# Ebay - account violate agreement policy email **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089 "2005-01-16T21:52:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/1 "2005-01-16T21:52:35Z")
is this email kosher? > [@](#): > > Dear valued customer > > We regret to inform you that your eBay account could be suspended if you don’t re-update your account information. To resolve this problems please click here and re-enter your account information. If your problems could not be resolved your account will be suspended for a period of 24 hours, after this period your account will be terminated. > > For the User Agreement, Section 9, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us. > > Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes the registering of a new account. Please note that this suspension does not relieve you of your agreed-upon obligation to pay any fees you may owe to eBay. > Regards, Safeharbor Department eBay, Inc > The eBay team. > This is an automatic message. Please do not reply. > > * * * > > Announcements Register Shop eBay-o-rama Security Center Policies PayPal > Feedback Forum About eBay Jobs Affiliates Program Developers eBay Downloads eBay Gift Certificates > My eBay Site Map > > Copyright © 1995-2004 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. > Designated trademarks and brands are the property of > their respective owners. > Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the > eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy. The link in the email leads to [this page](http://218.154.123.224/signin.ebay.com/ws2/eBayISAPI.dll/b2baf0b6a57d39abd6c44b48d6fe3559112c21e54b7e705ecc5116b3c7c38c37949e8aa81848934faf0821be04210e8c2ded3c4159edbee3ee1439f3892a3e91/) where I am expected to enter all my details including my bank details. Has anyone seen anything like this from ebay before? ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/2 "2005-01-16T21:54:41Z")
Ignore it, someone is phishing for your account details. That link does not go to an EBay site. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/3 "2005-01-16T21:57:29Z")
[More information from the ebay website](http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-account-theft-spoof.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/4 "2005-01-16T21:59:07Z")
Not only that, but the email is full of errors and bad wording. Doesn’t eBay have some sort of “We’ll never ask you for your information” policy? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/5 "2005-01-16T22:01:51Z")
As a general rule, any communication asking you to perform a specific and required action, whilst still addressing you as ‘dear valued customer’, is a scam. If (for example) the bank wants me to drop in and discuss my misuse of the overdraft facility, they will address me by my own name. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/6 "2005-01-16T22:05:00Z")
Thanks all. I will report the suspicious email to Ebay. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/7 "2005-01-16T22:14:20Z")
I’ve been getting effing millions of these all of a sudden. Forward them to eBay ([spoof@ebay.co.uk](mailto:spoof@ebay.co.uk) or .com) so they can track down the twat(s) responsible and slice their goolies off. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/8 "2005-01-16T22:25:36Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > I’ve been getting effing millions of these all of a sudden. Forward them to eBay ([spoof@ebay.co.uk](mailto:spoof@ebay.co.uk) or .com) so they can track down the twat(s) responsible and slice their goolies off. Damn, I love British slang. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/9 "2005-01-16T22:56:40Z")
I’ve had about six of these in the last week. I’ve also had about three bank accounts frozen that I must have forgotten I had! How embarrassing. I wonder how much I’d put in them? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/10 "2005-01-17T01:53:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Forward them to eBay ([spoof@ebay.co.uk](mailto:spoof@ebay.co.uk) or .com) so they can track down the twat(s) responsible and slice their goolies off. Twats have goolies? Either my knowledge of slang or of anatomy is severely in error. And even ignoring the “dear valued customer” bit, _any_ e-mail that tells you to do something like this, especially if it involves bank information, is a scam. Just like how you never give your credit card number over the phone unless you initiated the call, you never do so on the Internet, either. ---
**Author:** ![rorty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@rorty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rorty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/11 "2005-01-17T09:03:38Z")
These phising expeditions seem to come in waves. Every so often I’ll get three or four Ebay scams during a week and then nothing for a long time. They’re usually marked “TKO Notice/Account Violation” or some such. Some can look very realistic on their surface. The best rule of thumb is to flat out ignore any request for personal and/or account information through email. If these companies need that information they won’t ask for it through a channel such as email, that’s for sure. Sadly, I’m sure a lot of unfortunate people fall for these scams. ☹ I get a lot from various banks too. The funny thing is, never once have I received a scam purporting to be from a bank I’m a member of. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/12 "2005-01-17T13:30:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Twats have goolies? Either my knowledge of slang or of anatomy is severely in error. Er, thanks for pointing that out. :smack: Strangely, the Brits (and probably others as well) tend to words for the female reproductive organs to refer perjoratively to men. In any case, if ever I got in the same room armed with a plank, a pair of hob-nailed boots and hypodermic syringe full of botulism, as an eBay phisher or that git who keeps trying to sell me V!agra… ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/13 "2005-01-17T13:47:48Z")
I have never received a phishing mail that did not include numerous giveaways in the form of bad grammar or funny language. You’d think it would be worth their while to hire someone to iron out those kinks. Um, I’ve got some time on my hands. Could use a few extra bucks, though. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/14 "2005-01-17T13:58:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Twats have goolies? Either my knowledge of slang or of anatomy is severely in error. Ah, you understand our colloqualisms! Indeed ‘twat’ is a refence to a particular female organ. However it is intended in this context to be perjorative, and apply to either a male or female chap\*. Whose male organs you would then remove. \*chap applies to both genders, of course ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/15 "2005-01-17T14:16:39Z")
I get them too which is weird because I DO NOT SELL ON EBAY. I have NO financial information on ebay, yet they keep wanting me to update it :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-account-violate-agreement-policy-email/285089/16 "2005-01-17T16:16:54Z")
Paypal spoofers send out a high-quality email; no spelling mistakes on the email itself, or the linked webpage. Of course, if I had a paypal account of my own, I might worry about this.