golders
11-12-2002, 10:15
Fraudsters trying to steal credit card information from online auction
house eBay's 55 million users appear to have set up a fake website that
mimics the firm, a private Internet watchdog has said. The scam involved
e-mails that asked recipients to log on to a Florida-based Web site,
ebayupdates.com, and re-enter financial data for eBay, said Dean White,
the Asia-Pacific co-ordinator of a U.S. group, SANS Institute Internet
Storm Centre. "Once you've got the credit card information you can use it
for everything," White said on Wednesday. The scam site sported the eBay
logo and colours but did not appear to have any connection with
California-based eBay, White told Reuters. Representatives of eBay were
not immediately available for comment, but the company has issued a
general warning on its Web site, urging caution over e-mails seeking
passwords or credit card numbers. "Some members have reported attempts to
gain access to their personal information through e-mail solicitations
that are falsely made to appear as having come from eBay," the company
said. "These solicitations will often contain links to Web pages that will
request that you sign in and submit information...eBay employees will
never ask you for your password." The scam e-mail, provided to Reuters by
White, is headed "Ebay (sic) billing error" and begins: "Dear Ebay Member,
We at Ebay are sorry to inform you that we are having problems with the
billing information of your account." White said the mail, aimed at eBay's
registered customers but possibly mass-mailed to other Internet users,
began appearing on Friday December 6, 2002.
house eBay's 55 million users appear to have set up a fake website that
mimics the firm, a private Internet watchdog has said. The scam involved
e-mails that asked recipients to log on to a Florida-based Web site,
ebayupdates.com, and re-enter financial data for eBay, said Dean White,
the Asia-Pacific co-ordinator of a U.S. group, SANS Institute Internet
Storm Centre. "Once you've got the credit card information you can use it
for everything," White said on Wednesday. The scam site sported the eBay
logo and colours but did not appear to have any connection with
California-based eBay, White told Reuters. Representatives of eBay were
not immediately available for comment, but the company has issued a
general warning on its Web site, urging caution over e-mails seeking
passwords or credit card numbers. "Some members have reported attempts to
gain access to their personal information through e-mail solicitations
that are falsely made to appear as having come from eBay," the company
said. "These solicitations will often contain links to Web pages that will
request that you sign in and submit information...eBay employees will
never ask you for your password." The scam e-mail, provided to Reuters by
White, is headed "Ebay (sic) billing error" and begins: "Dear Ebay Member,
We at Ebay are sorry to inform you that we are having problems with the
billing information of your account." White said the mail, aimed at eBay's
registered customers but possibly mass-mailed to other Internet users,
began appearing on Friday December 6, 2002.