posted on June 7, 2004 08:34:50 AM new
Yesterday I got and email that asked "How much would you charge to ship a cup and saucer to the U.S., and how much for each additional ones". Well, I have cups and saucers on eBay and Bidville, but I was not sure about the email, it didn't come through "ask seller a question. So I replied, and today I am inundated with spam emails, supposedly from Bidville, eBay and Paypal. I just got another email that says,
Hi,
Could you inform me what the shipping charge would be to zip 44077.....USA?
Thanks
I guess if it was genuine, they think I am a mind reader, I only have about 150 auctions running!!
posted on June 7, 2004 01:42:31 PM new
Yes, I have forwarded them all. How do you know when you get a question about postage that it is not authentic? I like to answer all questions, and some of the ones from Bidville don't come through the site, but directly. The last one I got gave an invalid auction #, so that one was easy.
Before you open the email, check the auction number if there is one in the subject line. That's what I do.
I can't help with Bidville, don't know a thing about it.
However, as far as eBay, the legitimate seller question emails I've gotten recently don't have a number at all. Here's the subject line from one: Question from eBay Member: Moon Maiden Cross Stitch Chart by De La Tour Designs. Notice it has the auction title, not the number.
posted on June 7, 2004 02:33:34 PM new
Lucy, the one I answered had no auction # at all, just "cup and saucer", and as I sell them, I thought it might be legit.
posted on June 7, 2004 03:00:15 PM new
I have had several phony question for seller emails. They usually stare the subject line with a "Re:" and then it has a phony auction number. Inside it asks "how much is shipping to (some state)? there is a link to an auction with a number that is different than the one in the subject line. The description of the item is something I'm not selling. Attempting to click on the link takes you to what appears to be the "Invalid Item" page on Ebay, but it's a spoof page that will load a trojan horse onto your hard drive. The trojan is a keystroke recorder and is an attempt to steal passwords. Clicking on the full headers reveals that most of these spoofs originate in Germany and start through a server or site called "The Bat".
Never click on a link in a spoof email unless you're certain your anti virus program is 100% current in its updates.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 7, 2004 03:00:44 PM new
when I get an email like that, I check the user id in the email against whatever ebay has. If the id shows up as valid ebay, I then check the feedback. If they have a decent feedback, I reply right away to their email. If there is zero, I stop there. See if they have bid on anything etc before answering the email. It isn't a food proof method, just something I do to try to be a little cautious.
posted on June 7, 2004 03:23:47 PM new
Problem is there was no user ID, no auction #. I didn't click on any link, never do, just answered the question, but that obviously let someone know that they had got through to someone. Probably sold my email address to other people by now. Oh well, no real harm, just a lot more deleting!!
Hijack this will tell you what is running in the background of your computer, like keyloggers. You will have to download it and run it and then ask over at the Forums there if they see anything unusual. They are very good at what they do.
That being said, I'm having to change my husband's email address since he clicked on something somewhere and he gets not just spam, but LOADS of spam every day, every hour every minute. I've tried everything I know how to do and I finally just gave up and decided to change it.
