On the Lookout for New Phishing Scams

A new phishing e-mail has been increasing the frustration of auction sellers and fooling even experienced eBay users into giving up their account information to frausters. The e-mail poses as a message from eBay-- informing users that their account has been suspended due to security concerns, and that the account has been suspected of hacking by online criminals. The appearance of the e-mail is actually quite sophisticated, and with users often panicking at the thought of their account being suspended, this anxiety often leads them to immediately providing the information requested prior to reaching out to verify this information with eBay.

The overwhelming increases in these phishing e-mails suggest that more and more users are being fooled, and thus they are here to stay. Although initially buyers were the most targeted of these groups (with fake second chance offers, etc.), sellers are not firmly on the radar, and offer a much more lucurative target. Always double-check that any alert you receive is also included in "My Messages" when you log-in to your eBay account, and if it's not there, contact eBay immediately-- and not using the e-mail address in the body of the e-mail you receive!