New mothod of account hijacking?

[platinum-holdings]

I received an e-mail this morning that i'm pretty sure is a new (or relatively new) method being used by fraudsters to scam people out of their auction account log-in details. It works on the same priciples of the spoof e-mails that have been going around for years now. This attempt was made on ebay but the logic behind it could be transferred to any auction site.

Basically you receive an e-mail that looks like it has been sent through the ebay "ask seller a question" feature, with all the normal text and pictures you would expect to see. The message simply states;

Dear eBay member,

I have paid for your item. When i can get the tracking number?

Below this text there is a box saying "You can view the item clicking the link below."

It's this link that takes you to a fake login site. It almost got me, I put in the first letter of my user name then I noticed that the font style of the page was different and the URL had an IP address at the start of it.

I've taken a screen print and posted it below just to provide a better idea of what i'm talking about, it looks quite innocent and genuine, so just a heads up to all auction users.

[shabbird]

thanks for the information platinum..looks genuine... bet many people will fall for these scam..

[emma5721]

suppose its safest to go change all passwords in ebay and paypal then? just in case spesh for peeps who receive masses of ebay mails, may have overlooked it

and just keep eye out for that particular mail
or better still never click on any link in an ebay email real or not

[rainbowcraft]

I have had a few of those...

[jongla]

I always read the emails, then log into eBay on a separate page. All questions will show up on MyeBay so at least this way you know they are genuine.

[razamakaz]

I did a search for that ebay name - it doesn't exist:

[platinum-holdings]

Neither does the item number, or the e-mail address that the e-mail supposedly came from.

Ebay have confirmed that it's fraudulent, so the old addage of never clicking links in e-mail addresses applies!

[swopmebob]

Thank you for passing on this info.Scamsters work 25hrs per day.

[hoverstar]

Neither does the item number, or the e-mail address that the e-mail supposedly came from.

And it should be addressed to your UserName, not to 'Dear eBay member'