ebay... well they were on it for once

[RD]

got on the computer this morning to see that I could not log onto my ebay account.  I was puzzled because I knew I did not change my password.  Then it dawned on me, I used my laptop last night (wireless) and viewed my account!  S***  I opened up my email and found two emails from ebay saying:

Dear racedodge (racedodge@hotmail.com),

It appears your account was accessed by an unauthorized third party and used to place several listings on eBay or to alter some of your current listings. Additionally, the email address on your account may have been tampered with, which is why you may not have received any emails about these listings.

At this time we have taken several steps to secure your eBay account. We were also able to end all unauthorized listings on your account without incident. At the time the listings were ended, all associated fees were credited to your account. Rest assured that your credit card and banking information is safe on the eBay site. This information is kept encrypted on a secure server and cannot be viewed by anyone.

To regain control of your account, please complete the following:

1. Change the password on your personal EMAIL account to verify that it is secure and cannot be accessed by anyone other than you.
2. Change the password on your eBay account. To do so, click the "Forgot your password" link on the eBay sign-in page and change your password using the instructions provided.
3. Follow the steps below to secure your account:
> Click on the "Security & Resolution Center" link found at the bottom of most eBay pages.
> Click on the "eBay Account Protection" link in the "Online Security Resources" box. This will take you to the help page titled "Securing Your Account and Reporting Account Theft."
> Follow the instructions provided in "Securing Your Account".

As you take these steps, please be aware that you may need to repeat the instructions provided above or use the "Back" button on your Web browser to return to the "Securing Your Account" page.

We have provided some additional information below to explain how this may have occurred.

Unsolicited or "spoofed" email messages

There have been a number of email messages recently sent to eBay members asking them to click on links and provide their user ID and password. These unsolicited or "spoofed" messages appear to come from eBay Support, but in fact do not. eBay never requests sensitive information of this nature via email.

Any email sent to your registered eBay email address from eBay that affects your account, or from another eBay member via eBay's member-to-member communication system, will now appear in the My Messages portion of your My eBay page. If you receive a questionable email that asks you to click on a link and it is not in My Messages, do not click the link or enter any information. Forward the email to spoof@ebay.com and we will respond to you within minutes to tell you if it was really from eBay. This also lets us take quick action on the fake website to help protect other members.

To learn more about these fake or "spoof" eBay emails, visit the "Security Center" link found at the bottom of most eBay pages followed by the "Stopping spoof emails and Web sites" under "General Online Safety."

Password guessing

If you use a fairly simple or easy-to-guess password, it is possible that someone could guess it after repeated attempts. For this reason, it is important to use a password that consists of a combination of letters and numbers and is not related to your user ID, name, or anything you buy or sell. It is also important to use different passwords for the various online accounts you use (email, PayPal, etc).

Computer viruses

There are a number of computer viruses in circulation that log and record keystrokes. It is recommended that computer users keep their virus alert software up-to-date and regularly check for operating system and web browser updates. A firewall for high-speed internet users is also highly recommended.

Any inquiries regarding your password or other information about your account can be sent to us by clicking "Help" on any eBay page and then selecting "Contact Us."

If you are contacted with questions about the listings that were placed on your account or other related issues, please refer those individuals to the web address provided above.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc

