I think someone is using my old EBay account and maybe my old AOL e-mail account too! Need advice!

[Up2Late]

I'm almost positive about my EBay account being used, but I'm not absolutely sure about the AOL email account, here's why.

I recently cleared out a bunch of old email from my AOL E-mail box which I rarely ever use anymore. Thankfully I went online and was sorting though the Spam folder for mis-directed Al Gore, MoveOn and DCCC type email, when I noticed several from EBay.

One was: eBay Unpaid Item Reminder for Item #260124531384
for: Montrail Continental Divide Shoes, Men's 12 that I apparently won the auction for on June 1, 2007

Then the next one was an eBay New Message Received from Seller for Item #330082756410

eBay member bella10011 has left you a message regarding item Microeconomics by Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 0130084611 (#330082756410) on June-18-2007.

Thank you,
eBay
View the dispute thread
Respond Now
Details for item number: 330082756410
Item title: Microeconomics by Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 0130084611
Item URL:
End date: Saturday, June 23, 2007 00:15:34 PST
Quantity: 1
Dispute URL:
Date dispute was opened: Friday, June 22, 2007 03:11:10 PDT

And then apparently, I've been selling a lot of stuff on EBay too, because I've been "Up-Rated" to a "Power Seller" according to this email:

Congratulations! You've been on a super sales streak and since you've done so well, it's time to recognize your efforts. Your PowerSeller membership has been upgraded!
As a PowerSeller, you now have direct access to eBay representatives through a special hotline number [phone]. Share your questions, concerns and insights--call any time during business hours: 6AM - 6PM PST, Monday - Friday.

Important Tip:
Access your customized PowerSeller portal page, your gateway to all the great benefits of your new status, by clicking on the PowerSeller icon or by visting www.ebay.com/powerseller and clicking " Member Sign In."

See all the great benefits of your new status Now !

Here's the source code for this "Uprate" email, it looks like it came from the Czech Republic:

X-AOL-UID: xxxx.xxxxxxxxx
X-AOL-DATE: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 3:02:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Return-Path: <[e-mail]>
Received: from rly-yb02.mx.aol.com (rly-yb02.mail.aol.com <172.18.205.134>) by air-yb03.mail.aol.com (v117.7) with ESMTP id MAILINYB34-17f467c1caa308; Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:02:34 -0400
Received: from svr4.hsl.co.kr (bridgecomm.co.kr <61.38.129.94>) by rly-yb02.mx.aol.com (v117.7) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINYB23-17f467c1caa308; Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:02:07 -0400
Received: from User (win.bradac.uh.cz <80.251.246.104>)
(authenticated bits=0)
by svr4.hsl.co.kr (8.12.8/8.12.3) with ESMTP id l5MIvt4E005906;
Sat, 23 Jun 2007 03:57:59 +0900
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
From: "eBay"<[e-mail]>
Subject: Uprate your eBay account from Seller to PowerSeller!
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:59:42 +0200
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1251"
X-Priority: 1
X-MSMail-Priority: High
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by svr4.hsl.co.kr id l5MIvt4E005906
X-AOL-IP: xx.xx.xxx.xx

Now the reason I say my AOL account "might be compromised" is because I almost never use the account or check the mail there, and only noticed these after I cleaned out the old junk, so I'm wondering if:

A) Do you think someone has been using my email account (i.e. checking for, and then deleting their EBay mail without me noticing it)

Or

B) This is just an email scam to get me to enter my password or respond to these EBay Email that I shouldn't be getting?

Because, I haven't ever sold anything on EBay and haven't bought anything there since about May of 2002. I think I've looked around the site maybe 3 or 4 times since 2002, but that it. I don't know if the credit card I used to sign up with in 2002 is even still valid.

One of my major clues that this is a scam is in the "Uprate" email header above, I don't see my email address anywhere, but just to be on the safe side, I xxed out the AOL-IP address numbers and AOL-UID numbers. If those are actually numbers that correspond to my AOL addresses, I don't know, because I don't use numbers, I use names that I don't see in those addresses.

This AOL email box is the one I use mostly to sign up for websites that require an email address (sites that, even though you tell them not to send you "updates" or any messages, they always do after a while anyway) and I use it as a back-up dial up account for when the Cable Internet goes out.

So, should I contact EBay AND AOL or just EBay and change my Email password at AOL?:shrug:

Anyone here run into a scam like this before?

[Glimmer of Hope]

1. I received these emails before and they are just bogus emails

trying to get your info. I would contact Ebay live help asap just to make sure.

[Up2Late]

3. Did you get the Unpaid Item Reminder emails too or just the one that...

...said I'm now a Power Seller? Or all 3 types?:shrug:

[tkmorris]

2. I would check at Ebay first........

I would go to the Ebay site, being certain to enter the URL into address window myself (ie do not click on a link to do it), and log in there. Once there go to My Ebay, there's a link at the top of the page, and check your recent activity. If there is any activity that you didn't do yourself, and there shouldn't be since your last activity was 5 years ago, then yes someone hacked your Ebay account.

If that is the case then check all of the details attached to your Ebay account, remembering that they are all now compromised. I doubt you have a credit card directly registered there, it's more likely registered with PayPal or some such and thus is safe, but check.

