Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Recognizing Spoof or Fake eMails from eBay

Even though I have been selling on eBay since 2003, I still get a little nervous when I receive emails that say my account has been suspended, or some other threatening message. Most of them are fake and should not cause any concern. Here is a quick video about how to recognize if the emails are really from eBay, and a few tips on how to handle them:



Summary:

1. Never click on any links in these emails! If it is real, the email will be in your eBay My Messages folder. Go there and check.

2. The email usually has a return address with a slight variation of eBay.com.

3. The grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation will usually be poor.

4. The language will be threatening and call for immediate action on your part. The idea is to scare you into clicking on something so the unscrupulous person sending the email can gain access to your account.

5. If you get one, report it to spoof@ebay.com 6. See the eBay Help page about this topic here.

I've been slack on my YouTube videos for the past year, however, I will be making more of these short tutorial-style videos on a regular basis. Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can receive updates in your inbox as soon as they are posted.

Be safe online!

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