They're not *watching* this site...they simply have software that fishes for emails posted on the web, then just plugs them into their mailing list, and then from that they distribute their SPAM. If a user chooses to allow other users to see their email address our forum software automatically adds "_removemefirst_" in the publicly visible email address...and we've had discussion before about users not listing their email addresses in their signatures or in posts. It's a darn shame folks have to worry about such matters, but such is the way of the world, I suppose...
Both Ebay and PayPal are adamate that they NEVER solicit emails informing problems with an account and/or requesting information...if there is a problem, they will notify you when you securely login to Ebay/PayPal via their homepage.
And I agree 100% with your sentiments towards scammers...