Identity Theft on eBay - A True Story

[Chippewa]

A couple of weeks ago I received an email that had every appearance of being a legitimate eBay inquiry about an issue in my account. It used the full eBay logos, used all the right language, had links to other "eBay" pages, etc. I had heard about the phony eBay communications but this one looked perfectly legit. After clicking on the link to eBay it asked me to enter my password to log in, which I did. I then thought better of giving more information and backed out of the screens.

 

On Monday morning at 5AM I received two emails from eBay confirming changes in my email address and password. I found I was locked out of accessing my eBay account.

 

I then sent through the live chat help feature in eBay and after a few minutes of exchanging information was told that my account had been "compromised" and that someone else was listing merchandise for sale under my account through a hotmail email address. eBay then closed out those auctions, shut off the new email address and let me set up a new password.

 

I will be a lot more careful in the future. This is just a heads-up to those of you who may access eBay only infrequently. If I had discarded the eBay messages as spam and not looked at my eBay account for a month (as sometimes happens), this thief could have ruined my account and ripped off a lot of bidders for thousands of dollars.

[Oldtrader3]

You were lucky and caught the problem quickly. EBay has the reputation of not being too dilligent about policing account irregularities and activities on their site. Also EBay has been chided in the press about lax or slow enforcement action against cheaters.

[comicdonna]

Someone from a different country took over my ebay account once, and listed a motorcycle. When I confronted him about it he said it was an accident, and he is going through the same thing. I also had to sit through the live chat and have the listing erased, and changed my password.

[BankNote1]

I get that kind of stuff everyday in my e-mail from eBay and also PayPal. I also get 2nd notice (legit looking) e-mails as well. Of course they aren't from the real seller. I don't even open it.

[EZ_E]

A month ago, a woman in the San Bernadino area somehow got ahold of my ATM debit/VISA acct # and charged $1200 worth of flowers, etc. Luckily I caught it quick with my online banking.

 

What is strange is that I haven't been in that area for over 10 years, am careful with my receipts and didn't loose my card. I'm still puzzled at how she got my info. Most likely she was an employee somewhere and stole the card info.

 

My credit union promptly refunded the money, however, after I filled out the necessary paper work.

[Oldtrader3]

I got picked off by a waiter in an Olive Garden Restaurant after tipping him 20%. He charged several hundred in on line porn overnight. The restaurant Manager didn't even say he was sorry, or even that he would look into it. Needless to say, that Olive Garden never got any more business from me or my family.

[EZ_E]

Bummer, OT3.

 

In August 2000 I had my keys stolen out of the cat scan suite where I worked and the alarm control allowed the thief to find my car and steal it. I had $400 cash which I had just won inside and my SSN and DL. The thief used my ID to steal my identity and open various accounts under my name. It took two years to finally get it all off of my credit report after submitting everything twice.

 

[melmcbee]

These are horrible stories. I can only imagine the aggravation that these situations caused each of you. This is scary. My family hassles me about putting my info on the internet to purchase items through ebay and other businesses. I also pay my bills online. Are the places we shop at secure? Can someone steal our info and take us for everything we have? I don't respond to those emails but it still worries me that maybe I have trusted the internet too much.

[EZ_E]

Mel,

 

I don't think that the internet is as much of a problem as good old-fashioned thievery!

 

The paper trail is more of a threat, IMO, than secured internet transactions. That is why scammers have to dupe the individual into giving him the required information. I'm sure that there are exceptions, however.

[Chippewa]

The story is not over yet. About two hours after posting the original post I received another email from eBay telling me that somebody just set up a selling account with my credit card.

[numismaniac-migration]

I also keep getting e-mails from E-bay-looking sites . One tells me that someone used my account to fraudulently purchase items. It has a link to a page that looks like a genuine-E-bay-login screen. All the details are right. So, as a test, I logged in under a completely bogus username&password (profanities). It allowed me to pass through and still asked me to update info (credit card#,name,address,bank,debit pin#, etc.The fake site is actually hosted on a webpage in French, probably in Canada, as a lot of internet fraud seems to originate there.

****REMEMBER*** Any website that you've registered with already has your info, and has no need to update it. A legitimate request for info will ask you to login on their server, and update from there, never from an e-mail link.

 

 

 

 

Where E-bay is concerned, I also noticed that they seem to drag their heels when it comes to catching these people. I guess they don't care who gets the shaft, s long as it's not them.

[James_OldeTowne]

HOLY !@#$!

 

These are extremely valuable warnings, and I'm only sorry we have to learn from your unfortunate circumstances!

