Question
I just received three SPOOF e-mails (I think) from “aw-confirm*ebay.com”. All three were addressed to an e-mail address my hubby uses (that has nothing to do with eBay). All three were close to his actual address but not exact.
The e-mails contained the eBay logo and said someone was using my account, quoted a “fraud alert code”, blah, blah, and of course had a link to click on (ya right, I’m not that stupid)!
I thought I read somewhere that you could look at the “code” of who it was sent from to determine if it is legitimate. How do I do that?
I also remember someone saying that even looking at a spoof e-mail in preview mode (not opening it) can cause virus problems. Something to do with how you have your e-mail settings?
Arrrrrgggg. I promise to copy down what you tell me. I can’t believe I don’t have this info squired away somewhere. I have kept track of most other things I have learnt here.
BTW, this happened on my hubby’s IBM computer. We registered my buyers account on it because he has a different IP than me. When I set up my sellers account, I will do so on my pretty macintosh with my different IP.
Answer
Hi Canuck. My rule of thumb is.......If they don't address me BY MY NAME, not my email address, but my name,......then it's deleted immediately. I think all legitimate eBay and Paypal emails use your proper name.
Could be wrong, but oh well, in the trash it goes without a name.
Pat
Answer
I used to try to teach people how to look at the source of an HTML mail message, but many of them just didn't get it, and I don't know how to make it any clearer.
Here's one basic thing everyone needs to understand about HTML.
In this thread, "I think I'm being SPOOFED, help please" really means " is the eBay page about such things. Read it, then read it again.
Then stop opening those emails!
Answer
Originally Posted by dstuber
Remember, if you don't send the header, they cannot trace the offender, only tell you if the email is legitimate or not. With the header, they can send the offender their very own Secret Service visitor. And I bet that isn't a fun visit. But that is how we eliminate this stuff. Send your phisher their very own FBI or Secret Service agent visitor today...
THANKS dstuber. WHY doesn't the header show when you "forward" the e-mail to eBay? I don't understand that.
Meya, I didn't open (right click, double click) the e-mails. We looked at them from the spam filter in preview mode. I know better than to open them! We also have a firewall. My hubby has been receiving these things for several years but since I registered I asked him to let me look at any pretending to be eBay. Now that I am part of the eBay community I want to help if I can.
I will also check out the eBay link you provided. Thanks!
Edited to add this:
I just read the following on the link Meya provided: "eBay will never ask you to provide sign-in passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information through email. If we request information from you, we will always direct you back to the eBay site. With very few exceptions, you can submit the requested information through your "My eBay" page."
This in itself says alot. If you receive ANY email asking for private info, there is a very good chance it is not legit.
Answer
Last time I checked the forward feature, the header is stripped off and yours is placed there by the client. So, they get a real good picture of your traffic, not the original sender. This is probably dependent upon the email client used.
I've had FBI directly and PayPal on the phone tell me to be sure to copy the header, so I rely on that advice. I noticed eBay on their recent spoof page mentioned only forwarding the email, but also mentioning they need the header. So choose for yourself.
Answer
A thing that really startled me just recently was.....
I had a spoof email.....and the greeting was using my FIRST name....
I almost thought it was legit......
Without opening the email, you can view the properties of it, and
see the actual email message.
Needless to say, that one got deleted real fast.......
Just don't click on links in emails.
Go directly to the site yourself by opening a window, and typing the url in like for ebay or paypal.