Monday, January 15, 2007

Seller Accounts Hijacked on eBay - Don't Put Yourself at Risk Bidding On Items from Hijacked Accounts


Over the past few months, Team Whack a Hack has been searching different categories on eBay for hijacked member accounts, and has had to report many of them to Live Help.

With the proactive cooperation from eBay's Live Help and the Trust & Safety webform team, the passwords for the hijacked accounts have been changed and the bogus listings have been suspended. The innocent bidders have not been swindled by these thieves, unless they made off-eBay transactions.

Things to keep in mind:

If you are planning to buy on eBay, be proactive. Don't get ripped off. Investigate the seller; read the feedback. If you think the price is too good to be true, someone is probably trying to scam you. If you aren't sure, post a message on the appropriate eBay Community Board ~~ you will get good advice, usually within minutes. And, you can always send an email to this blog, and we will get you an answer.

When in doubt, take a step back, analyze the situation, and do your research. As Benjamin Franklin once said, When in doubt, don't.

Double-check what categories the items are listed in. The thieves are miscategorizing their listings in hope that they won't be caught, but listings in the incorrect categories stand out like a sore thumb. Think about it ... if you went to the supermarket would you look for mouthwash in the produce department? On eBay, I've found too many electronics items listed in the Art and Antiques categories. Believe me, the thieves will intentionally miscategorize the bogus listings in all types of innocuous categories. Thieves don't think that smart bidders check the categories the items are listed in. They don't want their listings in the correct categories that would be viewed by the masses; the thieves want to fly under the radar, and catch someone that is unsuspecting.

Beware of any listing that says the buy it now price is X dollars, but there isn't a BIN button in the listing. These thieves, instead ask you to contact them off of eBay. Do not contact them. Instead, go to the bottom of the listing page and push the Report Listing button - complete the webform so that the next person that might be slightly more unsuspecting than you doesn't get caught in the scam. Then find yourself a legitimate seller to buy your item.

Beware of any listings that have an email address listed in the item description. If you want to contact the buyer, use the Ask Seller a Question feature, which is an option on the upper right hand corner of the listing. Do not fall for the common excuse that the seller cannot receive eBay email or is out of town and also cannot access his eBay email. Of course he can, besides being sent to his email box in My eBay, it is also forwarded to his real email address - well, the email message will really be routed to the true account holder's registered email address. Thieves don't want you to innocently give a heads up to the rightful owner of the account.

Do not get involved with any off-eBay transactions. If you do, you lose all of the protection that eBay provides to buyers. And, for goodness sake, never pay by Western Union or MoneyGram. The most secure way to make any payment to a seller on eBay is via PayPal and only with a credit card. By paying via PayPal, the buyer is protected both by PayPal and by the credit card company in case the seller does not perform. Just remember that PayPal's buyer protection program does not kick in if the seller has less than 50 feedback remarks.

Stay away from listings that have cutesy seasonal email addresses.

Below are the nonsense excuses in the hijackers' listings. Beware of any listings that say anything similar to:

My eBay EMAIL WAS SPAMMED AND I REALLY BEG YOU TO CONTACT ME IN MY PERSONAL EMAIL.

MY EBAY MAIL ADDRESS IS VERY SLOW AND SOMETIMES NOT WORKING AND I CAN`T GUARANTEE A FAST REPLY

MY EBAY CONTACT IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE BECAUSE I'VE REACHED THE E-MAIL STORAGE LIMIT AND I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ANSWER ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS

DUE TO MY EBAY RELATED EMAIL ADDRESS BEING FULL YOU MUST EMAIL ALL YOUR QUESTIONS USING THE EMAIL FORM BELOW.

BIDDING WITH OUT MY APPROVAL WILL RESULT IN YOUR BID BEING CANCELLED AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LEFT. DRASTIC MEASURES HAVE TO BE TAKEN AGAINST FAKE BIDDERS.

I USE MOBILE INTERNET DON'T USE ASK SELLER A QUESTION

THE BIDDING PROCESS DOES NOT INTEREST ME

I WILL CANCEL ALL BID'S THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED BEFORE CONTACT

I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO PUT AN END TO MY LISTING IS A GOOD BUY IT NOW OFFER IS MADE AND THE RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY BID THAT HAS BEEN PLACED BEFORE CONTACT

IF YOU LOOK FOR A FAST AND 100% SAFE DEAL YOU JUST FOUND IT, FREE SHIPPING, ESCROW SERVICE.

