Does your email address consist of your bidorbuy username plus a domain name?

If yes, you are in danger of falling victim to a new phishing scam.

The cyber criminals go through bidorbuy.co.za looking for people who have lost closed auctions, take their user names, “marry” them to several web based email clients (e.g., @gmail.com, @webmail.co.za, @yahoo.co.uk, @live.co.uk, @hotmail.com, etc.) and shoot off a message to all of them. The message, in which they pretend to be the seller, goes something like this:

Dear BidorBuy buyer, I'm the seller of the item that you've recently bid through BidorBuy system.
If you are interested in buying it please contact me. I'm waiting for your e-mail. Thank you.

That is only bait. If you reply, the criminals know that their phishing email reached a real person, and that is when they go all out to persuade you to let them cheat you out of your money.

Follow-up emails from the criminals contain details of the listing you bid on, plus some complicated story (often referring to either a personal tragedy or charity involvement). The story serves to explain why the seller who, according to his bidorbuy profile, clearly resides in South Africa had to be abroad (usually the UK) at that precise moment and why the only way you can pay is by cash transfer. Often, you will also receive a very convincing-looking email from a fake shipping company, informing you that you parcel will be shipped out as soon as that cash payment reaches them.

We have to admit, the above scam is so clever that it is difficult not to fall for it. The criminals have a high chance of success. Since they know your email address and what you bid on, they appear very credible.

So, how can you tell there’s something fishy in the above set-up?

Unfortunately, you can’t really, not unless you’ve been warned in advance, which is why we are doing it here. So, take note. This lesson is yours for free; at least one buyer paid for it by being scammed out of his hard-earned money.

bidorbuy always advises buyers to be extra cautions when dealing with overseas sellers, simply because problems are always more difficult to solve if they stretch across borders.

We also advise buyers to be double-cautious about paying by wire transfers, inside or outside of the country. Such transfers are impossible to trace, so one does not even have the recourse of going to the police and perhaps, several years down the line, seeing the justice done. So, if a seller you never dealt with before asks you for a money transfer, please first speak to bidorbuy customer support team.

And, after learning of this particular scam, we also have to advise you not to use your bidorbuy user name or your real name as a part of your email address.

Here is the scam site address - http://www.bidorbuy-bpp.com/info.html (please don't go to the site - screen shot below):

Please take note of the circled portions offering "cover" for Gumtree and Autotrader - We do NOT cover vehicle purchases or sales on other sites!

• If a potential buyer calls with a private or withheld number, insist that they give you their cellphone number and verify it. If they have a land line number, ask them for it.
• If the potential buyer asks for a test drive, make sure it’s not you alone with two or three other people in case they have sinister intentions. Overpowering one person is a lot easier than two or three. If you can, get someone to go along with you to the test drive.
• Never let anyone test drive your vehicle without seeing their driver’s license. If you can, make a copy of it. This is to ensure you know the person’s identity should they try to defraud you or steal your car.
• After the test drive, ensure you have the correct keys and they have not been swapped.
  
  
  Source - www.aa.co.za

It comes from the following email address: support@bidorbuy-bbp-info.com - this is NOT a bidorbuy email or valid bidorbuy email address!  So please be on the lookout!

Details below:

----- Original Message -----

From:support@bidorbuy-bbp-info.com

To: xxxxxxxxxx@telkomsa.net

Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 9:16 AM

Subject: bidorbuy BPP Programme Case ID # 873WKLAS72

bidorbuy sent this message to Bxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Your registered name is included to show this message originated from bidorbuy.

	bidorbuy BPP Programme Case ID # 873WKLAS72

Transaction confirmation bidorbuy BPP Programme, Case ID # 873WKLAS721 between William Daverveld as the Seller, and Bxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx, as the Buyer. Please follow instructions to complete the transaction safely.

The bidorbuy Buyer Protection Programme (BPP) provides protection for the Buyer of up to R100,000 against certain losses associated with some types of fraud like paying for a vehicle and never receive it, paying a refundable deposit and never receive it, paying for a vehicle, receive it but not being as agreed or described and more other situations specified in bidorbuy BPP Programme page.

