Spoof Emails Becoming More 'Realistic'

Two day ago I received an email invite from "eBay" to become a power seller. I don't meet the criterior so was suspicious but the email was so convincing I (without thinking) clicked the hyperlink. I suddenly realized I shouldn't have done and immediately changed my password on the real Ebay just in case, checked the messages on there and it wasn't sent from them and sent the email to their spoof addy.

These spoof emails are becoming more convincing so this is a note to ask all eBayers to be extra, extra careful. The spellings and formats are not always a tell tale sign anymore, one simple error may not be spotted at first (this particular email isn't free of mistakes but easily overlooked). Please always check with eBay to see if they have sent you a message in "My Ebay" or if time is short hover your cursor over the hyperlink and the real URL will be revealed, just don't click it.

If in doubt, do nowt! and send it to spoof@ebay.com they will tell you if it's real or not.

Another example came today. My billing cycle is for the 1st to the 5th of the month so it's even appeared at the right time, I've not yet received the real one. Fortunately I paid my invoice yesterday on eBay so I knew I couldn't owe anything just yet. Having checked with eBay, this is another spoof, like I say it's very convincing.

You will have to imagine the frilly bits around the straight text.

"eBay Invoice for Friday, December 2, 2005


Your monthly eBay Invoice is now available for online viewing.
Invoice Date: December 2, 2005
Amount Due: 4.60

You can review your current Invoice details and Account Status at any time by clicking this link:
View Invoice

For future reference, you can access your invoice by following these steps:

Go to the eBay Home page.
Click My eBay at the top of the page, and sign in with your eBay User ID and password.
Click the "Seller Account" link (below My Account in the left navigation menu).
Click the "Invoice" link.

eBay requires payment in full each month if your invoice has a balance of .00 or more.

eBay Invoice Schedule

Depending on when you created your seller's account, your invoice date is either the 15th of the month or the last day of the month. You'll receive your invoice by email within five days of the invoice date.

eBay Billing Cycles

Billing Cycle Date When will I receive my invoice?
15th of the month Between the 16th and 25th of the month
Last day of the month Between the 1st and 5th of the month
You can determine your invoice date by checking your account info:

Payment Due Date

Your invoice will include your previous month's account activity as well as any past due amounts. Your full payment is due by the next invoice date. For example, if you receive an invoice on May 16th, your payment is due by June 15th.

Your payment will be automatically processed and your payment due date met if you:

Have a valid credit card on file
Are signed up for PayPal automatic payments
Are signed up for eBay Direct Pay
If you do not have a valid credit card on file or are not signed up for PayPal or Direct Pay, eBay needs to receive your payment by the next invoice date for your account to stay current. Learn more about available payment methods.

eBay Automatic Payment Schedule

Invoice Date When will my PayPal account be debited? When will my checking account be debited? When will my credit card be charged?
15th of the month No earlier than 10 days after you receive your invoice.
No earlier than the 5th of the following month. *

5 to 7 days after receipt of invoice
Last day of the month No earlier than 10 days after you receive your invoice. No earlier than the 20th of the following month.*
5 to 7 days after receipt of invoice
Note: In the event your seller's account is suspended for any reason, any amount due on your account will immediately become due and payable. eBay reserves the right to immediately charge any amount you have not previously disputed to the payment method that you are using.

Failure to Make Payment on Your eBay Account

eBay requires payment in full each month on accounts with balances of .00 or more. You will be billed a late payment charge of 1.5% of the balance past due or the highest amount permitted by applicable law-whichever is lower-if payment of your balance has not taken place by the payment due date. You will be charged interest the day after the payment due date. Your account may be suspended for non-payment, and you may be responsible for collection costs.

Regards,

eBay
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This message was edited Dec 2, 2005 2:04 PM

My DH fell victim to one of these scams a few months ago. He kept getting emails saying that his account was past due and he was going to lose it. One day he clicked on the link provided in the email and ended up filling out a form to "renew" his account. A few days later he couldn't use his debit card because (luckily) our bank had closed it down. He called them to find out why and they said that someone in Spain tried to use his account number the day before!

We contacted Ebay about this and they said they will never send any emails with a URL link in it. If you ever get an email with a link in it to another site, then that email is NOT from Ebay.

Hi, Baa.

I do not think eBay ought to call them "spoofs." A spoof is generally a harmless thing. These are not harmless. My wife and I have received close to ten of them. The perpetrators must be sending them out by the many millions.

Thanks for your warning post.

Thank you both.

Perservere1

My dictionary (Compact Oxford English) says a spoof is 1. A parody, 2. A hoax or swindle. However it now also has a specific definition in regards to the web and computers too so perhaps it isn't eBay that started the term http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spoof.html

My dictionary (Webster's New World Dictionary on PowerCD) says a spoof is 1. A joke or deception, 2. A light parody or satire.

I would not say that a deception is harmless.