One thing that has stood out to me since I’ve been a user on EBay is the growing amount of emails I receive. The email claimed to be either EBay or PayPal in an attempt to steal your details to gain access to your accounts and sometimes even try to get your bank details!
Consequently, I felt that my next article should be how to determine EBay and PayPal Spoof email!
You recognize that a spoof email from EBay or PayPal can be quite difficult at first. Mainly because the URL appears to be EBay or PayPal, and the familiar logos and graphics of EBay and PayPal look authentic. But when you have a good amount of these emails sent to you, you soon realize that they all seem to follow the same pattern. So it helps you to identify the emails that are most frequent;
PayPal or EBay due to suspension –
These emails saying your account may be suspended or suspended for a certain date if you do not take immediate action. Some look more real than others. They ask you to click on the link below to correct the problem which will then take you to a fake eBay login screen where your eBay team username and password will be stolen! Danger if you don’t recognize the signs.
But these emails are easy to identify as eBay or PayPal don’t usually send out emails about account suspension. If, however, you are concerned about your account; login to eBay manually from your internet browser to be safe.
The first time I requested an email address I was quite worried that my account had been suspended and I clicked on the link without any connection. I suspect and luckily my virus software picked up an abnormal symbol on my website (like eBay) and immediately told me to close the page. When I looked closer at the URL I could see the URL “ebay.signin” etc. It was across the street from the official eBay site. Since then I have been very cautious and always manually log on to eBay.
EBay or PayPal Foreign Access –
These emails indicate that someone is trying to access your accounts from another I.P. address. Some will even show you fake I.P addresses and locations from where your account is accessed. These letters are clearly spoof emails, as they claim that someone is trying to access your account from a different I.P address; It’s just not right that “someone” here could access your account from another location. They could never know.
PayPal sent payment –
These SCAM letters claim that an ordinary PayPal payment was attempted and sent. I receive a request that they sent me $170 without my knowledge, and then they have a link saying if you don’t authorize this payment then “click here” which takes you to the PayPal page where they will try and steal your username and password. This is easy, as you know, when you send a real payment to PayPal, there is almost nothing to mention about the legitimacy and if PayPal suspects that a foreign payment is being attempted, they will only hold the payment until they have proof of real identity.
EBay is the name of PayPal –
If the email addresses you or your name or your eBay username it most likely is.
For example a genuine email from eBay would say “Hello Bluemonkey-ebooks….winners etc.” If an email addresses you with your email “Hi, [email protected]…you’re a winner…etc” then you know this is a spoof email.
Inappropriate use of company logo graphics –
Many of the email scammers use eBay and PayPal graphics in their emails in an attempt to look authentic, however some use too much weight and when compared to an authentic email can be quite easily identified as a SCAM!
If you review an email using the tips above, make sure you don’t click on any of the links that are inside that email. If it’s an eBay spoof to [email protected] or if it’s a PayPal scam to [email protected], as soon as it’s sent – I’ll delete it immediately. Better to be safe than sorry!
It is always best to log in to eBay or manually change your PayPal password regularly. Don’t get caught…
