Another in a long line of scams attempting to target eBay or Paypal users is the ”disputed transaction” email. Some are cleverly disguised to look like official eBay or Paypal emails complete with graphics, identical text and formatting. For a novice computer user these can be very hard to spot.

There are ways you can protect yourself though. First is always be sure to read what both Ebay and Paypal have said about scams targeting their business. Second is action you can take. Look over the email closely – are there spelling mistakes, did you make the transaction they claim, are the graphics low quality, and check your eBay or Paypal account using direct navigation – do not use any link from the email to access your accounts. Either type out ebay.com or paypal.com into your web browser or use a bookmark that you yourself made.

If you do visit the scam website look for other signs of trouble. Look at the domain name (the part after the http://www.) Does it say eBay or paypal immediately (should read like http://www.ebay.com/ and NOT something like http://c-24-96-44-158.hsd1.ga.comcast.net:82/www.ebay.com)? And as with any attempt to log in to any website on the Internet always always always look for the lock symbol in your browser. If it is present it should be in a ”locked” state. If there is no lock symbol and the page doesn”t begin with https:// denoting a secure connection do not log in. Send an email to the website contact asking for clarification.

Finally we cannot stress it enough, use a good anti-virus program with your email program. Most now come with daily updates that help filter out these phishing emails and other scams including plain old spam before you can fall prey to them.