Unsolicited email from Ebay

KeithT

Hillwalking, chickens and - err - garden railways.
Country flag
I have just received the following email via Ebay. It has all their headers and details.
Has anyone else had one of these?
How did he come by my details?
To my knowledge I have never dealt with him. He is based in the USA.

"Please excuse the unsolicited email but you seem to be a collector that appreciates gauge 1 locos. I am selling off my personal collection, it can be seen at :
- ati3414

http://asfarti.tripod.com/index-10.html

Have a look, it is a lot of fun even if you decide not to buy anything

Adrian (email : egas@pacbell.net)
 
Hmm - doesn't sound nice at all. I can only suggest that you forward it to eBay as suspicious and ask them how the sender could have obtained your details. :onphone:
 
Sounds suss unless you have had dealings with him....
I get emails from Ebay sellers who I have dealt with with all manner of "offers", best one was from the guy who I bought my little red mill off and he told me that because I had spent more than $500 I was entitled to a free gift and validated my delivery adress...... I expected a free catlougue but instead what turned up was amazing, it was a set of endmills in a little wooden box. Now he has my attention and with service like that I shop there for all sorts of tools....
But Ebay specificaly state that your details will not be shared so if you dont want junk emails, yes, I'd make sure they know about it..... On the other hand I have discovered that quite a few ebay sellers sell cheaper though their own online stores so yet again one has to be on ones toes to keep up with possible bargains....
 
When in doubt, throw it out!!
 
Good advice, thanks all.
I have laboriously checked through all my purchases and this seller does not figure anywhere.
I think I will refer it to ebay, but as ever I shall not hold my breath.
The major struggle I usually find with ebay is getting through the 'fog' of useless help links.
 
Message sent to Ebay.
As ever I had to enter an unrelated complaint area in order to get enough space(characters) to set out the problem.
The last time I contacted them, around 4 months ago, I got the usual NIL response.
 
Anybody can contact a account member through ebay! using the contact a member button it will allow you to email through the ebay system he cannot see your email address but the message goes via ebay thats why the message came from ebay not directly from him................Paul.........
 
minimans said:
Anybody can contact a account member through ebay! using the contact a member button it will allow you to email through the ebay system he cannot see your email address but the message goes via ebay thats why the message came from ebay not directly from him................Paul.........

Ah, I hadn't thought of that Paul!! :-
Obvious when you give it some thought. &:
 
I had the same email and was reticent to open it.
Whos brave enough?

We might be missing out on something.:rolf:
 
KeithT said:
minimans said:
Anybody can contact a account member through ebay! using the contact a member button it will allow you to email through the ebay system he cannot see your email address but the message goes via ebay thats why the message came from ebay not directly from him................Paul.........

Ah, I hadn't thought of that Paul!! :-
Obvious when you give it some thought. &:
Yes on the mechanics, but the person sending the message is clearly tracking KeithT's activity and sending unsolicited mails. I don't find that terribly comforting!
 
James when I clicked that link I got :
"404. That?s an error.
The requested URL /search?q=cache%3CIMG%20alt= was not found on this server. That?s all we know. "
 
playmofire said:
Does the email contain your eBay username? If not, then it isn't from eBay.

The message also appears in Ebay's message box.
 
Not worth the risk, report them, and have a drop box for your email, use a gmail account for transactions, ebay and p/pal are not interested at all in employing anyone to sort out problems even theifs get positive feedback,
I will only bid once ever per item, or buy now,and would rather give my things away for a donation to Shelterbox than cross the palms of p/pal,I would never sell anything ever again on ebay,and the best bargains and fairest deals ever are on this forum, where do I leave positive feedback??
 
nah, seems like someone wanted to promote their backyard business.
Some pretty rare stuff on his site, but at those prices I can shop anywhere :)
 
I know this isn't quite the same thing, but I reckon its a form of tracking (subliminal advertising). One or two web sites carry advertising (sponsorship?) and I've noticed that Screwfix - who I deal with (and have dealt with over the years) advertise exactly the same items I have been looking at on their site. Maybe I've created a list or a part order but, for sure, obscure items like drill bits, self tappers and the like appear in the ad. Uncanny? No, I thinking its spying!
 
Well, I said I did not expect a reply from Ebay but I got the following this morning:

"Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to report this seller "ati3414 " for
sending you spam emails offering you goods. I appreciate the chance to
assist you on this.
I appreciate your initiative bringing this up to our attention and I
understand how alarming that someone has able to get your details. We
assure you that we'll take appropriate action against this member to
ensure eBay remains a fun, safe place to shop. However, as it's
important that eBay maintains member privacy, we can't share details of
the action we take.
If you receive emails like this in the future please make sure you take
advantage of the junk email filters in your email program to eliminate
unwanted emails from your inbox. You may want to consider adding the
sender of the email you reported to your "blocked" list.
Again, I want to thank you for your report and keeping eBay a safe and
fun place to trade.
Kind regards,
Dermot Fern
eBay Trust & Safety"

Result, for once.
EDIT: -
Ebay advises that I block the sender in IE however, he sent the message THROUGH the official Ebay system too.
 
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