ebay message - genuine?

[Peter]

I've had a series of messages purporting to be from ebay (ebay@ebay.com) entitled "Help us protect your account".  Are these genuine?

[Feanor]

Almost certainly not.
Don't click any links or buttons in the e-mail.

The 'From' address is easily spoofed, so don't pay any attention to that.

Simply log in to your account in the normal way, and see if there are any issues being flagged there.

[Peter]

Thanks.  I use it so rarely, and I did wonder after all the courses at work (local authority).

[Jaded]

If you have a capable email client, you can look at the source (or the headers) of the message and see where it really comes from.

[Polar Bear]

I was at a meeting yesterday evening where we were told that fraudsters can now dupe the source to make it seem genuine.

The sender check by hovering the mouse over the sender's address is no longer a reliable check apparently.

[ian]

Any email that contains a link to check or update anything is fraudulent.

[Peter]

Thanks, everyone.  Over the years I have become only a little more savvy - but a lot jumpier!

[Dickyelsdon]

This is a legitimate email from ebay. It likely said 'its been a year since you updated your personal info'. I had one recently. I also had a notification saying the same in the notifications tab/button when logged into the site. 

They just want you to check your address/contact details are correct, also worth considering refreshing your password incase you have used it elsewhere which may have been compromised in any leaks a lot of places suffer.

(They prob also hope you will add more info like more phone numbers dates of birth etc which helps them build a profile on you, thats up to you if you want to give more than the minimum required.)

But! 

As always with these things, official emails are only ever notifications of action needed, and you dont/shouldnt need to click any link in the email to do any action.

Instead you make your own way to the site/app in question and check the notifications there to do any actions required.

[hubner]

Yeah, I get these regularly, asking for extra info.

Check the actual email address of the sender, and don't click anything in the email, instead go to Ebay directly and log in there.

[Jaded]

Any email that contains a link to check or update anything is fraudulent.

Except the ones that aren’t!

[ian]

Any email that contains a link to check or update anything is fraudulent.

Except the ones that aren’t!

It's my default setting, they go in the bin. If a company is sending email like that, they deserve to be in the bin too.

[Dickyelsdon]

Any email that contains a link to check or update anything is fraudulent.

Except the ones that aren’t!

It's my default setting, they go in the bin. If a company is sending email like that, they deserve to be in the bin too.

Im honestly amazed there are not more scams for common shopping sites, supermarkets etc.  They are the only emails i tend to follow links for (to see offers etc.) , it would be so easy to fall in the trap of then 'logging in' to your account on a fake website.  Thankfully my browser will auto log me in (knowing its the real site) so if it didnt id know something was dodgy.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Any email that contains a link to check or update anything is fraudulent.

Except the ones that aren’t!

It's my default setting, they go in the bin. If a company is sending email like that, they deserve to be in the bin too.

Im honestly amazed there are not more scams for common shopping sites, supermarkets etc.  They are the only emails i tend to follow links for (to see offers etc.) , it would be so easy to fall in the trap of then 'logging in' to your account on a fake website.  Thankfully my browser will auto log me in (knowing its the real site) so if it didnt id know something was dodgy.

I had one like that today. From the police. Well, Bike Register, which is at least administered by cops.

[citoyen]

This is a legitimate email from ebay. It likely said 'its been a year since you updated your personal info'. I had one recently. I also had a notification saying the same in the notifications tab/button when logged into the site.

Yep, same here - I get these regularly. I haven't used ebay for a long time so I think it's just that they want to remind me they exist.

Instead you make your own way to the site/app in question and check the notifications there to do any actions required.

Seconded.