Have you tried downloading the eBay Toolbar?

It adds a bit more protection - for one thing it lets you know when you're actually ON an eBay page through its 'account guard'.

And if you keep track of a lot of auctions or like to search, it comes in quite handy

Besides...it's free!

Sorry if this was mentioned but one of the easiest ways to spot a spoof that my coworker brought to my attention is this: Run your mouse over the link. It will have a hyperlink saying paypal which they can put in easily with HTML but on the bottom of your computer screen you will see something completely different.

Not just an Ebay or PayPal problem. It's all over the web. You may get emails to update your Windows. If you want to trust in an anonymous email and do that, you may find yourself without a computer in the future, as such emails will infect your computer and give you no end of nightmares. MSN, Microsoft, Ebay, PayPal, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. etc. etc. (add in the name of any site you frequently visit) does NOT need you to provide them with information. They already have your information from when you signed up. And if they need an update, you can go directly to their site to update. Never use the email links to provide any personal info or to run any program on your computer. Never open any downloads or attachments to emails from people you don't know. Sometimes it's safer to not even open them from ones you do know unless they're computer savvy enough to not spread around viruses in all their forwarded jokes.

It's just plain netsense.

And, oh yeah...those emails from Microsoft and others that guarantee you a sum of money for everyone you forward to?...there's no such thing as an email tracker that follows email around the web for one, and Bill Gates just isn't that generous for another.

Anytime someone decides to forward this type of email to me (or the type that says I can get a $50 coupon to such and such restaurant or whatever) I always check snopes.com for the straight scoop...and then I forward the link not only to the sender, but to the entire mailing list (inverably the sender has a long list of people who got the same email I did).

Just FYI.

On that note - here's another really great site to check out - it's called "Practical Money Skills for Life" and includes some good info on identity theft and security. Check it out

Thanks for the update. I too got spoofed with the Ebay thing. The only way I knew it was bogus, was that it was sent to my other email address and not the one that was hooked up to ebay. I have gotten paypal spoofs too. So now I'm cautious of everything. Luckily I had sense enough to realize it was on the wrong email before I clicked it because I had just bought something on ebay.

MrsJim, I do this to my cousin. I will actually send her the link to Snopes as well as imbed the Snopes text into the email and reply to everyone she sent this to. I kept thinking that maybe sending it to everyone on the list would embarrass her into checking this stuff out before sending it. She's not easily embarrassed.