Michael
There are databases for sale of millions of eBay IDs matched to e-mail
addresses. Most of these were collected before eBay made e-mail addresses
invisible (robots captured many tens of millions before eBay stopped them, a
classic case of closing the barn door after the cows are let out), but these
creeps somewhat update their lists by using the eBay "ask a question" feature.
They ask a bland question (sent via robots) that say things like "How much is
shipping on this item?" If you answer via regular e-mail, they then have YOUR
e-mail and add it to their database.
The best defense is to change your eBay e-mail fairly regularly, and to trash
ALL second chance offers, unless you know the person and feel certain it is
they who are making the offer, and then you should send an e-mail directly to
them (not by responding to the second chance offer) to verify the offer is "for
real".
Also the many fake ("spoof") e-mails from eBay and PayPal keep getting better
and better! One former way to almost always identify a lot of them were that
they usually said "Dear Member" or "Dear Customer", and often they lacked
proper html code, and had spelling errors. There ARE still many of those, but
there also are some really "excellent" ones, with your correct user ID or name
inserted.
Buying on eBay is getting scarier and scarier, and they are only slightly
waking up to the seriousness of the problem! Most newly made items now sell at
a significant discount when sell on eBay, because the customers have a very
legitimate "fear factor" and want a discount to offset the very real chance
they may never get the item, and/or may get cheated.
Bruce
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