Desperate ebay question: Have I been hacked?

CCSurfer
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:47:04 +0000

At the outset, I admit to ebay addiction. Now the problem: I can’t log onto my account. I know both my user name and my password, so no problem there. Except that the only automated help available to people who can’t log in requires the unlucky ebayer to have forgotten her name or password.

First I tried saying that I’d forgotten my password, and when I gave my user name, ebay said my username wasn’t valid. (This while my homepage said, Hello CCSurfer-username!)

So then I tried saying I’d forgotten my user name, and ebay requested my email address and said they’d send me the info I needed. No such luck. I gave them my email address three different times in a state of sheer panic. There is no ebay return email – not in my spam file either…

Completely crazed at this point, I telephoned ebay’s 800 number and got the recording that says there’s a live person with whom I can chat if I go onto the website and click on “Customer Service.” I did that, and found that there is, in fact, no live person, but an automated response program (hiding behind a girly-looking icon named “Emma”) that only responds to very, very simple questions, and told me what to do if I’d forgotten my user name or password. Which I had already done to no avail.

My fear is that my account has somehow been hi-jackeded and now CCSufer-user is selling kidneys and fake Chanel bags. My paypal account (which has a different user name and password) appears to be intact.

Meanwhile, I have an old ebay purchase that I need to pay for, and no way to get onto the ebay site to pay. Which might be the least of my problems if I’ve been somehow hacked.

It would sure be nice if ebay had a security number on the order of credit card companies, but alas, if they do, it’s unlisted. Has anyone had this experience? What does it mean? I’m hoping that someone more internet and/or ebay savvy than I am can explain all this and tell me what to do.

Thanks!