eBay.co.uk is now available to OpenDNS users after being blocked most of Thursday when the free security service provider mistakenly identified some eBay pages as phishing sites.
OpenDNS users received the following message when they tried to access eBay U.K.: "Phishing Site Blocked. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to get you to provide personal information under false pretenses."
The problem stemmed from the subdomain that began with "cgi.ebay.co.uk," according to news reports. The issue was resolved late Thursday and users should have no problem viewing the site now.
"We have resolved this issue and removed what appeared to be a questionable subdomain of eBay.co.uk from our database that was mistaken as an eBay phishing site," Daniel Gifford, OpenDNS' community manager, informs users. "As many of you know, eBay and PayPal are two of the most phished sites on the Internet. While we take measures to ensure that all sites are indeed valid phishes, this one somehow fell through the cracks. We have removed it from our database and added it to our global whitelist to prevent it from happening in the future. We apologize for any inconvenience."
While it's unknown how many users were unable to access eBay U.K. during the issue, OpenDNS has millions of users around the world, the company reports.
Some users disabled the security software to access the site and several forums sprang up to discuss the issue. One buyer notes on OpenDNS' forum that his girlfriend "was furious" about the situation after missing an item she was bidding on.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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