Spoofing as defined the the FBI is “is generally used as a means to convince individuals to provide personal or financial information that enables the perpetrators to commit credit card/bank fraud or other forms of identity theft”.

First thing I did was to right click the link and copy the link location to the clipboard and then paste it to a text file. Sure enough, the link went to: http://cgi-cgi1-ebay.com/hide/index2.htm and not what it said https://arribba.cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll.
NOTE: I purposefully did not make these URLS into hyperlinks. You can visit the spoof site at your own risk. Just remember, don’t submit anything to the form!

Let’s start with the domain of the link: cgi-cgi1-ebay.com. This may look like an eBay link but it is not. Domains can have more than one period but what is important to look at is the text between second to last period (if available) and the end of the domain. If this was truly and eBay site, then the text would be ebay.com. But it is not, so we know it’s not eBay. This triggered me to contact eBay through their anti-spoofing email address. The responses I got were felt like they were written by a computer and automated so i decided to investigate further.

Using my Mac, I visited the website to see what nefarious things it did. It took you to a page that then popped up another window. This popup window was a thing of beauty. Someone really spent time on this. The popup window removed the address bar and then using Javascript and some images created a new address bar as it would look like in Internet Explorer. Even more, the address in the “fake” address bar was https://arribba.cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll so you really didnt know that you were in a spoof site. This is one of the reasons why I love the fact that I don’t use Windows (except for gaming) and IE. The IE address bar sticks out on Mozilla FireFox running on OS X. Anyway the information that this site could steal is pretty nasty. The site asked for your username, password, drivers license, bank account info, mother’s maiden name, I mean everything. Of course, the form needs to be submitted for it to take your information but still, one could be easily convinced to submit this information.

Looking at the source code of the site, I found that the web site was hosted via Yahoo! so I decided to call up Yahoo! and report this site in violation of its TOS (I also read the TOS to make sure it was violating it). I felt that eBay may not get to this as quickly so I felt that letting Yahoo! know would allow me to pull the plug on the site.

I also did a WHOIS lookup on the domain and found the admin listing for the domain. Not eBay and hopefully not a real person. If it is, someone is NY is hopefully getting slapped with some cyber-crime charges.

So what should the non-techie take away from this. Here’s a small list.

Any email that says you need to update your personal information by clicking this link is 90% of the time a spoof. You are safest just going to the web site by typing it into your browser and checking for yourself. If eBay says you need to update your information, don’t click the link in the email. Instead open your browser and go directly to eBay and investigate to see if the contents of the email are true.
Never trust the From field in email. It can be easily changed to lie about an email’s origins.
Understand the format of a URL, specifically the domain. Know how to distinguish what the actual domain name is.
If you receive these types of messages, report them to the website that is being spoofed. In this example, I contacted eBay to let them know. Protect your fellow man. It’s good karma.
Use another browsers other than Internet Explorer. The spoof was easy to spot because the pop-up window tried to mimic Internet Explorer’s address bar and I wasn’t using Internet Explorer. I suggest Mozilla Firefox.

This FBI press release has some good tips for users as well to protect themselves against spoofing scams.

I reported this to eBay and Yahoo! about 5 hours ago and the web site is still up and functioning. Hopefully no one fell for this scam.

On a related note, my office moved to a new location during the Labor Day weekend and we got to settle in to our new offices on Tuesday. The move-in was very reminiscent to the move in to college, where people settle into their offices and set them up then wander around looking into other people’s offices. Nosey people really annoy me, so this behavior irks me, but it does crack me up when 50+ year old engineers are peering into my office to see me listening to my iPod reading Meyers’ More Effective C++. I think it’s human nature to demonstrate this nosey behavior because when my in-laws and I went on a cruise in Greece, other passengers started to look into our cabin on boarding day.

For repairing an iPod, there are different elements that you must know. Of course, you will need to make certain that the gadget repair that you will get is handled by an authorized, well-trained, qualified and proficient person. Many persons usually feel convinced that all fixing should be done with respect to the supplier’s specs and settings and that end users seem to go to the manufacturer at this moment. On top of that, it’s sensible to see somebody who provides iPod repairs for every type of demands such as iPod water damage, shattered monitors, cracked housings, the device’s ruined control buttons, charging difficulties and program errors as this can be a clue that the supplier is sincerely striving for support quality in the repair business. This also gives you one other outlet to their service when you require it later.

On the other hand, repairing the device may seem like a good choice at the start yet this may end up making a hole in your finances particularly if the iPod keeps breaking down. In this case, your best option would be to puchase a brand new iPod. With well over a hundred dollars, you may now get your hands on that new Apple gadget collectively with its current advancements and extra accessories.

all right. bye.

The Lexus is kind of a gimmick, and it really doesn’t seem to work that well in the real world. Many cars have anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic suspension control and other things to help the driver. The parallel parking feature is an important milestone, however, in that it’s the first time a production car actually performs a basic driving task without the driver in control.

My prediction is that within 10 years, new cars will routinely go park themselves in a standard lot or multilevel garage, and then come pick you up when called. Parking your own car will be regarded by most drivers like changing the oil is today.

The 2010 was the year that belonged to the tablet, and 2011 will continue bringing us new designs in that technolgy, in addition with further developments in 3D field – including TVs, blu-ray players, game systems and more.

Every couple of years TVs tend to become cheaper, and the viewable area tend to become bigger. Which is fantastic news for all the movie, sports and gaming enthusiasts! These upcoming twelve months isn’t any difference, yet in addition to the previous tendencies we’re also being a witness to a new innovation with the release of the Samsung D9500. The world’s largest 3 dimensional LED Television set from from Samsung made its introduction at the CES 2011 industry exhibit.

Featuring 75″, it is like having a movie theater in your house – just try watching Piranha or Avatar in 3D on this TV, you will never settle for less after that, its an absolute must-have for all 3D lovers! Release is planned for the second half of 2011 and the cost will also be anounced then.

As far as handheld devices are concernded, with the release of the iPad 2, the tablet sector definitely keeps getting more cut-throat. Getting a first look at iPad2 its become apparent – Apple has produced one more homerun machine. Though people still debate whether tablet’s even serve a purpose inside the existing technology mix, many will give in to the appeal of Apple’s style and design with the launch of the iPad 2.

Including a fresh dual core A5 chip, it’s significantly faster than its precursor. The real advancement is in the very noticeable improvement in speed and excellence of the video. The iPad 2 now also now includes an HDMI output allowing streaming to any large TV at the full 1080p image resolution. In addition Apple has added a back and front mount digital camera that allows video chat from your device and saving of HD video.

Samsung and Blackberry have a pretty strong contender here and I look forward to seeing their next move in this game of oneupmanship. The thing that makes it a slam dunk is definitely the cost hold from the first iPad with basic units beginning at $400.00 in the states.