Trade Me warns over 'identity confirmation' scam
Hoax is based on an eBay con.
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Hawke’s Bay
Trade Me says an "identity confirmation" email doing the rounds is a fake.
The email was created by "phishers" (identity thieves) looking to lure people to a fake "Trade Me" site where they asked to enter their name and credit card details to confirm their identity.
The fake email is on Trade Me's policing team radar, spokesman Paul Ford told NBR.
It begins with the phrase, "Dear Trade Me member , Trade Me recently announced a new safety initiative called Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation that will help to protect our members from unauthorised listings," before asking members to click through to a (fake) site to confirm details. It is signed by (the non-existent) Trade Me Senior Director, Trade Me Safe and Trust Department John Canfield.
A tell-tale sign it's a phishing scam is the "Inc" after Trade Me.
Mr Ford said the message appeared to be based on a hoax eBay email from 2008 purporting to be from trust and safety director John Cranfield (a name appropriated by the 2011 Trade Me scamsters).
ABOVE: The bogus email (click to enlarge).
A Trade Me security tips page says users should never provide their password or user name by email.
It adds that spoof Trade Me sites can be recognised by their URL (web address). Only the authentic site's address begins with http://www.trademe.co.nz.
Additional safety tips are on a Trade Me community board here.
Customers can also contact abuse@trademe.co.nz about a suspect email.
Chris Keall
Mon, 26 Sep 2011
Mon, 26 Sep 2011
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Trade Me warns over 'identity confirmation' scam
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