Thousands of online businesses are being targeted by internet fraudsters, as a fake eBay email is revealed as the top ‘phishing’ scam.
Online scammers are clearly targeting eBay users, with five of last month’s top ten phishing scams being either eBay or Paypal related.
The top scam was an email entitled ‘Question from eBay Member’, with a further two eBay related emails, and two with requests from Paypal, the online payment site acquired by eBay in 2002.
Users are usually asked to enter personal details such as passwords or bank details, and are often told their accounts will be closed unless they take immediate action.
According to virus software company McAfee, eBay is the fourth most targeted brand for phishing scams, after Barclays, Volksbank and Natwest.
The UK accounts for 40% of the 170,000 eBay businesses within the European Union, according to figures released by the company earlier this year.
There are more 68,000 people in the UK that use eBay to generate at least a third of their income.
eBay have advised users never to reply to emails asking for personal details.
The company also recommended that users who are in any doubt about the legitimacy of a request to open a new browser, and manually type in the site address to be sure they are dealing with the official site.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006