REAL: Ebay TKO Notice - Password reset - NOT SPAM!

[flipz]

I, like many of you (as we've had this discussion before) have gotten those fake emails from "ebay" that say your password was reset or the account is cancelled or whatever it is and click on this link to re-enter your info. It then takes you to a page that looks identical to ebay, and tricks you into entering your info.

Anyways I receive these at least once a week, and of course have always deleted them. I've never even come close to believing it was real. They are generally filled with typo's, and I always pay attention to what URL I'm going to. Call it OCD or something. haha.

So today I got one, and I was planning on deleting it, except that I noticed it didn't go to my spam folder like they normally do. So I opened it and read it, and it was a REAL one! Saying that my password may have been compromised. What the hell?? I read and re-read it a million times because I noticed there were no links or anything in it, just told me to go to go to ebay.com (no link) and go to the site map and follow the instructions for a lost password.

To check if it was real, I went to ebay.com and tried to login, and sure enough it said my password was wrong. I couldn't believe it.

Has anyone else ever gotten a REAL one??? Should I be worried that my ebay account (which contains a lot of personal info!) may have been compromised? What even makes them send out this email? Did they get hacked or something?

I've put the letter below!

-brent

SUBJECT: TKO NOTICE: A28 eBay Password Reset - Follow Instructions Immediately

Dear products-4-less,

In order to protect the security of your eBay account, we have reset your password and secret question. This action was taken because your password may have been compromised. Sometimes this happens when members respond to an email asking for personal information. Although those emails appear to come from eBay, they are really sent by people attempting to gain access to your account. We appreciate your cooperation in working with us to protect your account by taking the following steps.

Since your password was reset, you will need to create a new password by following the instructions provided below. Until you complete this process, you will not be able to bid on or list an item.

1. Click on the "site map" link at the top of most eBay pages.
2. Click on the "I forgot my password" link located in the middle column under the “Services” heading.
3. Once you have reached the ‘Forgot Your Password?’ page enter your User ID in the provided box and click on the ‘Continue >’ button.
4. On the next page you will be asked to answer the Secret Question that you created at the time of registration OR provide one of three pieces of contact information from your eBay account. Since we have reset your Secret Question along with your password you will not have the correct answer to your secret question. Please proceed by supplying one of the three pieces of contact information requested then clicking the ‘Continue >’ button.
5. An email with the subject line ‘Forgotten Password’ will then be sent to the email addressed you have tied to your eBay account. Please log into your email account and click on the link supplied to you in the email that we have sent.
6. Once you arrive at that link you will be prompted to enter your User ID one more time, then enter and reenter your new password.

IMPORTANT: In addition to changing the password on your eBay account, please change the password on your personal EMAIL account. If your old eBay password was also the password for any other online account you use (PayPal, etc.), we recommend that you immediately change those passwords as well. To maintain password security, each one of your online accounts should have a different password. Even a slight difference (one letter or number) offers substantial protection.

SELLERS: After creating your new password on eBay you will need to update the eBay password that is stored within any auction/listing software that you may use to list your items, relist your items, or add information to your listings. Taking this step will ensure that your current and future listings run without interruption.

Taking these steps will ensure you are the only one that has access to your account. Also, please remember the following guidelines when it comes to password security:

1. Make sure your password is difficult to guess, and uses a combination of letters and numbers.

2. Don't use the same password on eBay that you use on your email account, or on other Web sites.

To learn more about protecting your eBay account, please visit eBay’s Security Center by clicking on the ‘Safe Trading Tips’ link at the bottom of any eBay page. The Security Center contains information about protecting yourself from Spoof (fake) emails, buying safely, selling safely and many other important eBay safety issues.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience in this matter.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc

 

[Meredith]

do you report all those fake ones to ebay? I think this only happened to us once and we did something to report it to ebay. I hope that someone didn't get into you account.
That is kinda scary.

 

[Toirtis]

Be very careful....there are a number of new (last 6 weeks) phishing scams that take you to the apparent real site and are exceptionally convincing...there has been a fair bit of news on them (including an eBay one) that have fooled a huge number of people.

 

[flipz]

Yea, I know all about the fake ones. I am majoring in computer networking in college with a minor in security... i know all the tricks.

However this one was REAL because it did NOT contain any links in the email at all, and the fact that I tried logging in to my ebay account and it told me the password had been reset. So it really was something ebay did.

No I have not reported any of them, because they just go to my spam folder. However I just realized in the shower how it may have happened. I'm wondering if maybe someone reported an email they got, and it's one that I got too (as in my name was in the Cc) so ebay automatically just reset my password just incase I was stupid enough to actually do what the email says.

Well regardless I'm just going to hope everything is ok. I can't believe no one else here has gotten a real one of these though. The thing is it's nearly identical to the fake ones from "ebay" so I know something on ebay triggers them because obviously someone else has gotten them, because they copied them!

-brent

 

[Menagerie]

I have had school passwords figured out by the IT computer and had to reset them. So annoying