eBay Users: What You Need to Know About Phishing Scams
Are you an eBay user? Whether you use eBay to do your
online shopping or if you use eBay to generate extra income for
yourself, as an eBay seller, there is something that you need
to be aware of. As an eBay user, whether you are a seller or a
buyer, you need to be on the lookout for phishing scams.
Phishing scams are rapidly increasing in popularity and many
are using eBay as a front. To protect your identity, as well as
you finances, you need to be on the lookout for them.
If you are relatively new to eBay or online shopping in
general, you may not know exactly what phishing scams are. Do
you? If not, you should know that phishing scams are actually
complex online scams. A shady individual or a scammer makes a
fake website that is similar to eBay or at least a fake eBay
sign in page.
You are then sent an email that appears as if it was from
eBay. The only thing is that it wasn’t. The goal of a phishing
scam is to get you to visit the fake page and enter in your
eBay sign in information, including your eBay screen name and
your eBay password. Once a scammer has your information, they
get access to you personal information stored on eBay, as well
as free use of your eBay account.
One of the reasons why phishing scams are so easy to fall
victim to is because they give you the impression that is
something is wrong with you eBay account or that you did
something wrong yourself. For instance, many phishing scams
contain a message asking why you didn’t pay for an item that
you ordered or outline the fact that your eBay account has been
suspended.
The goal is to get you so worried that you will
automatically click on the link to get the problem solved;
however, as previously mentioned, the link takes you to a site
that looks just like eBay, but it isn’t. There is where the
trouble comes in.
If you get an eBay phishing scam email, you will want to do
a little bit of detective work, before actually clicking on the
link. In fact, you shouldn’t even click on the link. The first
thing that you will want to do is look at your name, as most
eBay phishing emails start with “Dear eBay Member,” or
something along those lines. Real eBay messages will refer to
you by your eBay screen name or even your real name.
You can also roll your mouse over the link provided to you
and see where it will actually take you. In most cases, you
will find that you are being directed to another site, not
eBay.com. All eBay messages should appear in your “My eBay,”
message box. To see if eBay really sent you an email, you can
log into your eBay account, from a brand new window that you
open up, and check your messages, if you even have any at
all.
If you do receive an eBay phishing scam email, you are
advised to contact eBay or examine eBay’s help center. There
you will find instructions on how to report the email or send a
copy of it to eBay. Although your first thought may be to
delete the eBay phishing scam email, you will actually want to
follow eBay’s reporting instructions. You may know that you are
being scammed, but other may not. Reporting an eBay phishing
scam to eBay allows them to take care of the problem; thus
likely reducing the number of eBay users who fall victim to
similar scams.
Now that you know exactly what eBay phishing scams are, you
are urged to be on the lookout for them. Keeping an open eye is
your best line of defensive against eBay phishing scams or any
phishing scams for that matter.
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