Earlier this year, we reported that PayPal (owned by eBay) was recommending that customers not use the Safari web browser because of its lack of phishing protection. Now, in recent days, eBay has started telling users that Safari is not supported “within the checkout flow”; in other words, when you go to make a payment for an eBay purchase via PayPal, you’ll get an alert asking you to use another browser, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
However, this alert contains two buttons: Cancel and OK. Clicking Cancel allows you to continue your purchase as if the alert was never there. However, the fact remains that Safari does not offer any phishing protection. However, users are generally not at risk from phishing if they are clicking through from an eBay purchase page to PayPal. It’s all a bit confusing, but bear in mind that the phishing risk is real.