 

I automatically view any email from "ebay", "paypal", "citibank", etc. as fraudulent. I mean, even if I miss something, the worst that will happen is they will temporarily disable your account (which has happened to me), pending you calling them and taking care of whatever outstanding issues there are.

 

I've also more and more returned to always using cash at restaurants, etc. I love the convenience of credit cards, but they can get you in trouble in more ways then one!

 

SORRY to hear of your situation, and hope you get everything rectified quickly!

 

James

[Beijim]

These are horrible stories. I can only imagine the aggravation that these situations caused each of you. This is scary.

 

I agree and commiserate. The key information to safeguard is your Social Security number. For years any random business would ask for it, and people would give it up without a second thought. The problem is that this number acts, in effect, as a database key for almost every piece of important financial information in your life. For example, someone can pull your credit report with it.

 

If someone asks you to provide your Social Security number, ask why. The only legitimate (and technically legal) situations in which you must provide the number are those involving tax reporting and the administration of Social Security accounts. In all other situations, ask if there's another way to achieve your goal, and mention that identity theft is a major problem.

 

Beijim

[SilverDollarMan]

A couple of weeks ago I received an email that had every appearance of being a legitimate eBay inquiry about an issue in my account. It used the full eBay logos, used all the right language, had links to other "eBay" pages, etc. I had heard about the phony eBay communications but this one looked perfectly legit. After clicking on the link to eBay it asked me to enter my password to log in, which I did. I then thought better of giving more information and backed out of the screens.

 

On Monday morning at 5AM I received two emails from eBay confirming changes in my email address and password. I found I was locked out of accessing my eBay account.

 

I then sent through the live chat help feature in eBay and after a few minutes of exchanging information was told that my account had been "compromised" and that someone else was listing merchandise for sale under my account through a hotmail email address. eBay then closed out those auctions, shut off the new email address and let me set up a new password.

 

I will be a lot more careful in the future. This is just a heads-up to those of you who may access eBay only infrequently. If I had discarded the eBay messages as spam and not looked at my eBay account for a month (as sometimes happens), this thief could have ruined my account and ripped off a lot of bidders for thousands of dollars.

 

The eXact thing happened to me 3 times. Unfortunately the 1st time they got me. On dec 19, 2004. The theives were called 'semp' My cred card company called and ask if i was in valencia, spain? wtf?

oh well, BEWARE!

[xJack]

I get scam e-mails from "ebay" and "paypal" every other day - I stopped forwarding them to ebay a long time ago because their two automated responses are more annoying than the original scam.

 

Funny thing is, these scams come to two of my e-mail accounts that aren't even registered on eBay!

[Oldtrader3]

About a year ago, Merrill Lynch called me regarding my CMA VISA. Their entire database, with all it's security, had been compromised.

 

Also, I was burglarized last summer. I woke at 2:00 AM to find (2) men standing next to my bed emptying out my closet. They got (2) Colt Peacmakers, (4) flyrods and assorted tackle and tried to steal all my stereo gear by piling it in the woods to pick up later. I yelled and called 911. There were (4) cop cars here (lights and no sirens) with a black Alsatian in (2) minutes. The dog found my stereo equipment and almost caught the thieves as they were cleaning out a painter's van behind the apartments.

 

It is a scary world out there. Even in lil ole Bellingham.

[coin1960-migration]

Thank you for your story. I had received the same email and hadn't really thought much of it at the time. After seeing this i went to check my transactions and found i was suspended from ebay. I believe now it is taken care of and better yet, no charges have been made to my credit card. Looks like i got to things in time. Thanks again!

[SilverDollarMan]

I get scam e-mails from "ebay" and "paypal" every other day - I stopped forwarding them to ebay a long time ago because their two automated responses are more annoying than the original scam.

 

Funny thing is, these scams come to two of my e-mail accounts that aren't even registered on eBay!

 

I believe they r spam...cause i get them on several different E Addy's.

[EZ_E]

About a year ago, Merrill Lynch called me regarding my CMA VISA. Their entire database, with all it's security, had been compromised.

 

Also, I was burglarized last summer. I woke at 2:00 AM to find (2) men standing next to my bed emptying out my closet. They got (2) Colt Peacmakers, (4) flyrods and assorted tackle and tried to steal all my stereo gear by piling it in the woods to pick up later. I yelled and called 911. There were (4) cop cars here (lights and no sirens) with a black Alsatian in (2) minutes. The dog found my stereo equipment and almost caught the thieves as they were cleaning out a painter's van behind the apartments.

 

It is a scary world out there. Even in lil ole Bellingham.

 

Sorry, Charlie.

 

Sux to hear what happened to you. It is amazing the audacity of certain thieves and individuals. Too bad that the thieves didn't get the recieving end of your Colt 45 Peacemakers!