How the scam works:
Here you go again, you’re browsing eBay’s website looking for a popular thing to purchase – clothing item, bike, laptop, etc. You finally find it and are happy with the product and specifically with the price! While you’re clicking the item to read the description of the item, you’re being taken through a series of websites that look like they are being part of the deal.
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The last page is the eBay page, or so you think. It is a perfect clone to make you enter again your username and password. As many people think they might have been logged out for some reason, they re-enter the credentials offering scammers all they need to be able to hack into their accounts.
This happens because eBay allows sellers to use Flash and Javascript software in order to make their sales more attractive. The downside is that scammers take advantage of that and create traps like the one presented above, called cross-site scripting, and target your accounts. Oftentimes, people use the same password and username for many other websites, so by giving away your logins you might have just offered everything on a platter.
How to avoid the eBay Trap scam:
First things first – always use different credentials for all your sites. It’s a little complicated to have many logins, but better safe than sorry. Meanwhile, if you have to go through a cascade of webpages that you don’t initially expect, always look at the address in the browser. If it has unusual lettering (ebay4798478.com or kjsagkdg/638.com) then you know it’s not a legitimate site. Last but not least, when a price is significantly lower then the average that might be a red flag which requires paying double attention.
How to report the eBay Trap scam:
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
How to protect yourself more:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
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Sammy Watins told me her husband died and she wanted to sell his car because the memories were too painful.
Then proceeded to convince me via email to load GREEN DO CARDS for payment to eBay Auto Auction where the car was recently added to for purchase.
Beware of [email protected]!
Deeper internet search links this scammer to a fake FB account "Sammy Watins" — it’s been reported to FB, Craigslist, and eBay.
If you are ever taken to a site that LOOKS like the eBay login page, make sure you look at the web address. You should see a green bar before the web address with a lock on it, and the words "eBay, Inc. [US]". Also, NEVER enter any personal information in a website the does not start with https rather than just http. The s means it’s a secure site. Also check to see if it has an SSL certificate on the page. (Mine has the Norton logo on it)
The REAL ebay login page should look something like this:
https://signin.ebay.com.au/ws/eBay with a lot of gibberish afer it. (Mine says ebay.com.au because I’m in Australia, and use the Australian site.)