Argh!

**theworm**[$] · #1 08-12-2007, 10:20 PM

Somebody hacked into my ebay account and bid on thousands of dollars of electronics. I contacted ebay and they handled it immediately, but man, that pisses me off!!! If its not one thing, it's another!

**hadassahchana**[$] · #2 08-12-2007, 11:00 PM

Oh no! That's just awful. I got two or three notices that I'd won something or other, about a month ago. Yet when I clicked on the ebay link the seller wasn't even there. Ebay told me it was a banned vendor who'd managed to do that to a bunch of people.

I'm glad they got this fixed fast, Delia, that's pretty scary.

**theworm**[$] · #3 08-12-2007, 11:05 PM

I'm still getting e-mails with request for payment. He bid on about 20 expensive electronic items, but Ebay said that they would inform all the sellers and it looks like they're working their way through making everything null and void. I do have 2 that say I owe money on - if they're still there tomorrow, I'll contact ebay again. It just pisses me off. It's always something - enough already.

magenta321 · #4 08-12-2007, 11:11 PM

I had someone "win" my auction today for a very expensive item... he's in Benin, and paying by check or western union. I don't know how to tell him he can't... worse yet it's not ebay, so I'm skeptical I can do anything about it...

I feel your frustration! I really am not liking the online auction scene right now.

**lynnzop**[$] · #5 08-12-2007, 11:29 PM

Oh Wormie, that's horrible!!!! I've never had anyone hack into our account before, just been ripped off by dishonest sellers. Is eBay doing an investigation to find out how they gained access????

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #6 08-12-2007, 11:56 PM

**theworm**[$] · #7 08-13-2007, 12:12 AM

the ebay on-line security help is pretty good. They re-established my account security and helped me change my password. They supposedly voided sales and bids, but it still shows 5 open bids and 5 purchases (for well over $2500!!!!).
I recontacted them and they said the the bids and sales have been voided and that they contacted the sellers to let them know it was fraud. They say it will clear off my account - it is clean on their end but it might take a bit longer to show on "my ebay". They didn't hack into my paypal or make any payments so the worse that could happen is that if these don't clear I'll get negative feedback for non-payment, but I'm not concerned. I do think that ebay handled it quickly. What's scary is that I found out because I got an e-mail that I changed the e-mail on my ebay account. I was afraid it was phishing, so I got onto ebay and my personal info had been changed to reflect a man's name with all my other info. Apparantly he changed the e-mail on my account so I couldn't change things. I contacted their security team and they fixed it right away, but had I been on vacation on even just away for a few hours, who know what he might have done. In the end it's probably just a minor nusanance, but it just feels like its been one think after another and my patience is shot. I'm a bit down.

**taurusmoon** · #8 08-13-2007, 07:22 AM

Ugh. I can imagine how violated you feel.

Good for ebay for taking action so quickly.

**lynnzop**[$] · #9 08-13-2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

taurusmoon said

Ugh. I can imagine how violated you feel

That's a good way to describe it. I remember when my purse was stolen (many years ago) and someone used my cash card that I felt violated and scared.

Wormie...glad they were able to help you so quickly.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #10 08-13-2007, 11:19 AM

This is happening quite a bit lately, and many folks have their eBay and PayPal email/pwds the same, so lost a ton of money.

The big key is to use STRONG passwords (any word or name you can look up in a Dictionary or on a blog is NOT a strong password) and not reuse the same password for more than one linked account. For example, email, eBay & PayPal should be three different passwords.

If you aren't sure how to set up a strong password, there are a ton of online services to help, and also to help manage your passwords online securely. I use an online password manager for everything but my banking and cc info... the one I use is PassPack, but Clipperz is another one that is good. Both can help you generate strong passwords.

If you are just looking to generate passwords, goodpasswords.com

phoenixx · #11 08-13-2007, 11:29 AM

My ebay was hacked earlier this year as well, with someone "listing" a bunch of items for sale. It was a huge deal to fix, but ebay was right on it.

MiracleMax · #12 08-13-2007, 11:51 AM

Ugh, what a horrible mess Wormie. I'm glad everything seems to be getting worked out quickly and hope there aren't any lasting problems due to all this.

