Re: [Thinkpad] Possible hijacked Ebay account

Can I ask some touchingly stupid questions? What's so obvious? I've
never bought anything on Ebay (or sold it), but, aside
from the fact that this guy has NO feedback from buyers, what's the
giveaway that tells you all he's bogus? I ask this so
that everyone one else on the list who is too embarrassed to ask,
doesn't have to. Thanks, guys.

Ellis

Bruce Markowitz wrote:

>This guy is probably in Spain or Nigeria or someplace, hence the private
>bidder thing.
>Very good computer skills, although you may notice that the photos and some
>of the specs are wrong. Notice also that the one live feedback is where is
>supposedly bought a Sony desktop for $10.00
>R I G H T
>I know desktops, especially Dells, are cheap, but look at the specs. That
>was probably either the "real" buyer, or some kind of setup to generate
>feedback without paying any substantial Ebay fees.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Bell" <electrosoft@comcast.net>
>To: <thinkpad@stderr.org>
>Sent: Monday, September 06, 2004 6:02 PM
>Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] Possible hijacked Ebay account
>
>
>
>
>>The trick with these types of hijacks are to give the guise of offering
>>multiple payment options
>>to present the air of security. They also take the time to steal somebody
>>else's HTML or
>>have the skill to create a decent looking ad themselves.
>>
>>With the low feedback of the original owner, he probably fell victim to
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>millions of
>>phishing requests sent via email. My wife, who has a feedback of over 500,
>>fell victim
>>to a similar situation not once but twice on eBay. A lot of it is end user
>>naivety. First
>>time, she was phished. But when she got her account restored, she restored
>>it with
>>the SAME password (ok, that was kind of stupid <g>). Both times, they ran
>>
>>
>a
>
>
>>lot of
>>high end items. I had to sit her down and spend 30min explaining basic
>>
>>
>security
>
>
>>across the board and now if anything looks odd, she asks.
>>
>>The object is to get as many winning bids as possible, and offer a
>>
>>
>discount
>
>
>>for paying with
>>lesser and lesser secure means of payment (ie, send me a money order, and
>>I'll give you
>>20% off!). You will notice they didn't offer PayPal as an option, and I
>>
>>
>can
>
>
>>almost 100%
>>guarantee there is no Visa/MC/Amex/Escrow option at all at the end. The
>>idea is to get those
>>few who are happy with what is already a killer deal and want to save even
>>
>>
>more
>
>
>>and get the "ultra" killer deal which is only available via Western Union,
>>Postal MO,
>>or if they are smart, even wire transfers.
>>
>>I especially like the, "High bidder: User ID kept private," LOL. In some
>>instances, it is
>>valid, but here it is clear it is to prevent others from warning the
>>
>>
>bidder
>
>
>>of the potential
>>scam.
>>
>>Whenever I purchase something rather expensive from eBay, I always:
>>
>>A> Check their feedback and the types of sales they've done in the past.
>>
>>
>If
>
>
>>they
>>have primarily been a buyer and suddenly list a lot of high end items,
>>
>>
>that
>
>
>>is a red flag.
>>
>>B> Get their real contact info and CALL THEM.
>>
>>C> Make sure to use a more secure method of payment (PayPal, V/MC/Amex,
>>Escrow).
>>
>>D> In one case, I contacted the last winning bidder of an auction to see
>>how it went along with
>>the contact info they conducted the transaction with.
>>
>>E> Lastly, trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, don't
>>
>>
>let
>
>
>>the specter of
>>a killer deal override common sense.
>>
>>
>>At 05:29 PM 9/6/2004, Bruce Markowitz wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Anyone see anything odd? Hint- look at his other Ebay auctions, and his
>>>"recent" feedback
>>>
>>>
>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31554&item=670618338
>>
>>
>1&rd=1
>
>
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>>
>
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Received on Mon Sep 6 18:40:17 2004