You are automatically enrolled in the program, on your request, at no charge when you want to complete the purchase of an eligible vehicle.
There's no sign-up or registration necessary.

This e-mail is the confirmation that the transaction through bidorbuy BPP Programme started.
The transaction with this Seller is covered by bidorbuy Buyer Protection Programme.

 

Item and transaction details

Item: Polo 1.6 Comfortline Year: 2004 Kilometers: 88900 Price: R23,000.00 Shipping: R0.00 Sales Tax: R0.00 Total: R23,000.00 Case ID #: 873WKLAS721 Invoice #: 29135/2012 (the payment Invoice will be sent separately along with payment instructions) Invoice Date: 3/27/2012 Status: Transaction Started/Payment Pending Inspection Period: 3-5 business days Buyer details: xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx Inxxxxxxxxxxx No xxxxxxxxxxx, East London South Africa

Complete the transaction in 5 easy, secure and safe steps!

1. The Buyer agrees the steps, terms and conditions on this page and provides the requested information to bidorbuy BPP Center. 2. All information received will be reviewed and processed by bidorbuy BPP Center. bidorbuy BPP Center accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the Buyer. The Buyer receives the transaction confirmation and the payment Invoice along with payment instructions. 3. The Buyer follows instructions and sends the payment to bidorbuy BPP Center to the Agent designated for the transaction. After the payment is cleared and verified by bidorbuy BPP Center, it will be secured into a non-interest bearing trust account. Payment being secured, the Seller is notified by bidorbuy BPP Center to ship the vehicle to the Buyer.The Seller has 3 (three) business day to start the shipping procedure. The Seller must ship the vehicle for inspection along with the certificate of title, signed bill of sale in the Buyer's name, all keys and all ownership documents. The vehicle must be delivered along with all documentation requested by the Buyer in order to allow him to change the registration in his name as soon as he will decide to accept it after the inspection period will be over. If no shipping procedure is started, a full refund is immediately sent to the Buyer. As soon as the shipping procedure will start, the Buyer should wait for the vehicle and documentation to be delivered. 4.The Buyer receives the vehicle and has 5-7 (five-seven) business days to inspect it. The inspection period will not begin until bidorbuy BPP Center has confirmed delivery of the vehicle by either Buyer’s or shipper’s notification. 5. After the inspection period is over, the Buyer must contact bidorbuy BPP Center with the result of the inspection of the vehicle. If he refuses it a full refund is immediately sent to the Buyer if the reason that determined the Buyer to not keep the vehicle is found in the “Situations where an immediate refund will be sent to the Buyer” section on bidorbuy BPP Programme page. The Seller will have the obligation to make all necessary arrangements in order to take the vehicle from the Buyer’s possession in maximum 3 (three) business days. If the vehicle and documentation are as advertised, described and agreed, the Buyer should accept it. If the Buyer accepts the vehicle, the payment will be sent to the Seller within 3 (three) business days.

How to proceed from this moment?

Next step for the Buyer is to complete the payment to the designated bidorbuy BPP Center Agent. The payment Invoice and payment instructions will be sent with a second e-mail from bidorbuy BPP Center.

Buy safely using bidorbuy Buyer Protection Programme

Direct replying to this e-mail (preferable contact option as a higher quantity of information can be sent/received).

Thank you,
bidorbuy, Inc.
bidorbuy Financial Department


This bidorbuy notice was sent through the bidorbuy platform and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have questions about bidorbuy 's communication policies.
Copyright @ 1995-2012 bidorbuy Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the bidorbuy User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Apologies for the small technical issue suffered a short while ago.  You may have noticed that the links on the site were going to test.bidorbuy.co.za, this was a technical error and was resolved a few minutes after it was occured.

