"Fake" second chance offers - beware

[Guest]

[Roz]

A forum member has forwarded me a spoof second chance offer email, to be fair this was a pretty poor example, none of the html matched that of a normal second chance offer, but add to this that the ebay and forum member it was sent to is rather new to all this it was unsettling to say the least.

Take a look at this - I have personally purchased other items from the REAL seller of the original item, and I know that his name is not David.


Message from eBay Member dolsond75


Good news !!!
You expressed interest in an item titled (STAR WARS HERITAGE TRADING CARD SET WITH AUTOGRAPHS - Item number: 6282062390) by bidding, however the auction has ended with another member as the high bidder. In compliance with eBay policy, the seller ( DAVIDOLSON49@GMAIL.COM ) is making you this Second Chance Offer. The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because the winning bidder of this auction was unable to complete the transaction.In compliance with eBay policy , the seller of this item is making this Second Chance Offer to you at your LAST BID PRICE. If you accept this offer, you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a transaction, such as fraud protection. To purchase this item,contact the seller at (DAVIDOLSON49@GMAIL.COM ).After receiving this offer you are obligated to contact the seller (DAVIDOLSON49@GMAIL.COM ),accept or decline the offer.
Thank you,
eBay


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This request is related to item # 6282062390.
LINK REMOVED HERE (the link is wrong, the auction number is right!!!)

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Marketplace Safety Tips

Never respond to an unsolicited email that includes incentives to buy or sell an item off the eBay Marketplace. If you get such an email, please report it to eBay at LINK REMOVED.

Never pay for your eBay item through instant cash transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram - such services offer Internet shoppers no protection against fraud.


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Note: Immediately contact Rules & Safety (LINK REMOVED FROM HERE) Policies if one of eBay's rules were violated, such as:

- Your contact information was used for purposes unrelated to eBay business, published online or offline, or was used for the purposes of harassment.

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Thank you for using eBay!



I would not normally suggest that you post anyone's email address on the main forum as it could be picked up by spammers... but think about it - maybe that's partly why I've left it in   

Just something else to beware of guys

[Anna]

A good rule of thumb to follow is never accept any e-mail you receive from eBay or PayPal at face value.  Any second chance offers would show up in your My eBay page.  All e-mails sent to you by eBay will also appear in you eBay Messages, that's how you'll know it's a legitimate message from eBay.

If you're ever in any doubt, forward the e-mail to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com as applicable.

[Roz]

Yeah exactly - good advice. In fact if you don't know the source - try to avoid following any links from emails because they can be 'disguised' and may not be what they seem

This one in particular is already reported but I thought it might be handy to have it here too

[kbmum]

eBay recently issued an alert about this.  It's here, dated June 2 with a title of "***Online Safety: Protect Yourself from Spoof (Phishing) Email and Websites & Fake Second Chance Offers***."

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200606.shtml#2006-06-02120123

[padge77]

That's all such great sound advice people,as when I started off on  last year I was selling a brand new in box with 2 movies a psp console,I received an email from paypal that £400 had been deposited in my account,although the purchase figure was high ,I was new ,naieve and excited of making this much on it and sent it to the address which was a nigerian buyer.
Little did I know untill afterwards that the email was spoof and item I had shipped earlier that moring as when I checked my account there was nothing there,I thought it would take a few days to appear not really realising it was an instant transfer.
I have since learnt my lesson!!!

Also any emails you get from  or paypal will only go to the registered email address you have provided,if you have another email which is not registered and get emails from  or paypal asking you to update your details then don't as this is also a spoof email!!!

Cheers

Paul

[grecopa]

Yes, beware any purchases from Nigeria.  A CIA friend of mine told me that the government of Nigeria actually holds seminars on how to rip off foriegn businesses.

Also, I got 2 emails this past week.
One claimed to be from Paypal and told me that I had just purchased something for $200, and gave the item # to click if I wanted to check on it.

The other claimed to be an Ebay complaint saying I never payed for an item purchase.  Again it gave me an item # to click on.

I didn't click on either link.  Instead I went to Ebay and Paypal and saw nothing out of the ordinary on either.  BEWARE!

[kbmum]

I recently received both of those emails, too.  It's gotten to the point that I don't trust any email purporting to be from eBay or PayPal.  Now I go to those sites to check everything.  I received a legitimate email stating that I hadn't paid for an auction (not only had I paid, I had the card in my album and both the seller and I had left each other positive feedback ), but I didn't believe it because I knew I had completed the transaction.  It's a good thing I confirmed with eBay that the email was real.

[Morningangel-Iola]

Ebay tend to put your registered name on the email, which the spoofs don't tend to. I have the ebay tool bar which is very helpful as it lets you know you are on a proper ebay or paypal site, and tells you if you are giving away your details to a site which isn't theres.

[Anna]

Ebay tend to put your registered name on the email, which the spoofs don't tend to. I have the ebay tool bar which is very helpful as it lets you know you are on a proper ebay or paypal site, and tells you if you are giving away your details to a site which isn't theres.

I had read that you should never click on any of the links in these fraudulent e-mails.  Even if you don't enter anything, the link itself contain some kind of spyware.   It's safer just to look up if the message is legitimate in My eBay.

[Morningangel-Iola]

It probably depends how professional the links are weather they are infected or not. The one listed here sounds a bit to stupid to have done that but hay you never know