What in the world? Email from "Ebay Collections"

[synplet]

This is a first.  On one of my four selling accounts, I just got an email titled "KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT IN GOOD STANDING - PAYMENT NEEDED".

First line: 

Please pay your eBay Seller fees

My fees were, and have always been, paid in full through paypal every month.  The account in question had its fees paid on 8/15/18, right on schedule.  

And before you ask, no, I don't think it's a spoof.  The email came from collections_us@ebay.com

Yet another "improvement" apparently designed to confound the heck out of us?

[snowman420]

This is what is reads when you put your cursor over the email addy.
Interesting?!?!?


eBay
First National Bank of Bastrop
collections_us@ebay.com
(800) 322-9266
Search Emails

[newview]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@newview wrote:

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brian@ebay wrote:

Hi everyone! Our developers are aware of these emails and are currently looking into the matter. I'll update this thread when I have more information. Thanks!

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Whois emarsys.net  / emarsys.com ?

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They're just bulk-mail spammers for hire, based in the UK. You can read their splash screen here: https://www.emarsys.com/en/

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Are they acting on eBay's behalf to send these emails?

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Given that the recipients report seeing their full names and full account details within the email that they received, I would certainly assume that they are indeed hired by eBay and acting on their behalf. Someone messed up big-time. Fingerpointing to commence in Five, Four, Three... 

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Yeah ... I kinda woulda figured a company the size of eBay, a company that professes to be a “Tech Company” ... would be running their own mail server. Probably a good thing they’re not, judging by the site coding. 

Oh ... and List-Id: 1301 <eBay Collections> must contain the real names, IDs and email addresses of everyone on the planet who received this latest in a long line of eBay ineptitudes.

[bonniesbabies]

If it is a scam its a pretty amazinng one. I got the email today... my billing date is the 15th so I just received my invoice yesterday so they haven't even tried to take my automatic payment yet... it's usually around the 23rd or 24th. I DID receive a message in my ebay messages and I just tried to relist an item and my account is definitely restricted because it would't list the item. Bad enough for those of you who already paid your fees getting this but geez come on ebay! you haven't even tried to take my money yet!

[tarzanf4]

I'm pretty sure it's a phishing scam -- if you point your mouse at any of the links in the email, it doesn't take you to an EBAY site, it takes you to a "ROVER.EBAY.COM" site.

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 And before you ask, no, I don't think it's a spoof.  The email came from collections_us@ebay.com

[berserkerplanet]

>>They're just bulk-mail spammers for hire, based in the UK.

emarsys is one of eBay's go to email campaign outfits. I've ranted about that in the past (about eBay emails following the 2014 data breach as I recall) that anything from eBay needs to come from an eBay domain/subdomain and not through one or more questionable overseas subcontractors.

However, the fact that eBay has used emarsys in the past doesn't automatically make their appearance in the headers of that email proof of legitimacy. We aren't privy to the emarsys client list, whether a stolen credit card can buy a campaign and whether it is actually vetted by a human, and a saavy blackhat would leverage the trust in emarsys as an eBay proxy to add legitimacy to the emails if they were phishes. Can't discount a hack of emarsys either.

That's all just theoretical rambling as between a couple of posts from trusted posters along with the Facebook info, and the fact that there are too many reasons why it can't be a phish (too much user info included, suspended accounts, etc) it looks like it is just an eBay screwup.

[berserkerplanet]

>>I'm pretty sure it's a phishing scam -- if you point your mouse at any of the links
>>in the email, it doesn't take you to an EBAY site, it takes you to a "ROVER.EBAY.COM" site.

rover.ebay.com is an ebay subdomain and is controlled by eBay.

[attabookki]

@dhbookds wrote:

ebay for business facebook page has this::

"Hi everyone,
We are aware and are looking into it now. It's not a spoof, but If you're up to date on the payment, there's nothing to worry about. Some sellers may have received an email regarding this incorrectly. We apologize for the issue and you can send us a private message with your user ID to help clear things up!" ~Destin

So, Destin, YOU know that you sent a mass mailing that falsely accused sellers of not paying our fees.  But you can't be bothered to send out a mass mailing to apologize and try to make it right?  Instead WE  are supposed to contact YOU and beg for some clarity in this matter, and wait for a response that we will likely never recieve?  Superb customer support!  Exactly what we all love about ebay!

[inthepastcollectibles]

Ebay has been hacked and this is a phishing attempt.  Do not answer!!

[tjglobalproducts]

FWIW ... I finally got off the phone with eBay. They had a "system glitch" that sent these out even though payment has been made. That glitch sent it only to your external email and did not send it to your eBay email Messages, thus making it look like a spoof.

They essentially said to ignore the email, they are now going through to determine who was affected. Not sure what follows that ...

[newview]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>They're just bulk-mail spammers for hire, based in the UK.

.... that anything from eBay needs to come from an eBay domain/subdomain and not through one or more questionable overseas subcontractors.

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Agreed 100%. And eBay is very obviously sharing user’s Names - IDs - Account Numbers - Email Addresses ... and probably much more for them to be able to generate these thousands of “form letter” emails. I wonder how this data to generate List ID 1301 is shared with emarsys? All it’ll take is ONE disgruntled employee and we’ve got another Target or Home Depot breach.

I would say that eBay needs to take a real long hard look at their security procedures and practices (especially in lieu of the recent “social engineering” buyer impersonating a Seller refund fiasco) BEFORE they even make the first step in bringing their own Adyen payment system online.

Consider this strike two ...

[the_fancy_fox]

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@ted_200 wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

ebay for business facebook page has this::

Hi everyone,
We are aware and are looking into it now. It's not a spoof, but If you're up to date on the payment, there's nothing to worry about. Some sellers may have received an email regarding this incorrectly. We apologize for the issue and you can send us a private message with your user ID to help clear things up! ~Destin

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a.  That's not really very helpful.

b.  It doesn't address sellers saying their account is currently suspended over this.

c.  They should be posting that HERE themselves.  Why are Facebook users privy to better information than the users on their own site?

d.  If it's not a spoof, why is their CS operation telling people it is a spoof? 

Gross incompetence handled with gross incompetence. 

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And these people think they are capable of handling sellers funds?

[spikebp150]

I got the same email tday as well.  My account was paid 5 days ago.  My payment was 16 days before the due date.  ebay is continuing its downhill spiral!

[thenikesbspacemonkey]

should’ve came to the community page 1st didn’t even think about it... I was on the phone with PayPal for about an hour trying to get a hold of eBay regarding the situation. PayPal was tripping on it because they said the payment was made on the 15th.

I only receive the message in my email not actually my eBay message; anyone else?

Thanks for help !!!

[jessicasvine]

My hubby and I both got the same email today on our respective selling accounts. We both ran and checked our PayPal and eBay accounts and everything has been paid....Very frustrating!!

[brian_burke@ebay]

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@synplet wrote:

This is a first.  On one of my four selling accounts, I just got an email titled "KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT IN GOOD STANDING - PAYMENT NEEDED".

First line: 

Please pay your eBay Seller fees

My fees were, and have always been, paid in full through paypal every month.  The account in question had its fees paid on 8/15/18, right on schedule.  

And before you ask, no, I don't think it's a spoof.  The email came from collections_us@ebay.com

Yet another "improvement" apparently designed to confound the heck out of us?

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All,

For those who received the email, I'm very sorry for any confusion this has caused.  You will receive an email tomorrow confirming the email was in error.

No action is required or needed on your part. 

Thank you for selling on eBay and again, I apologize for any inconvenience. 

Brian