AND

Dear racedodge (racedodge@hotmail.com),

We have ended the following listing(s) on your account as they appear to have been listed by a third party without your authorization:
110126381595 TaylorMade r7 DRAW 460 Driver Golf Club REGULAR 9.5
110126381934 TaylorMade r7 DRAW 460 Driver Golf Club REGULAR 9.5
110126382107 TaylorMade r7 DRAW 460 Driver Golf Club REGULAR 9.5
110126382403 TaylorMade r7 DRAW 460 Driver Golf Club REGULAR 9.5
110126383035 TaylorMade r7 460 Driver Golf Club
110126383180 TaylorMade r7 460 Driver Golf Club
110126383647 TaylorMade r7 460 Driver Golf Club
110126383902 TaylorMade r7 460 Driver Golf Club
110126384139 TaylorMade r7 460 Driver Golf Club
110126385258 New Taylor Made r7 460 Driver 10.5 Stiff MRH Golf Club
110126385548 New Taylor Made r7 460 Driver 10.5 Stiff MRH Golf Club
110126386298 Ping G5 Iron set Golf Club 3-pw REGULAR Steel
110126386465 Ping G5 Iron set Golf Club 3-pw REGULAR Steel
110126386714 Ping G5 Iron set Golf Club 3-pw REGULAR Steel
110126386930 Ping G5 Iron set Golf Club 3-pw REGULAR Steel
110126387114 Ping G5 Iron set Golf Club 3-pw REGULAR Steel
110126389581 07Ping Rapture Iron set Golf Club 4-PW Steel RH Stiff
110126389817 07Ping Rapture Iron set Golf Club 4-PW Steel RH Stiff
110126390014 07Ping Rapture Iron set Golf Club 4-PW Steel RH Stiff
110126391180 Callaway X-18 Iron set Golf Club
110126391557 Callaway X-18 Iron set Golf Club



Do not respond to this email, as your reply will not be received. You will be sent a separate notice detailing the action taken. Please refer to that notice for additional information related to this action, including steps you can take to restore access to your eBay account.

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)

suffice it to say, the ebay team kicked proverbial butt squaring up my user account without any issues.

sometimes they are screwy, but this time they saved me a crapload of money.

My hat is off to them and will be sending them a thank you letter for their hard work.

[Charger_Fan]

It sucks that happened in the first place, but you know what? It's nice to hear good news on this topic now & then, it definitely could have been a big headache for you.

[Rack]

I'm 99% sure your wireless connection isn't secured. For some reason these moronic cable companies don't secure them when they hook them up. It only takes about 1 minute to do so.

[RD]

I'm 99% sure your wireless connection isn't secured. For some reason these moronic cable companies don't secure them when they hook them up. It only takes about 1 minute to do so.

the wireless I have is from my work.  the laptop is theirs and I use an air card to log onto the internet.  I did not log onto the secure network like I should have, so it was definitely a lesson learned.  needless to say, I will not log onto ebay using this system ever again, until I can get reassurances from my IT dept that everything is kosher.

[bull]

Wow. Looks like they wasted no time on the scamming.

[Brock Samson]

   i'm not sure i understand, you bought a bunch of golf clubs on e-bay and they thought it was a scam or,..
some else tapped into your acount info to purchase the irons?..
in any case could not the clubs then be followed to their final destination to aprehend the perp/s?..
see this is why i dont do any transactions over the web... i've heard too damn many stories...

i just read it again,.. so it seems someone placed the clubs on e-bay attempting to hijack your account info,..
o.k. so where does the money trail lead?..
  why is it so hard?. 

[Todd Wilson]

I guess I am confused here. I would try and find out why your ebay account was tampered with. I do not see how using a "wireless" connection would cause you your problem. Packet sniffing software is expensive and I doubt someone is sniffing your wireless router looking for your ebay password. If you logged in via HTTPS then its a secure connection and it would take months to decipher the packet data from your laptop and get anything usefull out of it.


Your computer may have been infected with a program that is recording keystrokes and sending stuff to a remote location where someone could get your name and password for ebay.

I also wonder if you got a bullshit email and thought you had been messed with and you clicked on the link to take care of things and now your account is truely gonna get messed with.  You thought you had logged into ebay but it was another web site and you just gave em your info.

Heck you might have just bought John S's General Lee with the buy it now function!


Todd

[dkn1997]

Of course, they collected the listing fees from you before they cleared up your account, right?  They have to eat too!!!

[Recharger]

Not to add fuel to the paranoia fire that Todd just started, but my first thought in reading your quoted email was that Ebay should have addressed you by your name, not your sign-in name, correct?  They have your personal info on file and should address you by name to ensure that it's legit, right?  Check into this ASAP, RD, and lock down whatever's necessary to make sure no one gets into your personal business. 

Hopefully you're right and everything is legit and under control....  Good luck with it.

[Charger_Croatia]

Jamey, a while ago I've got similar message from e-Bay. But, since I'm not using e-Bay at all (kind of complicated to use it and organize transactions from Croatia) I did not pay any attention to that. My thought was "Oh well, I'm not using it so no harm if they have suspended my account"