A couple months ago I delved into the world of eBay to buy a trolling motor. It was an interesting experience, although I did not end up buying one. An ad in the good old Caledonia Argus netted me a very fine one for $25, thank you.

It was the only time I had checked out eBay. A few days later, I received an email from them that started out by saying, ìWe regret to inform you that your eBay account could be suspended if you do not re-update your account information. To resolve this problem please visit link below and re-enter your account information.î It then gave a website to go to.

The letter continued: ìIf 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.î

I didnít know I had any problems with eBay to resolve. I had just bid on a trolling motor. And I didnít like the little threat it contained about suspending my account. If thatís how they appreciate their customers, they can jolly well suspend my account. Thatís what I thought, so I ignored the email, and several other ones.

My wife Cindy delved into it a little further. She went to the link provided and looked at what they wanted. When they asked for my credit card number, she thought that was odd, so she stopped and we soon forgot about eBay.

Now we realize it was a scam. Someone somewhere had discovered that I had registered with eBay and they were ìphishingî for our credit card number. Thatís the term that people use for this kind of fraud.

Their email looked official, even though their grammar wasnít the greatest. It had the eBay logo at the top.

I didnít make the scam connection until I interviewed Joanne Buege last week about a phishing email that she received from someone posing as a Bank of the West employee seeking her account information. There again the email contained a threat to close her account. Joanne contacted the bank, and it was indeed a fraud.

Three weeks ago I did a story on an 80-year-old Caledonia lady who had received a scam phone call from someone who had intercepted her bank account number. The scammer said she would take the account information off the internet if the lady would buy some discount medicines. Again a veiled threat: ìWe wonít help you unless you buy something.î The lady contacted the bank, closed out her checking account, and opened a new one.

And back in March I did a story on Mike Colleran of Caledonia, who had a scammer try to swindle him out of money when Mike was selling a vehicle on a website. The guy sent Mike a fake cashiers check for more than the amount, which Mike was supposed to cash and then send the guy the difference. Mike discovered the scam and actually pretended to go along, but with a lot of hesitation. The scammerís ìattorneyî threatened to turn Mike into the FBI for not complying. The scammer was not caught. (Are these guys ever caught?) But at least he got a little frustrated.

So in the course of six months, thatís four instances of attempted fraud that I have personally heard of or experienced.

My point here is that this is a growing concern. It must be happening all over, and they are quite believable. Throw in the intimidation factor that was present in all of these instances, and the right person can and does get taken.

So Iíll repeat what the experts have told me. NEVER give out personal information to someone you arenít absolutely sure about. A bank or business or the Red Cross isnít going to send you an email and ask for personal information like your credit card number. They donít work that way. Even things as safe-looking as cashiers checks and postal money orders are being duplicated convincingly.

When in doubt, donít. Thatís a cliche that fits in this instance.

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Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475

E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com