posted on July 26, 2002 09:02:21 AM new
Hello everyone! I have a perplexing problem. Atleast I think it is a small one. Here it is:
I just recieved a message under "Question from seller" The message from this potential bidder only says " Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your
help."
I am one of these sellers that lists everything possible about an item I am selling. Oh well, I wonder what else they want to know. This is not the problem.
The problem is: I checked the email address against Ebay users and found that not only does this person have a zero feedback but Ebay shows this person as NOT REGISTERED. The only time I have seen this is when a person gets kicked off of ebay for either not paying for their auctions or some other infraction. Maybe they have another id they are using to buy with?
Should I just block this bidder and ignore their question or reply and take my chances? Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated.
posted on July 26, 2002 09:09:24 AM new
I'd say what's the use in replying - if they are not registered, they cannot bid. You can't leave feedback for a user NOT REGISTERED. Just do not respond.
posted on July 26, 2002 09:10:11 AM new
I received 2 'Question for Seller' emails from supposedly 2 different people, asking the same thing on 2 different items I had up.
They asked
"What can you tell me about this item, thank you"
I checked them BOTH out, and they were (0) feedback, but also BOTH were NARU
Now before I checked them, I did answer the first one, and since everything is in the description, I basically copied the description into the email.
They both came from a 'strange' ISP
I'm not sure I should put it here but they were both female names then @iminterestedinyou.com which sounded like a strange email addy.
posted on July 26, 2002 09:17:02 AM new
I wonder what this all about then.
Because like I said, they were both from that ISP, but two different names at the beginning, and asking the exact same question on 2 different items on my list...
Edited, I have to go check to see if the email you received is the same, I just typed that out, because thats what I thought I remembered it looked like, I'll go look to make sure
Also, is it OK to put the full email with their entire addy here?
posted on July 26, 2002 09:19:18 AM new
Now that you mentioned shelley373 right after I re:emailed the inquirer, I did a search for their email address and the person was unregistered.
posted on July 26, 2002 09:23:31 AM new
Mine is different. Can I list it here? What the heck, I am not doing this to hurt anyone, just to protect us. Mine is: robinson_margit_p_795
[ edited by paloma91 on Jul 26, 2002 09:26 AM ]
posted on July 26, 2002 09:32:57 AM new
YEP and what the heck, robinson huh, same, sorta:
Here's mine:
From: [email protected] Add to Address Book Add this Address to my Block List
Subject: Question for seller -- Item #2040299741
Date: Jul 23 2002 7:19a
To: <[email protected]>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your help.
And:
From: [email protected] Add to Address Book Add this Address to my Block List
Subject: Question for seller -- Item #2123396973
Date: Jul 19 2002 12:35a
To: <[email protected]>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your help.
posted on July 26, 2002 10:22:46 AM new
I got 2 of those emails about a week ago.
Both were :
Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your help.
and from the ISP interestedinyou.com ... both NARU. LOL I knew something wasn't right. I didn't respond. I just deleted both emails.
posted on July 26, 2002 10:27:56 AM new
So there are a lot of them out there, most likely the same? person
But why? Why would someone spend so much time to question the seller. Ok they didn't have to spend too much time, they seemed to ask the exact question, they can copy and paste that part, and mine didn't come as a 'mass email' with a lot of other recipients. Its very strange to me.
posted on July 26, 2002 10:28:53 AM new
I recieved one last week too - same email address. I responded to it with a "can you be more specific?" There was a thread (I thought it was here) about this last week. Apparently if you respond to it you sign yourself up for some kind of spam list.
Bummer
posted on July 26, 2002 10:32:53 AM new
well by going to interestedinyou.com, it gives a link to something, where you can find out who owns it through whois.
posted on July 26, 2002 10:45:42 AM new
I haven't got one, but I don't have anyting listed this week.
I wuld almost bet anything that this guy is running an automated script, emailing EVERYONE selling on eBay, and collection the e-mail address of anyone whoe replies.
