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Social security number.
What’s the world’s number one rule when receiving a message that asks for a personal ID (Social Security number)? Report it as phishing and delete it. I got a pretty-looking e-mail asking for exactly that. The next day I got another. I just sold an item, and they claim they won’t pay the money unless I give that number to them.
How can I verify it’s real? Why do I want to work with a company like E-bay when they ask for this apseveral years after I began selling through them?
6 comments
golfingaddict
Mentor8 months agoDid you get this email in eBay messages?
Here is a link on the website to update that information. Updating your personal information | eBay
daken-2201
OP8 months agoNo, I didn't get it in eBay messages (though there was also a reference to this in eBay messages). I got it as a stand-alone e-mail. On one hand, it was adjacent to a message telling me that my item sold. On the other hand, when I 'hovered' over the hyperlink, the address was not the same as "ebay.com". The term, "ebay" was in the string, but not the portion between the first and second "dots". I still don't know with certainty that it came from eBay. But phishing works best when it doesn't look like phishing. If a hacker knows to send their query when eBay reports a sale....
I went to the personal information part of eBay after logging in. Then I entered it. So (again) I don't disagree with the SSN requirement. I would also agree with receiving an e-mail that tells me that an SSN is needed, and advising me to log into eBay to update my credentials/profile/etc. But that isn't what they sent.
The first of two SSN-related messages asked me to reply with the SSN. The second had a hyperlink to take me to a site the sender (eBay) chose. That's the point: sensitive info only goes to a site I choose or in a call that I initiate. Sending an e-mail to me with hyperlinks to take me to the credentials/profile is unsatisfactory. The recipient of a query has no certainty that they're responding to an authentic person/company. We should never reply to a bank, eBay (etc) with sensitive information if they initiated the contact. That's the M.O. for phishing. This time it was the company, but it's the wrong way to engage. When the shoe is on the other foot, and you are the one initiating contact, does a bank ever proceed without two-factor verification?
gosimus
Mentor8 months ago@daken-2201
< Why do I want to work with a company like E-bay when they ask for this >
New laws require it. Do you know of any period in history when the number of laws actually lessened? I don't. eBay needs your social security number because that's what Uncle uses to identify you. eBay has to keep the government apprised of how much money you're making on eBay.
daken-2201
OP8 months agoMy question isn't whether they should have the SSN. It's how they should go about getting it.
They could send a message telling me to access the authentic E-bay site, where I can enter it. After reviewing suggestions for handling this, that's what I did.
What E-bay did was to send a message asking me to reply with the number. That's exactly how a phishing operator does it. E-bay already knows that fraud (using their logo) is a problem. It is irresponsible for them to go about getting private data in the manner that they did. All that a thief needs to do is to include hyperlinks to E-bay's policies (to add credibility). But asking me to reply to an unsolicited message by sending private data isn't appropriate.
glorybells
·8 months agoYou do have to give them your SSN to get paid.
golfingaddict
Mentor8 months agoIs the message in your eBay messages?
Have you fully registered for selling which includes giving your checking account and SSN.
Getting paid for items you've sold | eBay
eBay messages:
Messages | eBay