The eBay Toolbar is a helpful tool to keep track of your buying and selling activities. For more information about and to download it for free, go to the eBay Toolbar Home page.

Note: The Toolbar is currently only compatible with Internet Explorer.

Received a suspicious email? Please forward it directly to spoof@ebay.co.uk or spoof@ebay.ie (for eBay Ireland members). Don't change the text or add your own message. We'll email you right back to let you know whether or not the email is a fake.

If it's a PayPal email, please forward it to spoof@paypal.co.uk or, for Irish members, spoof@paypal.com.

Why is Account Guard important?

The eBay Toolbar includes Account Guard to help you protect your eBay account information. One of the biggest threats to the security of your eBay account and your identity is fraudulent email and websites, which we refer to as "spoof". Both are used to obtain personal and account information. Account Guard warns you when you open a potential spoof website.

eBay Toolbar with Account Guard:

• Does not use spyware or collect any personal information. The only time the eBay Toolbar sends information to eBay about your experiences outside the eBay online marketplace is when you report potential spoof websites to eBay. You can review the specific ways eBay uses and protects your personal information by reading eBay's Privacy Policy.

• Is free and available for anyone. The eBay Toolbar with Account Guard is for both eBay members and non-eBay Members to download from our website.

• Provides maximum security if you stay signed in. Some of the Account Guard features work even if you are not signed into the eBay Toolbar. However, you do need to be signed in for the eBay Password Protection feature to work properly.

• Works with pop-up blockers. eBay Toolbar uses a different pop-up technology that enables it to display a warning even if your pop-up blocker is on.

• Is not disabled if you hide the eBay Toolbar. However, you will not be able to view the Site Indicator, which tells you whether you are on a legitimate eBay or PayPal site, or a potential spoof site.

• Requires Internet Explorer. To use eBay Toolbar, you must select the "Enable third-party browser extensions" option in Internet Explorer's "Advanced" settings tab under "Internet options" in the Tools menu.

What are the benefits of Account Guard?

These key Account Guard features help protect your eBay account information:

• Warns you when you're on a potential spoof website.
  
  Account Guard has a Site Indicator on the eBay Toolbar that changes the color of the Account Guard button that indicates whether you're on a verified site or a potential spoof website. The Site Indicator turns:

  • Green if you are on a verified eBay or PayPal website.

  • Red if you are on a potential spoof website.

  • Grey if you are visiting an unidentified website.

  
  Note: Account Guard identifies only eBay and PayPal spoof websites. When you are not on eBay or PayPal, the Site Indicator will typically be grey.

• Provides eBay Password Protection

  
  Account Guard warns you when you are entering your eBay password into an unverified site (even if it looks like an eBay or PayPal site), and blocks your eBay password from being submitted to the website unless you affirm that you want to use your eBay password on that site.

• Lets you report spoof websites to eBay

  
  If you suspect that you are on a fraudulent eBay or PayPal website, you can use the eBay Toolbar to report the site to us. If we verify that a website is fraudulent, the information is automatically distributed to all other eBay Toolbar subscribers, warning them about the spoof website. eBay Toolbar's ability to detect spoof sites increases with the amount of people that download and use it. As more people download eBay Toolbar and report spoof sites to eBay, the entire eBay Community receives increased protection from fraudulent sites.

What if the Site Indicator is grey when you're on an eBay website?

Some firewalls can interfere with the toolbar. If the Site Indicator isn't green when you're on the genuine eBay website, check if you've got more than one firewall enabled. For example, Windows XP Service Pack 2 has a built-in firewall. You only need one firewall. Your firewall's documentation or Help pages will tell you how to disable it

Learn more about how to protect your eBay account

• Visit eBay's Safety Centre

• Take the Spoof Email Tutorial.

• How to install the eBay Toolbar

• Learn about Protecting Your Privacy

• How to Recognise Spoof (Fake) eBay Web Sites

If you're looking for more help or have a question to ask, contact us.