We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The bob Team

Dear sxxxxxx,
Congratulations! You have won item #60386024 at Bidorbuy.co.za. You may wish to print or save this notice for future reference. You have won the following:

Item Title:
**BRAND NEW **HP PAVILION G6-1118Si CORE i3 2.40GhZ,4GB RAM,500GB HDD, 15.6\" LED,WEBCAM
Item Number:
60386024
Estimated delivery:
Varies (Seller ships within 2 days)
Ending Date:
11 Mar 22:31:26

Quantity Won:
1

Winning Bid:
R 3.600 (per item)


Seller Email Address:
robert.jonson01@googlemail.com (BEWARE OF THIS EMAIL ADDRESS)


The Address of Winner
Full name : M

Address : 6

City : State/Province : Kwa-Zulu Natal 

Postal Code : 4091

Country : South Africa

NOTE: Sending the payment by any other method will void this transaction and your right to refund !

Transaction Details: 
Within 2 business days, you must proceed with the payment. This seller prefers only payment through Bank Transfer.Once the payment was completed you must Contact us (goes to bidorbuy-payment@consultant.com - scammers email address) or the seller with the payment details. After the payment will be received, the seller must deliver the item to your shipping address. 
Payment must be sent by Bank Transfer to our Bank Account with the following details : 

Bank Account Holder: BRATOIU CONSTANTIN 

Bank Name: Raiffeisen

Bank IBAN: RO02RZBR0000060014325123 

SWIFT: RZBRROBU 

The above shipping address is where you'd like to receive the item you purchased. Bidorbuy treats your personal information with the utmost care, and our Privacy Policy is designed to protect you and your information. If the details displayed on this notification are not your registered shipping details, you must know that your registered address will be not disclosed to the seller.
If everything is in order with the payment you will receive the merchandise and you must inspect it.If it is complete and as described, you should accept the merchandise.

If you refuse the merchandise, you must ship the merchandise back to the seller. Then you will receive a full refund.
Purchase protection and refund:
Currently, this seller has a R 50,000 deposit in an Bidorbuy managed purchase protection account. Transactions with this Bidorbuy seller are covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, this account was locked today, for 30 days time period. The seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period. Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, or by check or money order. The way you are refunded is at your choice. Anyway we hope that the seller will be able to return the money if the merchandise is not complete and as described.

To ask for a refund, simply reply to this notification and enter in the subject line:Refund request for Bidorbuy Transaction # 60386024.
Thank you,

Bidorbuy.co.zaThe World's Largest Online Auction ™
http://www.Bidorbuy.co.za

From: cosila20@live.com [mailto:cosila20@live.com] On Behalf Of BidorBuy Marketplace
Sent: 16/March/2012 11:41
To: Jxxx Rxxxxxxx
Subject: bidorbuy Buyer Protection Invoice # 4394802194



Dear Customer,


Please confirm the receiving of the "Invoice for Payment" by replying to this e-mail.

As soon as we receive the payment confirmation via fax or e-mail including the payment details, we will instruct the seller to start the delivery process. We will hold the payment until you send us your confirmation that you are satisfied with the product you received. Then we will release the payment to the seller.

***NOTE: It may occur that your e-mail doesn`t support HTML language and that is why you haven`t received the invoice from us. Please check your bulk/junk/spam/ messages, the invoice may have ended there because of the ever increasing filters of the e-mails nowadays.


Thank you for using our services!
bidorbuy Marketplace.


Copyright 2012 bidorbuy Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

Please be aware that our scammer friends are now trying to host a page about the Buyer Protection Programme where they state we cover transactions up to R100000 and this covers sites such as Gumtree and Autotrader too!

This is false information and is used by the scammers to build a false sense of trust.

The URL is http://bidorbuy-za.com/Buyer-Protection-Programme.html - please be wary of this - this is not our webpage. 

All our Help pages will look like this - example - http://support.bidorbuy.co.za/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/30/5/buyer-protection-programme

From: Michael<robert.jonson01@googlemail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:11:47 -0600
To: xxxxxx@gmail.com

ReplyTo: robert.jonson01@googlemail.com
Subject: Bidorbuy Auction Offer (Item number: 58915576 )


Dear XXXXX,

I'm the seller of the item that you've recently bided through the Bidorbuy.
Auction Number: 58915576
Auction Title: COLLECTORS DREAM!!! OLD STERLING SILVER MONTBLANC FOUNTAIN PEN WITH 14KT TIP@@@CRAAZZZY R1 START!!!!
Please let me know if you are still interested in buying the item and send me your best price. After you will send me your confirmation i'll provide you details about the payment and the shipping of the item.
Must inform you that the winner dropped his bid, so if you are really interested please contact me as soon as possible and we will do the deal.
Thanks and hope to hear from you soon!

