Hello MrD:

We'd like to let you know about some new steps we're taking to help prevent fraudulent unauthorised activity on eBay accounts.

Later this summer, we'll begin checking the computer you use to list an item to see whether it's one of the computers you regularly use. If you list an item using a different computer (e.g. at a friend's house, in a hotel, at the library), we'll ask you to confirm that it's really you listing the item.

Confirming your identity is easy. We'll make an automated call to one of the phone numbers on your account - you can choose which one. If you can't receive a call at one of those numbers, you'll be able to add another number by answering your secret question, or verify your identity with us in Live Chat.

Please take a minute to update your contact information.

You should always keep the telephone number on your account up to date so that eBay and your trading partners can get in touch with you. If you have a mobile phone, we strongly encourage you to add this as a secondary phone number so that you can confirm your identity when you're away from one of your usual computers.

More about identity confirmation

Thank you for your support.

Regards,

The eBay Team

How will you track which computer I'm using?

When you sign in to your eBay account, we generate a unique ID that identifies the computer you've used to connect to eBay. This unique ID is stored on your computer using cookies and Flash objects so that the next time you visit eBay, we're able to confirm that you're using the same computer.

This unique ID is encrypted and doesn't include any contact information, such as your email address or details of your eBay transactions. We'll only use this information for Identity Confirmation.

What happens if I use a different computer?

We know that many people use more than one computer to access their eBay accounts, so at first we will be noting all the computers you use for buying and selling on eBay without requiring additional verification for different computers.

Later this year, if you list an item using a different computer, we will request some additional verification to confirm that it's really you listing the item. We'll lead you through a simple process where we make an automated call to a phone number on your account and give you a PIN that you need to enter on an eBay page. If you can't go through that process, we'll ask you to contact Customer Support.

To help identity confirmation work quickly for you, we recommend that you take these steps:

Check that your personal information is current. We might need to confirm the information on your account, such as your telephone number or address. We also highly recommend that you provide us with a secondary phone number (for example a mobile number for when you are on the go).

Review your secret question. Make sure the secret question and answer you have on file is easy for you to remember and difficult for others to guess.

Note: We treat your phone number and other personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use standard industry practices, including encryption, passwords and physical security, to protect your personal information against unauthorised access and disclosure.

What if I want to delete or disable the cookies?

You can delete Flash objects, or prevent the use of them on your computer, however we don't recommend that you do this. If you delete or disable Flash objects, we won't be able to recognise the computers you use frequently, and we may need to request additional verification from you at certain times.

If you'd like to change your cookie settings, get help with managing Flash objects.

What else is eBay doing to prevent identity theft?

Much of our work is accomplished behind the scenes, but we also take very public actions to help prevent account theft. Recently these have included masking all bidder IDs on auction-style listings, locking dormant accounts, as well as our work with Yahoo! and other domains to block email from unauthenticated addresses.