eBay T&S under the bed dept: Reading My Mail?

[accentnepal]

OK, I have heard that soon email addresses will not be allowed in the "ask seller a question" form. We all know the ways to fool the bots on that one. But it now looks like they are going over past messages.

I received a ASAQ letter two weeks ago. It was a very simple "sorry I am late, will pay you soon" note on a somewhat overdue on-ebay sale (he did pay, too!). But, obviously with evil intent, he included his phone number. Not email addy - a phone number.

I got the below scarry scarry email from eBay Trust and Safety today. Please do not read it all, I value your composure, but the length of the message is much of the message.


                  :turkey2:            :turkey2:              :turkey2:              :turkey2:

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SP NOTICE: eBay Ask Seller a Question or Contact eBay Member Alert
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Dear accentnepal:

Our records indicate that you received an email from "evil customer" through our Contact eBay Member or Ask Seller a Question feature. Please be aware that the email might contain a fraudulent offer to purchase or sell an item outside of eBay.  We recommend not responding to the sender because the email might be an attempt to obtain your email address.

If you have already completed a transaction with a person who has asked that you take the transaction outside of eBay or if you are a seller who has already shipped an item to the buyer and the transaction was completed outside of eBay, we suggest you take the following steps:

1. Contact the payment service that you used to make the purchase. If you paid by credit card, most card issuers provide consumer protection in online fraud cases.

2. Please complete the Item Bought Outside of eBay form or the Item Sold Outside of eBay form. To access these forms, go to:

http://pages.eb a y .com/h elp/tp/isgw-fraud-non-ebay.html

Click the "Item Bought Outside of eBay form" or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay form" link. Enter your information in the following page and then click the "Submit" button. The information you provide will allow us to work more effectively with law enforcement in case an investigation occurs.

3. If you were the seller and shipped the item to a fraudulent buyer, contact the shipping carrier that you used because the company may be able to assist you further. If you sent the item through the U.S. Postal Service, file a mail fraud claim. To do so, please visit:

http://www.us ps .com/po stalin spectors/fraud/

4. Contact the local law enforcement where you sent your payment or where you sent the item. The authorities where the seller or the buyer lives might be able to provide additional assistance. To find local law enforcement, visit:

http://www.usaco ps.c om/     

To protect your email and your eBay account, we recommend that you follow these safety tips:   

- Do *not* respond to the sender either through the eBay system or your email account. An offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay is against our policies, might be fraudulent, and will not be covered by eBay protection programs.

- If you received what appears to be a Second Chance Offer for an item that you recently bid on, check My Messages to confirm whether the offer is legitimate. Valid Second Chance Offers appear in My Messages with a blue background and a subject stating, “eBay Second Chance Offer for Item...." If you receive a Second Chance Offer directly in your personal email and it is not in My Messages, that means it is not a legitimate offer. If a Second Chance Offer appears in My Messages with a subject line of “Message from eBay Member,â€ï¿½ it is not a legitimate Second Chance Offer. Before responding to a Second Chance Offer, make sure it contains both the blue background in My Messages and the subject line of “eBay Second Chance Offer for Item….â€ï¿½

- Never pay for an eBay item using instant cash, wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. It’s against the eBay Accepted Payments policy for a seller to request payment using these methods. They are unsafe, especially if you're paying someone whom you don’t know.

Regards,

eBay Trust & Safety


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"Regards"  Yeah, right.