Don't reply, or you'll wind up with uncountable tons of SPAM.
posted on July 26, 2002 11:20:39 AM new
Bummer, I replied "what exactly would you like to know?" email address is [email protected]
I hate SPAM, but love my customers---they got me....
posted on July 26, 2002 11:21:17 AM new
I had two this week. Luckily, I didn't respond before reading this article in July 25th Auctionbytes newsletter. It reads:
July 25, 2002 - Spammers Target eBay Members in New Harvesting Scheme
eBay sellers are being targeted by "harvesters" that are using eBay's "Ask the Seller a Question" feature to collect members' email addresses. Harvesters collect email addresses and sell the lists to senders of unsolicited "junk mail," known as Spam email.
According to threads on various online auction forums, sellers receive an inquiry about an item that they have for sale via the eBay mail system. The body of the email poses a vague question such as, "Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your help."
When a seller responds to this inquiry, their email address becomes visible to the sender, who can then add it to a marketing list. According to eBay, it appears that this is an email-harvesting scam. "We have suspended the accounts of the perpetrators," said eBay spokesperson, Kevin Pursglove. "We are still gathering as much information as possible from our users." According to users, many emails are originating from a domain based in Australia.
Early last year, eBay instituted a new email system to cut down on email-address harvesting. The new system blocks the ability of members to look up each other's email addresses on the site. Instead, members must use the "Ask the Seller a Question" feature. The change was to protect users from receiving Spam email, according to eBay. Now it appears that the system is vulnerable to email harvesting bots that essentially accomplish the same objective.
According to eBay spokesperson Kevin Pursglove, it becomes a Catch-22 for many sellers. "Many of the members who have received the correspondence are concerned they may lose a sale by not responding. Conversely, sellers believe they will be added to a Spammer's list by accepting the overture."
***
posted on July 26, 2002 11:47:08 AM new
Add another to the list of SUCKERS. I received one on 7/23 from [email protected]. I answered it. Wish I had seen the newsletter before.
posted on July 26, 2002 02:15:49 PM new
ME TOO!!! 7/19 What color is my red face? And I thought they were stupid. Another lesson in the College of Cyberspace Hard knocks!
posted on July 26, 2002 02:24:03 PM new
You guys aren't alone! I replied, too. Darn! Trying so hard to be responsive to my customers...there outta be a law! Snuggle
posted on July 26, 2002 02:25:58 PM new
I have been getting those same emails .. question for seller, at least 2 a day for the last 5 days or so.
I figured something wasn't right, so never opened and deleted them
posted on July 26, 2002 02:27:40 PM new
The only thing I could add is that they are from a porno site. Mine come from Yahoo UK
Why not block the email address in your outlook express. I think it can be done.
posted on July 26, 2002 03:36:09 PM new
Shoot! I not only replied, I sent a couple of more pictures. I should always read the forums before I do ANYTHING! Mine was that same interestedinyou.com too.
posted on July 26, 2002 07:12:27 PM new
Do I feel STUUUUUUUUPID??
From [email protected] Fri, 26 Jul 2002 12:02:18 -0700
Received: from [207.46.181.16] by hotmail.com (3.2) with ESMTP id MHotMailBF0AE75C005C40042149CF2EB510047F28; Fri, 26 Jul 2002 12:02:05 -0700
Received: from mx18.sjc.ebay.com ([66.135.197.15]) by cpimssmtpa27.msn.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.4905);
Fri, 26 Jul 2002 11:27:36 -0700
Received: from walkietalkie.sjc.ebay.com (walkietalkie.sjc.ebay.com [10.6.43.11])
by mx18.sjc.ebay.com (8.12.3/8.12.3) with SMTP id g6QIST7t005628
for <>; Fri, 26 Jul 2002 11:28:29 -0700
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
To: tomwiii
From: [email protected]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Subject: Question for seller -- Item #
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 11:28:29 PDT
Return-Path: [email protected]
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 26 Jul 2002 18:27:36.0226 (UTC) FILETIME=[1D7C5820:01C234D2]
Hi, can you please send me some more information? Thanks for your help.
--------------------
Question from: clark_celine_b_711
Title of item: BANGLE
Seller:
Starts: Jul-25-02 17:00:05 PDT
Ends: Aug-01-02 17:00:05 PDT
Price: Starts at $9.99
To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=
Visit eBay, The World's Online Marketplace TM at http://www.ebay.com
