Card or by Wire Transfer. If you send Check, Cashier's Check or Money Order - beware you will not be able to get your money back if the seller is a scammer and just dissappears with your funds. If you pay by Paypal be sure your backup funding is a Credit Card, so if you never receive your item, you can contact your credit card company and file claim for non delivery of goods.
# Never agree to pay via unknown escrow website, scammers have been known to create fake escrow websites just for the purpose of defrauding eBay buyers, if you wish to use escrow website then escrow.com should be the only option.
1 person likes this
@vampirestonez (1181)
• Pakistan
17 Mar 07
Well then more a person takes measures against scams, the more techniques the scammers develop to fish money out of our pockets or rather bank accounts.
It is always best not to visit the sites you can't trust but then again I also agree with the fact that sometimes I also end up opening such sites thinking that it might contain some relevant information, however it is not so.
I do hope that this matter gets sorted out.
All the Best!
1 person likes this
@Alaria (59)
• United States
17 Mar 07
I believe it is connected. Phishing is used all the time for identity theft. they most likely have other info on you and are able to track you happened to me ...change all your accounts asap. ASAP! Don't wait and take a chance okay
a hassle but better than having your bank account cleaned out or worse. Good luck
1 person likes this
