Hacked!!

My ebay account got hacked yesterday - not a nice feeling at all.

I'm usually very careful about such things but I slipped up for a moment and paid the price.

Let me tell you how they got me so that they might not get you in the same way.

Like almost everyone, I get emails looking for me to confirm bank details, passwords etc. All evident spoofs and cons.

But, two days ago, I got an email from some ebay dude asking me had I sent him his transistor radio yet. I knew nothing about any radio so I mailed him back to tell him he had mailed the wrong guy (as you would).

Right there... that was my mistake.

His email looked exactly like an ebay email and it had a 'click to respond' button embedded in the mail.

Without thinking hard, I clicked the button, entered my password and replied to the guy and there i was... hacked. I had just mailed my password to a complete stranger.

And this stranger did not hang around. They logged into my ebay account and got to work.

The result?

Yesterday over 1,600 items were put on sale on ebay in my name - everything and anything from PS3's to full size John Deere Tractors.

Each of these listings would have cost me a Euro if Ebay had not performed exellently and moved quickly to stem the attack.

So all's well that ends well - all my passwords have been changed and I am relatively secure again.

My moral is, if you get an email with a 'click to respond' button embedded within it, don't do it...ever.

2 comments:

Keala said...

Being hacked is not a good feeling. It happened to me once just like it happened to you.

Glad you posted about it so someone will learn our lessons.

Ken Armstrong said...

It certainly wasn't good, Keala, and it made me feel *so* stupid.

Thanks for reading - you're my first comment ever on the blog - wish there was a prize!!