In an effort to combat hoax emails and spoof Web sites set up by fraudsters, eBay said it will soon change the way users log into its site. Once the new sign-in function is in place, members will only have one URL they can sign into: http://signin.ebay.com.

eBay and its online payment service PayPal have been frequents targets of identity thieves who send hoax emails trying to trick users into giving out private financial information. Beginning last week, email was sent out to look like it came from PayPal containing an attached file contaminated with the Mimail virus.

It's uncertain how this new sign-in procedure might affect sniping services and other third-party services that do not license eBay's API – eBay's formal way for companies to interact with its site. eBay did say the change may impact bookmark settings for some members.