Ebay and paypal spoof mails. Please read

[the insaan]

At the suggestion of some users and with Admin approval and I am posting this as a sticky. Some new users are unsure about whether emails they are getting supposedly from ebay or paypal are genuine and I hope this thread will be able to reassure users how to deal with them and what to look for. All follow up posts are welcome as I am sure to have missed something. In future please don't post suspicious emails to the main forum, either follow the advice on here or post them here..

The first line of a phishing mail is usually the give away. Both ebay and paypal will address you by name, anything that starts "dear user" or by your email address is a fraud.

Beware of emails asking you to update your personal information within the email or via a website. eBay & PayPal will never ask you for your account or credit card details, username or password in any communications.Always open a new browser and type in the address yourself to ensure you are visiting the genuine websites.

If you are in any doubt that an email you have received or a website you have visited is fraudulent, report it immediately to spoof@ebay.co.uk or spoof@paypal.co.uk and forward the entire email. They will reply promptly letting you know whether or not the email or website is fake or genuine. If you are in any doubt at all, always check - it is worth taking the time to be sure. (copied from ebay website)

The ebay tutorial dealing with spoof emails is at:

eBay - Page Not Found

As long as you only log into ebay and paypal in a browser window you have opened yourself you will be fine. Remember to change your passwords frequently and use a random selection of letters and numbers. Never use the same password for both paypal and ebay. Never leave yourself logged into ebay, always do a full log off when you leave the site. Never share your ebay account details with anyone in case they are not as security minded as you.

Remember that the "From" field of an email can easily be altered - it is not a reliable indicator of the true origin of the email.

keep safe

[Realist]

Nice one M8, more info like this we could do with so the masses (or few) know whats going on.

[pokerpool]

had 4 of these myself fowarded them straight to ebay they sorted it havnt had any since .thx for info will look out for this in future

[SAT-WORLD]

Another way,though not 100% foolproof.
Is to install the Ebay toolbar,this has a account guard tab.
If you receive an email supposedly from Ebay or Paypal,and you mistakenly open them or click on a link in the email,then the account guard tells you that the link or website is a spoof site,and you can report the site,just by pressing the account guard tab.
Anyone and everyone using Ebay should download the Ebay toolbar,simply for this potection.
eBay: Sell: eBay Toolbar

[zander]

thx toolbar worked a treat well for now

[diapason]

I had two, pretending to be from PayPal, and telling me that someone owed me money but not in pounds. I forwarded to Paypal and they confirmed it was a fraud. They all start with "Dear PayPal User" not using your name, so beware!!