security code text

[tom-mary]

A week ago, early Sunday morning I received two text messages 1 hour apart containing a security code. Since I was not signing into eBay at the time my first thought was to change my password. So, I did, but one week later again early on Sunday morning it happened again. What could be going on?

[eburtonlab]

@tom-mary 

That might happen if someone with a similar username or email address mistypes your username or address by mistake when trying to sign in to their own account, and then, when that user's password does not work, requests to sign in in another way, not realizing the security code will go to your text number, not theirs.

[tom-mary]

That makes a lot of sense, I think I'll look into changing to a different username.

Thank You  

[eburtonlab]

You are welcome -- good luck!

Most users making such mistakes figure it out rather quickly, unless that user has saved the wrong username in their browser saved-form data. You may want to wait a bit before deciding to change your username. There is no guarantee that a new username will not run into the same issue.

In any event, such security texts have no affect on your account -- unless someone else actually has access to your email address and can use the code to sign in to your account.