IMPORTANT: When you reply me please include this message!

Thank You for using bidorbuy.co.za!

Then the winning bidder gets an email from "bidorbuy" (pretending to be bidorbuy) as below:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bidorbuy <bidorbuy.payment@consultant.com> NOT A bidorbuy EMAIL ADDRESS
Date: Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 10:38 PM
Subject: Congratulations, the item # 58645262 is yours. Please pay now!
To: xxxxx@gmail.com

Africa's Largest Online Marketplace

This message has been sent from International bidorbuy.co.za to (xxxxxxxxx).
Your registered ID is included to show this message originated from
Bidorbuy.

Here's the invoice for your item, xxxxxxxxx !

Hi
xxxxxxxxx,
Arrange payment

Thank you for your purchase. The total for your item below is ZAR 1,500.00
Next step - see bellow.

Medal Boer War ABO To BURG. P. J. ENGELBRECHT
Sale price: ZAR 1,500.00
Estimated delivery: Varies (Seller ships within 2 days)
Shipping & Handling: ZAR Postal Service First Class Mail 0
Free
Seller: [Email :
robert.jonson01@googlemail.com]
Buyer UserID: vancecrow
NOTE: Sending the payment by any other method will void this transaction
and your right to refund !

The address of winner:

Full name : Vxxxx vvvv
Address : xxx Jxxxxx Rxxxxx Drive
City : Wxxxxxx xxxxx
State/Province : Gauteng
Postal Code : 0181
Country : South Africa

Payment Instructions :
Our records indicate that you are the winner and as Bidorbuy Policy you are
obligated to arrange the payment immediately after the listing is closed.
The seller is unable to receive any payments at this time through PayPal
because seller's account is temporary locked. If you already made the
payment through PayPal your account will be credited back shortly when the
seller's account is re-established. A bid or Buy It Now purchase on
Bidorbuy is considered a contract and you are obligated to purchase the
item # 58645262 .
Our program to reimburse Users for losses for up to ZAR 50,000.00 for
eligible items purchased on Bidorbuy.
Payment approved only for this transaction: Western Union guaranteed by
PayPal.
Payment Details:
Locate the nearest Western Union or click "pay for it" ,
Go to one of them and send the money in cash to : Daniel Biscu - our
Bidorbuy agent assigned for this Bidorbuy transaction # 58645262 .
You will take Western Union charges from the amount insured and will send
the balance.
Current status: Payment pending. Purchase protection granted.
Don't provide any information about this transaction to Western Union
representant, is unsafe !
Just send the money to our Bidorbuy agent.
NOTE: Daniel Biscu is not the seller is the Bidorbuy available agent
assigned for this transaction.
We will hold the payment until you will send us your confirmation that you
have received inspected and you agree to keep the item. When we have your
confirmation we transfer the funds to the seller. If the item it is not
what was described you will ship it back to the seller and we refund your
money 100%.
Bidorbuy agent assigned for this transaction:
Payment Address:
First Name : Daniel
Last Name : Biscu
Address : Almas No. 2
City / State / Zip : Bucuresti / 012828
Country : Romania
Address status : Confirmed
Confirm your payment details to Bidorbuy Representative
bidorbuy.payment@consultant.com :
"The following information must be readable"
1.MTCN Number - 10 digit numbers from the payment receipt;
2.Sender's Full Name and Address on file with Western Union;
3.Receiver's Full Name;
4.Amount sent.
To ask for a refund, simply reply to this notification and enter in the
subject line:
Refund request for Bidorbuy Transaction # 58645262 .
Thank you,
Bidorbuy

Marketplace Safety Tip


Pay with Western Union. It's the easy and fast way to pay for this item,
and it lets you shop without sharing your financial details with sellers.
Western Union is assigned by PayPal & also offers up to ZAR 50,000.00 of
free purchase protection on qualified Bidorbuy purchases.

