eBay’s safety center requests users to forward spoof or phishing emails to [email protected] or [email protected].
There are two reasons for this – firstly eBay will advise you if the email is genuine or if indeed it is a spoof. Secondly eBay have automated scanners which parse the email for web addresses and, if an unknown possible phishing site is found, alert a real live human to check the site out and start working to get it removed from the Internet.
Until the phishing site is taken down, which can take time especially when working with overseas Internet Service providers, eBay can drop the web address into a database so that your Internet browser can flag it as a phishing site (normally by flashing red).
I was somewhat surprised tonight when forwarding a spoof email (to [email protected]) to receive the following reply – I hope it’s a temporary glitch rather than the service being discontinued:
Hello,
Thank you for your email. You’ve received this automated reply because the method used to contact eBay is no longer in use.
To send us your query, click ‘Contact Us’ on any eBay Help page.
We’re sorry for the delay. We look forward to helping you resolve your query as soon as possible.
Regards,
eBay Customer Support
Strangely, although sending an automated reply, to let me know [email protected] is no longer in use, the reply still had a KMM reference in the subject line! If you receive the same reply resend any potential spoof email to [email protected] as that reporting email address still appears to be working.
6 Responses
If anyone really needs this feature I can set one up on my website. You send whatever email it is to my spoof address and two days later I’ll send an automated reply saying, “It’s a spoof”.
Slightly off topic so apologies but I could do with some help. I now have a shop and can’t see my traffic reports becuse a ‘third part authorisation’ error comes up.
I spoke to my account manager who sent it to the ebay tech team. After two weeks they came back and said ‘it is not our problem, it is an omniture problem you will need to speak to them.’
I have emailed them and got no reply and I tried a phone number on which I left a message but no one has called me back.
Ebay just sy I need to speak to Omniture because it is a third party problem. So I am now stuck. I am very keen to see these traffic reports but ebay won’t help me.
Does anyone have a technical support telephone number for omniture?
Thanks
Omniture have just written to me…. The magic of Tamebay???
So ebay are one step in causing themselves to shut down, when you recieve a spoof email from ebay they don’t want to know anymore. so they are now allowing everyones account to be hacked into and they don’t care? do those on fuckbay know about this closure?
“eBay can drop the web address into a database so that your Internet browser can flag it as a phishing site”
How does that work then?
You sure you’re using the right address? I test-forwarded a message to [email protected] and got a different reply:
——————–
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us regarding an email which may not be a
genuine email from eBay or PayPal.
We will look into the email you have sent and reply to you as soon as
possible.
In the meantime, please treat the email you received with extreme
caution. Do not click on any links or buttons within the email, reply to
the email, or open any attachments.
Please remember that eBay will never ask you for sensitive information,
such as your password, PIN, credit card or bank account numbers, or
National Insurance number in an email….”