eBay Gift Card Invoice Attack

Result: If the recipients do not realize that this transaction is fraudulent and unrequited, they may provide attackers with the gift card information and be liable for significant financial loss.

Why was this attack effective?

Convincing Email and Attachment: In this attack, the attacker meticulously impersonated eBay in the message itself and the attachment. The sender’s email address and domain are ‘eBay’ and ‘vpp-motors-department-inc.com’, where VPP is eBay’s ‘Vehicle Protection Program’. Furthermore, the body and attachment consistently emphasize the message originates from eBay and is doctored to appear as a legitimate invoice from eBay.

Tailored Attack: While gift card fraud attacks normally cast a wide net for victims, this particular type of attack is specifically tailored to the recipient. The body text of the email is addressed to the target and all references to shipping and other typical invoice information mention the victim by name. Furthermore, the shipping information for the vehicle appears to be a legitimate address meaning that the attacker has conducted thorough research before sending out this attack to their potential victims.