EBay for Dummies (63 page)
Authors: Marsha Collier
Tags: #Electronic Commerce, #Computers, #General, #E-Commerce, #Internet auctions, #Auctions - Computer network resources, #Internet, #Business & Economics, #EBay (Firm)
When it comes to e-mail addresses, your secret is safe. If you bid on an auction, your e-mail is visible only to the seller. The end of listing notice contains your e-mail address so that the person on the other end of the transaction can contact you. After the other user has your e-mail address, eBay rules state that the user can use it only for eBay business.
Here’s a list of “business” reasons for e-mail communication, generally accepted by all on eBay:
Responding to feedback that you left
Responding to feedback that you received
Communicating with sellers or buyers during and after transactions
Suggesting items to friends that they may be interested in via the Share feature (on the item page)
Leaving chat room comments
Discussing common interests with other members, such as shared hometowns, interesting collections, and past or current listings.
Sending spam versus eating it
Sending e-mail to other members is a great way to do business and make friends. But don’t cross the line into spam.
Spam,
a Hormel canned meat product (I’ve given Spam its own sidebar), now has an alternate meaning. When you spell it with a small
s, spam
is unsolicited e-mail — most often, advertising — sent to multiple e-mail addresses gleaned from marketing lists. Eventually, it fills up your inbox the way “Spam, Spam, Spam, and Spam” filled up the menu in an old
Monty Python
restaurant skit.
Think of spam as the electronic version of the junk mail that you get via the U.S. Postal Service. Spam may be okay for eating (if you’re into that kind of thing), but sending it can get you banned from eBay.
If you send an e-mail that advertises a product or service to people who haven’t agreed (opted in) that they wanted this sort of e-mail, you’re guilty of spamming.
Trashing your junk mail
Sometimes spam can come in the form of mail from people you know and expect mail from. Your closest friend’s computer may have been abducted by some weird Internet virus and replicated the virus to everyone in his or her e-mail address book. Obviously, this is not a good thing for those who receive and open the e-mail.
Don’t open e-mail from anyone you don’t know, especially if a file is attached to it. Sometimes, if a spammer is really slick, it’s hard to tell that you’ve received spam. If you receive an e-mail with no subject line, however — or if the e-mail has an addressee name that isn’t yours, or is coming from someone you never heard of — delete it. You never know; it could be just annoying spam — or worse, it could contain a computer virus as an attachment, just waiting for you to open and activate it.
Speaking of e-mail, if you’re new to the technology, I recommend getting a good antivirus program that can scan e-mail attachments and rid your system of some annoying and increasingly dangerous computer bugs.
For some interesting general anti-spam tips, drop in at
spam.abuse.net
. This Web site offers helpful advice for doing battle with spam artists. Also, I’ve been using a handy software program for years called MailWasher, which allows me to preview my e-mail before it’s downloaded to my computer. It even bounces spam back to the sender on command — as if your e-mail address didn’t exist. Best of all, this program is free and available from
www.mailwasher.net
.
E-mail spoofing
E-mail spoofing has become the bane of the online community and can wreak havoc. Spoofing is accomplished when crafty techno-geeks send out e-mail and make it appear to come from someone other than themselves — someone you know and expect e-mail from. Most often, this type of e-mail is programmed to invade your privacy or, even worse, bilk you out of confidential information.
My messages safeguard your privacy
Being the conscientious company it is, eBay has set up a private area, accessible only through one of the three tabs on your My eBay page, called Messages. Messages enables you to communicate with other eBay members without revealing your e-mail address. All your missives with other members, such as Ask the Seller a Question communications, appear in this area. You can answer mail, send new mail, and delete communications from this area, just as if it was your own e-mail software.
This service can protect you from most of the most dangerous forms of spam. For safety’s sake, whenever you receive an e-mail sent (in reality or purportedly) from eBay or an eBay member, don’t click the e-mail link to Respond Now. Open your Internet browser and go directly to your Messages area. If the e-mail is legitimate, it will appear here. Merely click the e-mail to open it, read it, and reply. Your privacy (in the form of your e-mail address) isn’t exposed to the receiving party.
A spate of e-mails have purportedly been sent from eBay, PayPal, and other major e-commerce sites, claiming that your membership has been suspended or that your records need updating. The opportunistic e-mail then asks you to click a link to a page on the site, which then asks you to input your personal information. Don’t do it!
Most sites will
never
ask you to provide sensitive information through e-mail, so don’t do it. If you receive an e-mail saying your “account has been suspended,” close the e-mail and go directly to the site in question —
without
using the supplied link in the e-mail. You’ll know soon enough if there is a problem with your account.
If you get this sort of e-mail from eBay and want to confirm whether it is really from eBay, visit this eBay security page:
pages.ebay.com/help/account/recognizing-spoof
To help eBay in its investigation of these information thieves, send a copy of the e-mail (along with all identification headers) to
[email protected]
. When forwarding the e-mail, do not alter it in any way.
I Vant to Be Alone — and Vat You Can Do to Stay That Vay
The Internet has a long reach. Don’t be surprised if you furnish your personal information freely on one Web site, and it turns up somewhere else. If you don’t mind people knowing things about you (your name, your hobbies, where you live, and your phone number, for example), by all means share. But I personally think you should give only as much information as you need to do business on the site.
Privacy is not secrecy. Don’t feel obligated to reveal anything about yourself that isn’t absolutely necessary. (Some personal facts are in the same league as body weight — private, even if hardly a secret.)
Although you can’t prevent privacy leaks entirely, you can take some precautions to protect yourself. Here are some tips to keep your online information as safe and secure as possible:
User ID:
When eBay first started, members used their e-mail addresses to buy and sell. Today, users appear on the site with a
nom de plume
(okay, user ID, but nom de plume sounds oh, so chic). Your first line of defense against everyone who surfs the eBay site is to choose a user ID that doesn’t reveal too much about you. Chapter 2 gives you some pointers on how to choose your user ID.
Password:
Guard your password as if it were the key to your home. Don’t give any buyers or sellers your password. If a window requesting your password pops up in an auction, skip it — it’s somebody who is up to no good. Use your password
only
on official eBay screens. (See Chapter 2 for tips on choosing passwords.)