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Chaska, MinnesotaHello Teddy Bear Friends: today my father got a call from an "E-Bay customer service" person asking to speak with me. I live in Minnesota and he lives in Florida. Both dad and I are registered E-Bay users. Dad told the caller I am his daughter but does not live with him. When he asked what is the call about, she said they could not give out any customer information and that she would e-mail me instead.
Dad did a caller ID and it was indeed E-Bay. I called the number and got a voice mail saying they routinely call out to customers for satisfaction survey. No further action required.
So, if I am registered, what are they calling my dad's number asking for me?
I looked in my e-bay account and did not see an e-mail from e-bay.
So I wonder, is this a scam? Is E-Bay trying to reach me due to someone hacking into my account? (I do have a vivid imagination). Of course I fear the worst. I don't sell on e-bay, I just buy at times....
What do you guys think about this? What should be my next steps?
Hmmm...
I've never had that happen nor heard of it happening. I'd be wary, especially if they ask you to give out any personal information "confirming" your account or profile.
In such a case, I'd tell them I'll be happy to log in to eBay and take care of any required changes online.
I try to avoid being paranoid in life but with identity theft and credit card fraud so rampant (I was a victim myself last winter even though I still held the card itself in my wallet!), I think caution is warranted.
If all they want is to know how satisfied you are with eBay, though, no harm in giving them some answers to round out their survey. Businesses DO conduct such surveys from time to time, as do researchers and focus group administrators, etc. In fact, I was part of a huge study in college myself and had to cold-call strangers randomly from a phone book for the Department of Psychology at UCLA. We were studying public bias as it might apply to jury selection.
However, if, after answering their questions, they want to "confirm" who you are by asking you to verify your account details, I'd say, "Sorry, but not over the phone" even if you've already spent 15 minutes chatting. It's just not worth the risk and those folks into defrauding others are very clever and play on sympathies and emotions like you can't believe.
Back on topic, though... Thanks for the heads up for us all!
Sunnie BearsMichele,
Be VERY careful. I understand that there are scammers using the telephone to gain info about you. I just read an article in our paper and it mentioned that it has happened to ebay customers, etc. Seems people are catching on the the scammer emails with the fake websites to enter any information. So they figure by using the phone, when they say they are "ebay" you will believe them and give the information. Email ebay's security deparetment and report this. They will tell you if it was them. I can pretty much tell you that it wasn't . Ebay wouldn't ever have to ask you for your info. They already have it.
Sonya
Posts: 1,836Watch out for the "caller ID" thing too. They just did a thing on our local news out here about how there are services that people can now use to spoof and scam via Caller ID.
From one news article: "In the last few years, Caller ID spoofing has become much easier. Millions of people have Internet telephone equipment that can be set to make any number appear on a Caller ID system. And several web sites have sprung up to provide Caller ID spoofing services, eliminating the need for any special hardware.
For instance, Spoofcard.com sells a virtual "calling card" for $10 that provides 60 minutes of talk time. The user dials a toll-free number, then keys in the destination number and the Caller ID number to display. The service also provides optional voice scrambling, to make the caller sound like someone of the opposite sex.
Caller ID spoofing appears to be legal, though many of its uses are not."
Nice, huh? We make it easier & easier for criminals to fraud good people and harder than ever to recover your good name/ good credit once they ruin you. It's beyond comprehension. 
:hug:
~Chrissi
Chaska, MinnesotaThank you all for your input. My dad who originally got the call perused this with e-bay. Apparently he has a special number to call with issues. He did track down the person who called him and she sent him an e-mail just stating she called him Michelle instead of Michael. It was just a customer service call asking if he was please with e-bay. So I think this turned out o.k.
But Chrissi you have opened my eyes to caller ID. Who would have known?
Shelli: Identity theft is so ramped in our world. I pay extra through my credit card company to have something sent to me in my e-mail if anybody tries to open up credit cards with my SS# or take out loans. They won't stop the transaction but I know immediately if someone is doing something with my personal information. Also I took out insurance to cover anything that was charged to me that was not mine. A small price to pay for peace of mind isn’t it?
Sonya: it is a good reminder not to answer any questions over the phone....Sad as it may be, you can't be too careful.
Thanks again for all your input. I learned a lot......
Bears by Jodiummmmmmmmmmmmmm weard !!! 
