The EBAY "BARGAIN"

Brilliant - I just read through the lot.
I see this kind of thing on a daily basis, managing my company's IT systems. Fair dues to Mr. R. Pist for pushing it as far as he did. (I love the names).

Also, that recent Paypal scam mentioned by Dave was a good one. I received about 20 emails over a week asking for confirmation of my details, however it was to an email address that I had never divulged to PayPal, so it had to be fake from the start.

Always be wary buying on-line. A misspelling, bad grammer, unsecure site (not https://), are usually giveaways. But the bad guys are getting better. You'd be surprised at the number of 'intelligent' people that have been scammed like this. For rurther reading on this matter I recommend the book "Cyber Alert" by Peter Warren and Michael Streeter.

Also, that recent Paypal scam mentioned by Dave was a good one. I received about 20 emails over a week asking for confirmation of my details, however it was to an email address that I had never divulged to PayPal, so it had to be fake from the start.

Common sense applies - never confirm any financial details unless you have initiated the call. A favourite phishing tactic these days is the phone call you get from your 'credit card company'. They've taken a bill from your recycle bin so they have your name, address and card number which they tell you. They also tell you that there has been some suspicious purchases on your card which they are investigating.

Then they ask you for the 3 digit code on the back of the card for confirmation that you are really you. This is the real reason for the phone call. They can't get this number anywhere else and seeing as they have all your other details you give them this. Now they have everything they need to use your card online. And you're expecting to see dodgy purchases cos your cc company told you so so you do nothing about it for a month or two.

I'll repeat the moral of the story: give no details out unless you initiate the call.

I've actually never used ebay but I regularly use astromart, has anyone here seen /experianced anything strange there??

THE EBAY RESPONSE


Hello XXXX,

Thank you for writing back to us regarding the suspect auction that you
mentioned in your email. Please allow me the opportunity to assist you
further.

Unfortunately the items recently listed with this account were the
result of an unauthorised account takeover. We were not aware of this
until some time after the listings appeared on the site. Once we became
aware of this activity, immediate action was taken. We are now restoring
the account to its owner.

How Account Takeovers occur:
- If the user had a simple password it is possible that a third party
was able to gain access to the account by guessing the password.

- It is also possible that the user could have unknowingly provided his
or her password to another party. Some eBay users have reported
receiving messages asking for User IDs and passwords. These messages
appear to come from eBay Support, but in fact are not. eBay will never
ask for sensitive information of this nature through email.

- Finally, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that
log and record what you type. I recommended that you keep your virus
alert software up-to-date, and check your system often for problems. A
firewall for high-speed Internet users is also highly recommended.

Expensive Items:
I suggest that you are extra cautious when purchasing expensive items,
especially if the price seems too good to be true. In most cases, a
verified escrow service should be used when purchasing expensive items.

Warning:
Please note that we do not permit cash or instant cash transfer systems
(such as Western Union or Moneygram) as payment methods on eBay. These
services are designed to send money to people you know. Generally, if
payment is sent using an instant cash transfer service and the item is
not delivered as promised, there is no chance of recovering your money.

If these are the only methods of payment being offered by the seller, we
recommend that you do not send payment and report the listing to us
using our Contact Us system:

Johnno

Talking about an ebay bargain, look at this!

cgi.ebay.ie/Orion-Optics-DX300-12-Newton...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And yes its mounted on the vixen gp dx mount!

I just saw this on astromart,
www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=417171
First time I've seen a warning like this on the site.