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RobBeddington · 11-04-04, 05:58 PM

This is a VERY good call Lynn

Although I write about ID theft and ID fraud for a living (I produced a 48-page guide on Financial Crime just 2 months ago) I had a shock recently when a fraudster stole <u>MY</u> Ebay identity. Among other things, they listed a mint Ford Mustang in the link below on my account, with a start price of $7,000. The photo's have since been removed:

Fake Ford Mustang on my Ebay account

Not only did the fraudster trace my Ebay password, but in order to divert emails to hijack any questions about the auction, and to furnish details of where the "winner's" payment for the non-existent Mustang should be made, they somehow found out my details in my Ebay account's next security level - my date of birth and mother's maiden name.

The only thing that I know I did wrong was have an Ebay password the same as the one I use on a few other websites. Rest assured, ALL my passwords are now different. The fact that the fraudster went the extra mile and unearthed the other information is pretty worrying.

So I guess that if you are reliant on keying in your birthday in any security questions for Ebay, Internet Banking etc, then inputting your birth date on websites like the GT40s.com calendar and mentioning your birthday and other personal information in a thread can be a bit of a giveaway for anyone intent on spending some time and research on stealing identities. And before you ask, I've never provided passwords etc in reply to any fake emails or pop-ups, and I have a decent firewall and every virus checker going to ensure that no-one can track my keystrokes.

This was a real lesson for me that thankfully, through email communication with Ebay, was resolved quickly. This included the refund of the listing fees to my account. And these fees were high, because the Mustang was a 'Featured Listing', etc, etc, which all costs money.

So as Lynn says, everyone should look carefully at their own personal info etc, because it is visible to the whole wide world - and, like I should have known, don't use the same password on every site - because there are some real bastards out there ...

Rob

11-04-04, 05:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
RobBeddington 7 Tenths Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Magazine Editor (finance magazine) and Freelance Writer (classic car articles) GT40: Robin Hood Country, England Posts: 761 Rep Power: 12	Re: Posting personal Information in threads. This is a VERY good call Lynn Although I write about ID theft and ID fraud for a living (I produced a 48-page guide on Financial Crime just 2 months ago) I had a shock recently when a fraudster stole <u>MY</u> Ebay identity. Among other things, they listed a mint Ford Mustang in the link below on my account, with a start price of $7,000. The photo's have since been removed: Fake Ford Mustang on my Ebay account Not only did the fraudster trace my Ebay password, but in order to divert emails to hijack any questions about the auction, and to furnish details of where the "winner's" payment for the non-existent Mustang should be made, they somehow found out my details in my Ebay account's next security level - my date of birth and mother's maiden name. The only thing that I know I did wrong was have an Ebay password the same as the one I use on a few other websites. Rest assured, ALL my passwords are now different. The fact that the fraudster went the extra mile and unearthed the other information is pretty worrying. So I guess that if you are reliant on keying in your birthday in any security questions for Ebay, Internet Banking etc, then inputting your birth date on websites like the GT40s.com calendar and mentioning your birthday and other personal information in a thread can be a bit of a giveaway for anyone intent on spending some time and research on stealing identities. And before you ask, I've never provided passwords etc in reply to any fake emails or pop-ups, and I have a decent firewall and every virus checker going to ensure that no-one can track my keystrokes. This was a real lesson for me that thankfully, through email communication with Ebay, was resolved quickly. This included the refund of the listing fees to my account. And these fees were high, because the Mustang was a 'Featured Listing', etc, etc, which all costs money. So as Lynn says, everyone should look carefully at their own personal info etc, because it is visible to the whole wide world - and, like I should have known, don't use the same password on every site - because there are some real bastards out there ... Rob