Protect yourself from fraudulent (spoof) emails

Some members have reported receiving deceptive emails claiming to come from eBay or other trusted companies. The people who send these emails (also known as "spoof" or "phishing" emails) hope that unsuspecting recipients will reply or click on a link contained in the email and then provide sensitive personal information.

We strongly encourage you to be cautious when responding to any email request for sensitive personal information.

Remember just because an email looks like it's from eBay, doesn't mean it really is. An eBay address in the "From" line of an email (for example, "From: support@ebay.in", "From: billing@ebay.in", "From: eBay Account Maintenance") does not guarantee that the email is from eBay.

eBay is working hard to help keep your account safe from hacking and unauthorised intrusions. You can also take a few simple steps to protect your account and prevent senders of deceptive emails from doing harm:

• Do not send sensitive personal information via email eBay will never ask you to send your account password, credit card numbers or other sensitive personal information in an email. Some deceptive emails will ask you to enter sensitive personal information directly into a form within the email in an attempt to defraud you - don't do it.

• When in doubt, use the eBay Web site If you need to update your personal or financial information on eBay, type the eBay web address (www.ebay.in) into your browser. Use My eBay or the Site Map to find pages on eBay, rather than relying on links from emails. Make sure you sign out when you are finished, especially if you are using a public computer.

• Be sure you are on an eBay page To be sure that you are signing in to a genuine eBay page, look at the address/location area of your browser. At an eBay sign-in or log-in page, the URL (link) that appears in the address/location area of your browser will begin with "http://cgi.ebay.in/", "https://scgi.ebay.in/saw-cgi/" or "http://signin.ebay.in/". Please pay close attention to all characters in the address, including the forward slash (/) that follows "ebay.ebay.in/". If you click on a link in an email, verify that the web address in your browser is the same as the address shown in the email.

• Always use a secure server when submitting credit card numbers Before submitting credit card numbers over the Internet, ensure that you are using a secure server. The beginning of the web address in your browser window should be "https://" and not "http://". For secure server pages, you should also see a "lock" icon at the bottom of the browser.

• Report suspicious email Help us keep our community safe. If you have any doubt whether an email is from eBay, forward the message to spoof@eBay.com immediately. Don't alter the subject line or include the message as an attachment - doing so makes it difficult for us to react quickly.

• Contact your bank or credit card company If you have already replied to a fraudulent email with sensitive personal information or entered data through a fake Web page, contact your bank and/or credit card company immediately to prevent identity theft. We also recommend that you check your Account and My eBay preferences periodically to ensure that no one has tampered with your account.

Learn more Our Help system provides detailed information about Password and Account Protection, Minimising Unwanted Email, and Stopping spam.