This is ironic, following on the heels of those "people are basically good" commercials of eBay's.

[amanuensis1]

Spammers are one thing, but, damn, I'm sick of out-and-out-criminals taking advantage of the vulnerable. Check this out:

http://www.sdom.net/~yin_chung/ebay/index.html

NOTE: YES, this is exactly what you think it is--some shyster's attempt to get you to cough up your personal information. DO NOT ENTER ANY PERSONAL INFO ON THIS LINKED PAGE.

This is the link to which an official-looking "Please verify your account information or your eBay account will be terminated" email sends you, if you're taken in by the logo and the well-crafted html, and click it. No obvious misspellings to clue you in, either.

Doesn't this piss you off? Viagra generic ads are one thing, unsolicited porn using the words "cumsluts" another--but this is definitely the work of the lowest of the low.

You know what I think would be fun? What if we all filled in the spaces with fake information that was insulting? Like, ebay password: eatmeimnotthisstupid, username: imforwardingthistothefbi, etc. I just might do that.

Comments

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

I get those all the time, mostly claming to be from some large bank or other, telling me I must click on the link and "verify my account information" as a security measure against identity theft. Talk about chutzpah.

Of course, most of these come from banks I don't even have an account with, and anyway, I'm not that gullible. But it's still slimy.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Slimy enough to make me want to take a bath, knowing I'm the same species as these people.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Yes, isn't that funny? I get it from "Citibank" (which I don't use) about once a month.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

There's a dead giveaway!

[jeannie81.livejournal.com]

I sometimes have urges to spam them back too, but then I remember that it'll take too much of my time and attention. It's a good idea if you're bored out of your mind though.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Actually I got told by someone that it's better not to send them any info like your ISP that way. But yeah, it would be fun.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

*laughs at your suggestions*

Actually, I get this for my email account at earthlink and for paypal. What's funny, is that you get this logo and somewhat official looking letter...but then you notice the sender domain is not the same as the company ( in this case, Earthlink)...and then you realise you don't have a paypal account....
And then the admonition that your services will 'close' or will be 'terminated'. Having worked for an ISP, no one simply terminates yopur acocunts; you are bugged on the phone first!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the url should give it away, but some people just aren't gonna notice that. I hate to see people preying on the vulnerable.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I get one of these for PayPal from time to time, which is a real hoot because I do cash only when I buy on Ebay. And when I get it, they usually get a reply along the lines of "go scam someone else while I laugh."

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

PayPal must be cussin' a blue streak, I'm sure.

[versinae.livejournal.com]

Did you email Ebay about it? I'm sure they'd be interested in seeing that people are abusing their (basically) good name.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yes, someone told me to do so! And I forwarded it to them.

hahahaha

[ex-leianora730.livejournal.com]

Oh gods! I thought I was the only one posting insulting fake info! I'm glad I'm not the only depraved person in this world who loves to make stupid fuckers stare at me for my very audacity. Thanks! :-)

Re: hahahaha

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine anyone who deserves your audacity more! ^_^

[loupgarou1750.livejournal.com]

the really scary thing is I've gotten email where the return url appears to be legitimately ebay. I guess they have a way of rerouting it. Since ebay never emails me except when I've actually bid on something or haven't left comments on somebody, I forward ever other email that appears to be from them to their reporting address. So far, every single thing I've forwarded to them has turned out to be a fake message.

Me also

[stargategirl82.livejournal.com]

I have also had this happen to me at times. At first, when I got them I would try to click on them - but the link never worked, so I figured that the email was bogus.

But yah, that's totally heinous.

Re: Me also

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I usually don't click on them--I just trash them. But I was curious to see how authentic the link page would look--and was upset that the page looked so darn authentic. Why can't they be like normal clueless misspelling, ungrammatical felons?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Creepy gits. *sulks*

[splinched.livejournal.com]

Very amusing. Reminds me of a friend of mine who's father sent credit card applications back to the company from which they originated. Needless to say, after a while he stopped recieving them.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Very wise! I love it!