eBay Sends Mass Security Warning to Users

by: Randy

I never got this message. But then again, when I check my email and I see I have a message from eBay, I usually just delete it!

by: iheartjacksparrow

I'm not Toolguy and rarely have a nice thing to say about eBay, but it sounds like they might be encouraging people to make sure their email address and physical address are current. Maybe eBay had a increase in sellers complaining that they're getting messages and packages kicked back to them because of bad information from buyers.

by: Ina

Looks like some people assumed it was a phishing email and trashed it. Glad to see people are skeptical about clicking on a link in an email to sign in to a website!

by: toolguy

I clicked on the link, it brought me to a page asking me to confirm my phone number by clicking on it.

I STOPPED at that point and went no further. They had the right number but I didn't have time to update any personal info.

by: queenfloraday

Had a return on Amazon because a buyer had not updated his mailing address due to a USPS branch closing and the USPS said undeliverable. Notified buyer for new address. The buyer gave me a bad review even though the book was returned to me and I resent the book at my expense. I think all of these companies should send reminders periodically to update accounts.  

by: Ephemera Dealer

I never click on links in emails, never. Just a very bad idea.

by: Shop and Ship

Curiously, I received a PayPal payment for a sale that was not recorded. When I contacted PayPal and eBay to confirm the sale I was reminded by CS that eBay and PayPal send notices through their site messaging services and do not use outside email services like Yahoo, Google, GMail, etc. concerning financial matters. Of course that's not literally and 100% true [PayPal ISNAD returns messages are handled outside PayPal] but now I forward ALL emails purporting to originate from PayPal or eBay to their phishing department. Odds are they'll identify their own messages as "not genuine" and "highly suspect" but that's been true about monthly Seller update eBay messages for years.  

by: toolguy

My notice came from eBay messages.

That's why I clicked on it. . .

by: Marie

I don't care who the email is from, I NEVER use a link inside of an email to update any important / guarded information.  I ALWAYS go directly to the website, login as normal and from there correct or add anything I need to.  

I never thought this was a phishing email, it just scared the heck out of me as it was so similar to the one sent when they were hacked last year.  While I do agree a reminder like this has value, to just start sending them without any type of announcement as to why was a bit unnerving.  I've been selling on Ebay since 1999 and with the exception of the hacking, they have never done this before.

I just think it is a good personal policy to have to NEVER use a link to update any financial or personal information.

by: Basset

I like to avoid email links, too.

Since I updated info this spring, the ''Its been more than a year....'' part has a form letter feel to it.  

Why not a brief: ''This is a Reminder...  Make sure your settings are current''

by: StickAForkInIT

I have one selling account registered at my business address, and one registered at my home address (phone #'s also) … and this is giving eBay fits.   I guess they just can't imagine someone legitimately having more than one address.

by: Bill

Anyone who clicks on a link to an email is a fool just asking to be wrenched into leaving their computer opened to a virus that can steal all of your info.

by: Volvo351

Isn't eBay constantly telling us not to click on embedded links?

by: gizmo

Got the message , ignored it , then screen started jumping around. Shut it down & ran scans , unplugged from the net. Things seem OK now , scans revealed nothing useful. Guess more glitch from ? dang , cant even do research without hassle. You scare my puter deadbay.

by: The End

ZERO emails from Ebay.

by: thebobman

I have 2 ebay accounts. The daily one that has about 5,000 feedback and the somewhat abandoned one with about 350 feedback that I use once every couple of months. I only got that email for the low feedback account.  

by: Garcia

Buyers often forget to update info when something changes and the seller sends the package to the wrong address.  The only problem is that the email was more like a phishing expedition than a valid request, so I always delete which I did.  But I think it is necessary for personal information especially addresses to be kept up to date for everyone's sake.

by: tb

Yeah, bad move by eBay. They should have directed people to go to their accounts and after logging on, THEN show a message asking people to check settings. Dumb.

Having said that, understanding domain names is NOT rocket science, and I have never had a problem looking at a link and telling where it is coming from, so the rule to never click on a link applies to those that don't understand how URLs are formatted.

by: Santini

I never got this message.

by: toyman

Yeah, I did the same as most others. I checked out everything I could about the email and it did look genuine, but when I clicked through and it wanted more info, I deleted it and went to eBay Messages to see if it had also come through there.

eBay didn't really think this one through very far.