**theworm**[$] · #13 08-13-2007, 01:18 PM

I just got off line from my 3rd on-line customer service session with them. I hope its now fixed. They wiped off the 5 purchases. They say that they closed down the 4 auctions that still show on my account, but I still see them, so I don't feel confident about it. They did wipe out the 5 purchases and about 10 other bids. It's just a nusance, but very annoying and I'm not entirely thrilled that it took 3 sessions so far to get fixed - if it is fixed.
My paypal account is not the same as Ebay and I changed my ebay and e-mail passwords. Hopefully its over. Very annoying.

mtbat · #14 08-13-2007, 10:51 PM

Oh Wormie what a pain-I'm glad you caught it when you did, and I hope it's ALL the way fixed quickly

**theworm**[$] · #15 08-13-2007, 11:33 PM

Thanks. It is all clear now. Some of the auctions stayed up till they ended, but tonight I got e-mails that those auctions were ended by Ebay and that the bids were null and void. Finally my ebay account is clear. It didn't go on my schedule, but they cleaned up everything in 24 hours and there on-line help is pretty good. I'm annoyed that I had to contact them 3 times, but they did take care of everything in the end. Not sure what I did to get hacked, but I'm glad its over.

**hadassahchana**[$] · #16 08-14-2007, 12:53 AM

Whew, that's a relief! I'm glad it worked out so smoothly.

magenta321 · #17 08-14-2007, 06:37 AM

My African scam is over too. I ended up telling the guy to paypal me the money and meet my locally for the transaction. He refused, and insisted he would western union me the money. I told him I was turning him in as a scam, and I contacted OLX to let them know I would not sell my item to him. They agreed that it was most likely fraud, and my buyer has not contacted me any further.

I'm thinking there are a few reasons this might have happened to you. They could have used you to shill bid. They may have been hoping you would have the same password for other accounts (your email, your paypal, etc).

If you remember that game KOC, there was someone who was hacking into people's koc accounts (people were sharing passwords to spend one another's gold), and then they could see the email you registered with. Then they would hack your email account too. They'd hack your forum accounts, and, in theory, if they saw emails in there for Amazon or whatever, they probably could have hacked those as well.

A lot of people use one password for everything. That means every forum you're on could have the possibility of hacking you, or every website you've bought from, etc.

You are better off using a combination of letters and numbers when you make a password. It makes it harder to get in the other way, which is brute force.

Dory · #18 08-14-2007, 11:12 AM

Wow, that's kind of scary. I wonder how they hacked your password. That really worries me. Sometimes I feel left behind because I've never caught onto eBay and paypal was too much of a hassle to use as a Canadian, but at times like these, I am grateful I don't have accounts with them.

The password hack is really concerning though. I feel like changing all my passwords now.

jenninca · #19 08-14-2007, 12:43 PM

Ugh, Wormie, I'm glad that is over for you. I worry about something like that happening. I am becoming less and less thrilled with Ebay.

**theworm**[$] · #20 08-14-2007, 01:43 PM

in fairness, in the end Ebay did handle it well - they let some of the bids go through, but then voided them all. I have had a lot of good transactions on Ebay and have gotten bargains there so I hate to turn it off, but I might. I have to see.
Now I'm just trying to remember all my darned new passwords.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #21 08-14-2007, 01:46 PM

Did it have anything to do with how close the auctions were to ending when they decided which ones to let go through?

I am glad I've never done anything with eBay or PayPal.

**theworm**[$] · #22 08-14-2007, 01:57 PM

I can't tell. The guy did win 5 auctions under my name, and Ebay closed them. I felt badly for the sellers - they were expensive and when they voided them they missed out on the names of the next highest bidder who may have purchased the items.

I once had a problem with Paypal - someone used my account for internet gambling - I'm not sure how they did it, but I found it on my credit card bill. When I called Paypal, they had already noted that there was suspicious activity on my account and they handled it immediately. No reprucussions to me at all. I was quite impressed.
Ebay has a on-line chat system. I would have preferred talking to someone. They all used the same verbage - I wasn't sure if there were real people there, an automated system or if I was on-line with India or another country and they just had strict "scripts".