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eBay Fraud: Hackers are stealing passwords using eBay's messaging system

Just got a "Question for Seller" email this morning from the eBay messaging system.

Hello I saw your listing and I am very interested to buy your item. Only a problem: I saw the same listing on eBay with the same photo and description as yours... I posted here the link if you want to see the other one.
http://signin-ebay-com-z.by.ru
Is that legal? Waiting for your answer. Thanks Christine

 

I took off the end of the link so it does not work but it leads back to a russian web domain and it looks exactly like the eBay sign in screen. This one was very good and it almost fooled me and I have never fallen for one of these schemes. The actual html for the eBay sign in screen starts like this https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn&UsingSSL=1&pUserId.

What made me forget personal web security for a moment was the way the message was written. The buyer was telling me someone was copying my pictures and text and was asking me about the legalities. It was a very slick bit of misdirection that almost worked. Chances are, after you sign in you will get a message telling you it is an invalid item but by then, the hackers have your password.

Be careful at times for people trying to steal your passwords. I have seen numerous spoof emails supposedly from "eBay" and "Paypal" that are pretty obvious fakes. This is the first time I have received one through eBay's own messaging system. Most likely, the person I received the message from has had his or her own account hijacked.

Never click on a link no matter where the email came from. Always open up a new browser winder and go directly to the site to input your password.

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Philadelphia e-Commerce Examiner

Ken Price, a retired U.S. Navy sailor, is now a full-time seller with more than 10 years of online e-commerce experience on eBay and other selling...

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