bidorbuy does NOT offer this protection in conjunction with paypal or Western Union and have no affiliation to these companies

Please be aware of yet another phishing email that is doing the rounds (it comes from Soraya Jd <josef.muller@hotmail.co.uk>:

hi again,

First of all can you please tell me that is your item ?
Because i have contacted another seller and i want to by sure that the item is yours before i commit to buy.
Please check the link and confirm me that is yours:

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/57934004/2012.html

(it goes to this URL which is a phishing site - http://bideorbuy.co.za.no.nm.ru/sploinUsrLogin.js.htm)

so i can call you to arrange all the details about the proces.
Thank you and i will wait for your answer.

Please be cautious and do not enter your login details or go to this page!

Please be advised another phishing email is doing the rounds (please DO NOT respond to this email):

-----Original Message-----
From: ebaytrustandsafetydepartment.t@gmail.com
[mailto:ebaytrustandsafetydepartment.t@gmail.com] On Behalf Of
bidorbuy.co.za
Sent: 13 December 2011 06:59 AM
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: bidorbuy.co.za Account Request Confirmation

<http://bidorbuysupport.info/files/12.jpg>
Africa's Largest Online Marketplace


Verification



Dear XXXXXXX Solutions,


This is for your own safety to avoid the closure of your bidorbuy account.
We believe that some suspicious actions has been made using your account.You
will have to verify your account by filling out your Log-in information.

Please click here <http://bidorbuysupport.info/> and complete our form
verification. We apologize for any inconvenience that this request may
cause.

By clicking this button bellow you can go directly and verify your account.

bidorbuy Account Verification Form <http://bidorbuysupport.info/>

This is for your own safety to avoid account termination. Our automated
server will keep your details on file as upgraded for the continue using of
our service.After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will
not be interrupted and will continue as normal.


Warning!!! Account owner that fails to verify his/her account after 48 hours
of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.Thanks
for your attention to this request.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you and enjoy our site!

bidorbuy.co.za <http://bidorbuysupport.info/>

Those of you with Apple iPhones can now download the App for free here - App Store - bidorbuy and give us feedback here - Forum.

Please be aware that a phishing email is doing the rounds again, please do not click on the link or login from this link, here is an example of the mail:

From: "bidorbuy-noreply@bidorbuy.co.za" <bidorbuy-noreply@bidorbuy.co.za>
To:
Sent: 11/12/07 22:26
Subject: Confirm your bidorbuy account‏


Home My bidorbuy Forum Start Selling! Help

Dear customer,
Please click on the link below to confirm your email address and confirm your bidorbuy account.

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/UserConfirmation.jsp?uid=euid=11dIXUyyOmglVQe8JiP%24BiaTWIGI%3D (It goes to this URL - http://user32463.vs.easily.co.uk/bidorbuy/index.html) and is skinned to look like the bidorbuy site.

You will not be able to login, buy or sell until you confirm your account.


bidorbuy.co.za
South Africa's Largest Online Marketplace

Please note, bidorbuy will never send an email like this to you.  Please rather go directly to our website address - www.bidorbuy.co.za and login from the home page.

TIPS on avoiding Phishing - http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html

Due to an unforseen database crash earlier today helpdesk support tickets may have been lost, we will try re-import our back ups but could mean duplicate tickets, or responses to tickets being delayed.  Should you not get a response within 2 days please kindly re-submit your ticket or query, alternatively please call our call centre on 0861 88 0861.

We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

If you are running IE9 you will have noticed a "Pin bidorbuy to my task bar" notice. This is a great productivity option, as it allows you to pin your favorite site to the task bar and by right-clicking on the icon, you will have instant access to your sales, purchases, hot deals and much more.

To get yourself "pinned", go to bidorbuy.co.za in IE9 and then drag the bidorbuy icon (either from the address bar or from the notification box) to your taskbar. You will then see bidorbuy permanently attached to your task bar will be able to go to our home-page by just clicking on the icon, or by right-clicking will have the following short-cuts - see this forum post -

Pinning IE9 TaskBar