EBAY SCAMS ALL THE RAGE
If you bid on an auction, you may get targeted

There may be a new scam brewing if you bid on eBay. Users are reporting getting unsolicited email from members offering great deals on big ticket items up for bid. The offers come from internal "tell a friend" links on actual auctions. But when bidders win - the sellers take the money and run.

More to follow on this as E-R learns more.

Another eBay scam is from official-looking email asking for personal information like social security numbers, credit card information, etc. eBay advises caution:

Some Community members have received deceptive emails claiming to come from eBay, PayPal, or other popular websites. The people who send these emails, also known as "spoof" or "phishing" emails, hope that unsuspecting recipients will reply or click on a link contained in the email and then provide sensitive personal information (e.g., eBay passwords, social security numbers, or credit card numbers).

COOL EBAY TOOLS EXPERT MARCIA COLLIER advises:

You need to report these scams to eBay. Go to eBay's reporting link, and click the selection “Member Problems”, then select the issue : “I don’t think an email I received is actually from eBay”. Click the continue button, then on the next page, scroll down and click “Contact Support”

You can also take a few simple steps to protect your account and prevent senders of deceptive emails from doing harm:

- Be sure you are on an eBay page before signing in-- check the web address.
- Always use a secure server when submitting credit card numbers over the Internet.
- Do not send sensitive personal information via email.
- Use the eBay site to update account information.
- Forward suspicious email to spoof@ebay.com.

Do it eBay, but do so wisely.