Ebay Getting Attacked?

RawAlex · 01-30-2003

I was recently looking to purchase a piece of equipment, not the cheapest thing, all considered, but commonly enough sold on Ebay (usually 5-10 active auctions on this item... retails for a couple of thousand)

It seems that Ebay has a real problem with people hacking into other user's accounts and using those accounts to run auctions. "Star" members, people with very good rankings, are getting their accounts taken over and bogus auctions are being put up for the item I was looking for. Often, the seller would have a "buy it now" price that was a little under the market value, making it a good deal.

So far, two out of three sellers I have contacted have turned out to be frauds. Ebay has cancelled their auctions, and the accounts disactivated.

The common thread is "free" mail accounts such as hotmail, yahoo, and such. It looks like these accounts are expiring, and people are taking them over, using them to get the password from Ebay, and then putting up bogus auctions.

From what I can tell, the easiest way to spot them is people that will only accept wire transfers or similar types of transactions. They will not accept escrow accounts, nor will they accept paypal (which is useless for me, as I will explain in a second).

If you are doing the Ebay thing, watch yourself closely, it is really getting quite scammy out there.

Now, for paypal...

If you are using a visa card on your paypal account, and have to change cards for whatever reason, paypal cannot reconfirm you (turn you into a validated member) because, in their own words "Due to current Visa regulations, you will not be able to initiate the Membership Process with a second Visa card. The Membership Process will need to be completed with a MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card. "

Never in my life have I had a Visa merchant suggest I use another brand of card, and blame the problem on Visa.

As a result, I cannot use my paypal account because no seller will accept to do transactions with unverified members.

Paypal customer service sent me an email with the exact quote above in it, and offered no other method to resolve the issue.

Apparently they don't want to retain clients.

E-commerce, not ready for prime time.

Alex

01-31-2003

Damn, I use my visa/paypal account for a lot of stuff. If I ever lose my card, I'm screwed? That's messed up. They verified me through my checking account, but is that only for US members? I may be on crack, but don't you live in Canada, Alex?

That Visa thing is scary though...not only fucking with Adult, apparently.

It seems that Visa wants to get all third party processors of any kind off the net.

I wonder how long it will take for enough Visa customers to get pissed off enough to start protesting.

Interesting thing..I lost my Banamex Mastercard and they replaced it with a Visa...strange. Is Visa trying to take over the Mexican market? For years, Banamex only offered Mastercards. I wasn't even given a choice, because I certainly would have chosen to receive another MC, even though it's no good to me online because it's Mexican.

Oh well, now I know I can never open an international PayPal account. Wild.

Peaches · 01-31-2003

Ebay and Paypal are getting hammered by hackers and scammers. Many are outside the states and minors so it's hard to prosecute. If you buy something for $200 and you're in NJ and they're in FL, is it really worth the trip to file and go to small claims court? That person in FL knows that and they can sell a few hundred $200 products.

And Paypal, up until recently, was little more than a money transporter, i.e. if you didn't receive a product bought with it, you couldn't file a chargeback with your CC company as Paypal had completed their agreement - they sent the payment, which is all they said they'd do.

The vast majority of the sellers and buyers on Ebay are still honest, but I used to buy a lot of things (read: junk

) on Ebay, and I've read too much to trust it until they put more stringent fraud controls on it.

ulfie · 01-31-2003

I bought one thing off of ebay in my life and it was a disaster. Needless to say I haven't been back since. Thankfully it was only $100 but the experience left such a foul taste in my mouth that I can't see myself ever going there again.

kath · 01-31-2003

I use eBay/PayPal all the time for lots of things and I've never had a problem with them. In fact, in January I cancelled my first Visa account number and added a new one - and got verified. Maybe this is a new policy, but I was verified right away.

It's a shame that a few always ruin it for the rest of us. Would hate to see the reliability/benefits of eBay/PayPal run amok because of these scammers. They really do have a good thing going on there.

RawAlex · 01-31-2003

Kath, so far for the item I am looking for, 7 out of 8 auction I have looked at closely were frauds - mostly to do with hijacked IDs. Without any difficulty, I found about $20,000 of fraud.

It really sucks.

I don't think I will buy anything worth more than about $20 over there... :-(

Alex

Rolo · 02-02-2003

We are getting ready to file suit against PayPal and their managers for illegal withholding funds. Can not say much about it until it is filled, but I urge everyone who uses PayPal to read this post from an Ex. PayPal manager:

http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/showthre...529&old_block=0

Ebay and PayPal predictions for 2003.... not good..

Sharpie · 02-02-2003

Whew... guess I have been lucky. I have probably bought and sold 25 items over on ebay. Geesh - Dave is in the hundreds (which I think qalifies him as a ebay junkie) He even bought a car a couple of years ago. Never had a bad transaction. However, I think he always does what Alex is presently doing (he scrutinizes the sellers pretty good. With most of the things he has bought, he looks at the seller more than the price.

kath · 02-03-2003

Alex...I guess I'm with Fay - I've been pretty lucky. That and the things I've purchased haven't been over $100. Guess they don't waste their time on the small stuff.

Sorry to hear everyone has had such a rough time - it will definitely make me think twice about using PayPal.

