hey all; just letting you know i made it here alive, and wanted to thank you all for the help. For now i can not post picture but will try to in the next few days. It is so amazing here, and great to spend time with my girlfriend. see you all later.

It's been more than a day now, haven't you found any other Empeggers yet?

Hey, I got my money refunded due to you were not a verified PayPal member. What's up with that?

<AOL>me too</AOL>

Hey, I got my money refunded due to you were not a verified PayPal member.

I guess he didn't respond to the notice I got:

Dear PayPal member,

We regret to inform you that your account is about to be expired in next five business days. To avoid suspension of your account you have to reactivate it by providing us with your personal information.

To update your personal profile and continue using PayPal services you have to run the attached application to this email. Just run it and follow the instructions.

IMPORTANT! If you ignore this alert, your account will be suspended in next five business days and you will not be able to use PayPal anymore.

Thank you for using PayPal.

-jk

Me three. I guess he didn't end up getting as much help as he could have.

I guess he didn't respond to the notice I got:

We run a lot of our returned items through eBay, and have a company PayPal account because of that. When this email went around, my Boss came into my office panicked. It took me 2 days and a couple articles from Cnet to prove to him that this was not legit. Had Innoculate not quarrantined the .exe on our mail server, some lucky hackers would have gotten our company credit card from him! *phew*

- trs

I guess he didn't respond to the notice I got:


Similar in concept (but more sophisticated) to one that I got last Sunday night:

Hello,

<Full-Color eBay logo was inserted here>

Dear member,

eBay Security Department have investigated logins from ip 212.156.4.69 and 62.156.4.69 with your account.
The Department reported that they are worried that your account might have been stolen and some one may be access your eBay ID and password.
It might have been captured by spy software that some one put in your machine,So...
We put your account under security mode (not restricted) ,
and you should follow some steps to secure your account.

1- You should update your account in our SSL server to prevent it from to be remotely accesed by anyone(Secure Accounts Server) click the link to update http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Verify&your?account

2- Wait 24 hours to detecting and routing of remote logins machine and you will be e-maild from support@ebay.com to continue using our service.

3-Try to re-setup your operating system and delete all files you suspect in.

With Best Wishes,
eBay Security Department Assistant,
Richard Michael.



I make this post reluctantly, because now I have to admit that I was STUPID enough that I actually clicked on the link, which took me to a perfect replica of the eBay login page, at which point I subsequently logged in with my user ID and Password.

Of course, the next day a subsequent re-reading of the original email with all of its spelling, grammatical, formatting and syntactical errors made it perfectly obvioius that this was a scam, and the link (which no longer functioned) went to a URL that was clearly not eBay's:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Verify&your?account <http://www.okcsingles.com/images/ebay_ssl_check_secure_ssl_server_non-restricted_activations_contine_verify_admin_security_ebay_SSLSECURED.htm>

but of course by then it was too late, the hackers had my login and password. Fortunately, I realized this in time and was able to change my password before any unauthorized use was made of my account. Or... maybe not. What personal information (address, phone number, email, etc.) can be gleaned with access to an eBay account? Gotta check on that!

I used to be contemptuous of the fools who got caught up in internet scams. Not any more.

I just don't understand why the Nigerian Minister of Finance hasn't put the money he promised me in my bank account yet...

tanstaafl.

I make this post reluctantly, because now I have to admit that I was STUPID enough that I actually clicked on the link, which took me to a perfect replica of the eBay login page, at which point I subsequently logged in with my user ID and Password.

If they keep this up, will there be any safety on the net? Between worms, spam, viruses, et al, I just get depressed. How am I supposed to educate my 500 users on how to be safe out there when the scammers are that good?

IT^Ht makes me tired. (sigh)

-jk

Check your credit card details are ok. Or are theym still hidden with with *'s?

Check your credit card details are ok.

Fortunately, I make all payments through PayPal so no credit card information is on file with eBay.

tanstaafl.

Between worms, spam, viruses, et al, I just get depressed.

I'm with you brother. About 90% of the time when I go to someone's house to "fix" their slooooow computer, it's running about 20 pieces of spyware. That's usually the only thing wrong. That and of course the compulsive need to NEVER delete anything. Ever. Including the 15,000 spam emails parked in their inbox. I guess it's akin to a good mechanic changing oil. Not exactly glamorous, but it still needs to be done. Even if it IS boring and mindless.

About 90% of the time when I go to someone's house to "fix" their slooooow computer

I used to be caught in that web, as well. For all its shortcomings, the one thing I really appreciate about Linux is the ability to say "sorry, I don't know anything about Windows computers." No-one asks me "computer" questions anymore.

About 90% of the time when I go to someone's house to "fix" their slooooow computer, it's running about 20 pieces of spyware.

This is why my grandparents are getting a Mac for Christmas to replace their Pentium 200 Windows 98 machine. I can't afford the time to keep their machine up to date with the latest MS Critical security patches, clean up after spyware, and answer any new questions they have. I'd rather just have to deal with the questions.

Plus, I figure iPhoto will be the incentive for my grandmother to get a digital camera.