I should note that if anyone hacked your Ebay account, the smart thing for them to have done first is to change the password. If your password doesn't work, and you are reasonably certain you have it correct, contact Ebay admin immediately.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention something, and it's the most important thing. If you ever get an email that you suspect may be bogus, DO NOT CLICK ANY LINK WITHIN IT. The links will likely redirect you to a site that LOOKS like the real thing but isn't, and will capture any information you enter there, including log-in info. That is actually one of the BETTER outcomes, other scenarios are worse. So don't click the links.

[Up2Late]

4. Thanks, it's going to take some file searching to find my EBay Log in info...

...but your advice all sounds good to me,

Thanks

[Princess Turandot]

5. Door #2..

if you put your mouse over (as opposed to clicking) the 'power seller' icon in the email, what address is it sending you? A lot of times in these 'phishing' scams, some of the links will be real but the one they think you will most likely use i.e. a nice little icon, will go elsewhere. (I get these constantly from 'paypal' in that not-quite-right use of English to a gmail account that I've never registered on paypal; gmail dumps them in SPAM, posts a warning and removes the clickable links.)

ebay.com may very well have a 'report scam' link on their main page, where you can forward the email for their reference.

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. They are definetly scams to get your info... I get about 10 per day myself

From: "aw-confirm" <[e-mail]> Add to Address Book
Date: 2007/06/25 Mon PM 11:24:58 EDT
To: [e-mail]
Subject: eBay Account Issue - Response Required



eBay sent this message requesting your Account Confirmation.
Your registered name is not included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more.
eBay Account Issue - Response Required


Dear eBay Member,


Due to our latest changes on eBay Marketplace security system we have discovered there is an issue with your Account on file.

You can also copy and paste the following link into your Web browser:
http://cgi4.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?AccountConfirmco_partnerId=2&pUserId=&siteid=0&pageType
Your confirmation code is: 65417

At this moment all selling, bidding and watching activities on your account are restricted until you confirm your Account Informations.

Thank you,
eBay
Complete this process

Confirm Now
This will confirm to eBay your Account details

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What I put in bold is what you should pay attention to. Ebay ALWAYS includes your real name when they send you an email. These "phishing expeditions" are a scourge on online shoppers. They hurt legitimate online merchants. The scumbags deserve to be locked up.. after they get their computer shoved up their ass.

Another trick is to just point your mouse at their link where it says:

"You can also copy and paste the following link into your Web browser:
http://cgi4.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?AccountConfirmco_partnerId=2&pUserId=&siteid=0&pageType"
Your confirmation code is: 65417

and look at the bottom left of your screen. You will see the redirected URL because they're to stupid to use alternate text in their links.

BTW: ANY time you log in to Ebay, the address should read "https" to show it is a secure site log in. Same with PayPal. Ebay and/or PayPal will NEVER ask you for your information in an email either. Never. Period.

I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you clicked one of the links and filled out your info.

Hope this helps. And as another poster said, just check your "My Messages" inbox on your Ebay account.. if you can remember the password.

Ghost

[Eurobabe]

7. Probably a scam, forward the email to EBay

they are very responsive to these things. Good luck. :hi:

[Chipper Chat]

8. It's all spam.

Anything legitimate from eBay will be in your "my messages." I never click on anything from eBay or PayPal in my AOL. It's all phishing.

[radfringe]

9. have received something similar supposedly from Amazon.com

e-mail saying their computers had been hacked, that my "account" had suspicious activity" and asking for confirmation info (i.e. credit card)

I did not reply to that e-mail nor click on any of the links in the e-mail, instead went to Amazon directly, found customer service phone number and called them directly

they were aware of bogus e-mails and were taking steps to track them down. They asked if I would forward the e-mail to them, and any other similar e-mails that I may receive. They gave me a specific e-mail address to use for reporting.

I suggest you do the same - contact E-bay by PHONE and tell them about your suspicions. In either case, be it someone scaming you, or using your account to scam others - e-bay should know about it. You are most likely not the only person receiving these types of e-mails

do the same with AOL

[Up2Late]

10. Thanks everyone, I'll take care of this after a little sleep.

Thanks, everyone for your help. :grouphug:

[Bitwit1234]

11. I don't belong to ebay,

never been there and I get them also. I forward them to [e-mail]. Ebay then checks out the email and reports the sender. They say do not under any circumstances reply to them, just do as I did forward them to spoof.

[Up2Late]

12. Thanks, I haven't tried (yet) to contact EBay...

...(I'm sure it will be a nightmare) but I will do this. Everyone's experience with this has helped me feel much better about this.

Thanks.:pals:

Edit: Humm, it won't let me forward it, now what? I think I'll try saving it as html and them maybe send them like that. I don't want to lose the underlying code info.

Any ideas?

[Giant Robot]

13. Did the ebay email use your ebay screen name?

The fake ones will never have your screen name on it (at least that I have seen). I get these all the time at work and they are all bogus. Someone phished the general info email address for my agency off our website and that account gets all this crap. No one has an ebay account off it. It's a general use account. So the "ebay" emails I see there are all crap. Don't worry about this.