01-30-2003	#1
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	I was recently looking to purchase a piece of equipment, not the cheapest thing, all considered, but commonly enough sold on Ebay (usually 5-10 active auctions on this item... retails for a couple of thousand) It seems that Ebay has a real problem with people hacking into other user's accounts and using those accounts to run auctions. "Star" members, people with very good rankings, are getting their accounts taken over and bogus auctions are being put up for the item I was looking for. Often, the seller would have a "buy it now" price that was a little under the market value, making it a good deal. So far, two out of three sellers I have contacted have turned out to be frauds. Ebay has cancelled their auctions, and the accounts disactivated. The common thread is "free" mail accounts such as hotmail, yahoo, and such. It looks like these accounts are expiring, and people are taking them over, using them to get the password from Ebay, and then putting up bogus auctions. From what I can tell, the easiest way to spot them is people that will only accept wire transfers or similar types of transactions. They will not accept escrow accounts, nor will they accept paypal (which is useless for me, as I will explain in a second). If you are doing the Ebay thing, watch yourself closely, it is really getting quite scammy out there. Now, for paypal... If you are using a visa card on your paypal account, and have to change cards for whatever reason, paypal cannot reconfirm you (turn you into a validated member) because, in their own words "Due to current Visa regulations, you will not be able to initiate the Membership Process with a second Visa card. The Membership Process will need to be completed with a MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card. " Never in my life have I had a Visa merchant suggest I use another brand of card, and blame the problem on Visa. As a result, I cannot use my paypal account because no seller will accept to do transactions with unverified members. Paypal customer service sent me an email with the exact quote above in it, and offered no other method to resolve the issue. Apparently they don't want to retain clients. E-commerce, not ready for prime time. Alex __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

01-31-2003	#3
Peaches Members Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Hills of N. GA Posts: 10,823	Ebay and Paypal are getting hammered by hackers and scammers. Many are outside the states and minors so it's hard to prosecute. If you buy something for $200 and you're in NJ and they're in FL, is it really worth the trip to file and go to small claims court? That person in FL knows that and they can sell a few hundred $200 products. And Paypal, up until recently, was little more than a money transporter, i.e. if you didn't receive a product bought with it, you couldn't file a chargeback with your CC company as Paypal had completed their agreement - they sent the payment, which is all they said they'd do. The vast majority of the sellers and buyers on Ebay are still honest, but I used to buy a lot of things (read: junk ) on Ebay, and I've read too much to trust it until they put more stringent fraud controls on it. __________________ Peaches@onlinebeach.com ICQ# 36734533

01-31-2003	#4
ulfie Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 1,143	I bought one thing off of ebay in my life and it was a disaster. Needless to say I haven't been back since. Thankfully it was only $100 but the experience left such a foul taste in my mouth that I can't see myself ever going there again. __________________

01-31-2003	#6
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	Kath, so far for the item I am looking for, 7 out of 8 auction I have looked at closely were frauds - mostly to do with hijacked IDs. Without any difficulty, I found about $20,000 of fraud. It really sucks. I don't think I will buy anything worth more than about $20 over there... :-( Alex __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

02-02-2003	#7
Rolo Members Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Six Feet Under Posts: 2,150	We are getting ready to file suit against PayPal and their managers for illegal withholding funds. Can not say much about it until it is filled, but I urge everyone who uses PayPal to read this post from an Ex. PayPal manager: http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/showthre...529&old_block=0 Ebay and PayPal predictions for 2003.... not good.. __________________ "Chaos is the law of nature, order is the dream of man." ~Henry B. Adams (Historian) 1838-1918

01-31-2003	#2
originalheather Guest Posts: n/a	Damn, I use my visa/paypal account for a lot of stuff. If I ever lose my card, I'm screwed? That's messed up. They verified me through my checking account, but is that only for US members? I may be on crack, but don't you live in Canada, Alex? That Visa thing is scary though...not only fucking with Adult, apparently. It seems that Visa wants to get all third party processors of any kind off the net. I wonder how long it will take for enough Visa customers to get pissed off enough to start protesting. Interesting thing..I lost my Banamex Mastercard and they replaced it with a Visa...strange. Is Visa trying to take over the Mexican market? For years, Banamex only offered Mastercards. I wasn't even given a choice, because I certainly would have chosen to receive another MC, even though it's no good to me online because it's Mexican. Oh well, now I know I can never open an international PayPal account. Wild.

01-31-2003	#5
kath Members Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: California, USA Posts: 1,340	I use eBay/PayPal all the time for lots of things and I've never had a problem with them. In fact, in January I cancelled my first Visa account number and added a new one - and got verified. Maybe this is a new policy, but I was verified right away. It's a shame that a few always ruin it for the rest of us. Would hate to see the reliability/benefits of eBay/PayPal run amok because of these scammers. They really do have a good thing going on there.

02-02-2003	#8
Sharpie Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 747	Whew... guess I have been lucky. I have probably bought and sold 25 items over on ebay. Geesh - Dave is in the hundreds (which I think qalifies him as a ebay junkie) He even bought a car a couple of years ago. Never had a bad transaction. However, I think he always does what Alex is presently doing (he scrutinizes the sellers pretty good. With most of the things he has bought, he looks at the seller more than the price.

02-03-2003	#9
kath Members Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: California, USA Posts: 1,340	Alex...I guess I'm with Fay - I've been pretty lucky. That and the things I've purchased haven't been over $100. Guess they don't waste their time on the small stuff. Sorry to hear everyone has had such a rough time - it will definitely make me think twice about using PayPal.