Identity thieves have been hoping to capitalize on PayPal's recent accessibility problems. Some eBay and PayPal users reported receiving "phishing" emails in which senders tried to get recipients to click on a link and reveal private information.

One such email copied eBay's real announcement about the technical problems it was having, and added the following paragraph:

"Account data and personal information have been compromised by these issues. eBay and PayPal technical teams are working at full force to fix the underlying problems and improve site access. We need your assistance by entering the link below and resubmit your personal information."

The email was signed "Deirdre, eBay and PayPal Community Development." Deirdre is the name of an eBay moderator, and the use of her name lent credibility for unsuspecting users.

Users should never click on a link in an email to sign in to a site, they should always log in to a site through their browser. PayPal has a Security Center on its site to educate users about spoof sites (http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside), and eBay recommends members use its Toolbar, which indicates whether a user is on the eBay or PayPal sites or not.