WE WILL NEGOCIATE OVER THE PRICE OF THE ITEM YOU ARE INTERESTED IN, AND WE WILL AGREE UPON THE TRANSACTION METHOD

WE ARE SERIOUS SELLERS AND WE PREFER ALL OUR TRANSACTIONS TO BE MADE THRU AN ESCROW COMPANY FOR SECURITY

DUE TO UNKNOWN REASONS EMAILS THROUGH EBAY

BEFORE PLACING ANY BID AND FOR THE BEST BUY IT NOW PRICE PLEASE CONTACT ME AT:

THE LOWEST BUY IT NOW PRICE, 100% SAFE DEAL, FREE SHIPPING, 15 DAY REFUND POLICY

THIS AUCTION WILL END WHEN I END A BUY IT NOW TRANSACTION WITH THE FIRST CLIENT

DO NOT BID WITHOUT MY PERMISSION OTHERWISE YOUR BID WILL BE CANCELLED AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK WILL BE LEFT!!!

MY EBAY EMAIL IS FULL AND I CAN'T RECEIVE ANY MESSAGE ON IT

FOR A QUICK AND GREAT ANSWER MAIL ME BEFORE TAKING ANY AUCTIONS

FOR FRIENDLY HELP AND ADVICE PLEASE MAIL ME AT

IS BETTER TO CONTACT ME BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR BID IN

THE BIDDING IS RESTRICTED FOR THIS AUCTION DUE TO THE TIME WASTERS AND DEAD BIDDERS.

MY EBAY EMAIL IS LOCKED!!! FOR ANY QUESTIONS, EMAIL ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU ALL INSTRUCTIONS.

AS I TAKE THIS AUCTION VERY SERIOUSLY I WANT TO SPEAK PERSONALLY WITH EVERY INTERESTED BUYER WHO'S READY TO MAKE THE DEAL OF THE YEAR.

PLEASE E-MAIL ME BEFORE BIDDING TO CLEAR EVERYTHING OUT

CONTACT ME DIRECTLY AND YOU WILL GET A 100% SAFE AND FAST DEAL - FREE SHIPPING AND ESCROW SERVICE AND A SURPRISE CHRISTMAS GIFT

I'M A SERIOUS SELLER WHO'S TRYING TO DEVELOP A NEW SELLING SYSTEM, A DIFFERENT WAY FOR GETTING THE BEST DEAL FOR BOTH OF US, JUST EMAIL ME WITH YOUR BEST OFFER OR WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE AT:

THE TITLE IS CLEAR AND READY FOR TRANSFER. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO END THIS LISTING WHEN WE FIND A BUYER THAT ACCEPT THE BUY IT NOW PRICE! Note: the listings do not have the BIN button in them.


Below is an excerpt from a listing from a hijacked account. This is what a scammer wrote (with all of the spelling and grammatical errors). The BS makes us ill; do some of you actually fall for these silly stories?

Hi, This item is being relisted after being the victim of internet fraud. I ended the listing early after I was made an offer, this person then deposited money into my paypal account. Thank goodness Paypal alerted me that the funds had dissappeard from my account due to fraudulant activity before I had shipped it. So needless to say this listing is staying on eBay for security reasons, please don't ask me to end the auction early. The item will only be shipped after the deposit has cleared into my bank account. And only Fedex will be used as this is the safest and most secure way of shipping for both parties. Thank you, and good luck.

Beware of 1 and 3 day auctions - some are legitimate, but many are not.

Below in separate blog entries are known email addresses and domains that the thieves are using in their eBay listings. This list is not complete, but it is updated daily. Please feel free to submit the email addresses of hackers that you find and the eBay listing number for verification. You may email the information to the address in the upper left hand corner of the blog.

If you encounter any of these email address or domains in listings that you are considering bidding on, DO NOT BID and DO NOT MAKE OR ACCEPT OFFERS OFF OF eBAY. Report the fraudulent listing to eBay immediately.

These are email addresses and domains from thieves that have stolen user IDs. This is called hijacking, and Team Whack a Hack along with many other eBay members volunteer their time to track down the fraudulent listings and get them canceled along with getting the user ID returned to the rightful owner.

If you enter into a transaction with any of the thieves that have these email addresses or domains, kiss your money and the item you wanted goodbye. If you are aware of any email addresses of known eBay predators that are hijacking innocent members' accounts, either email them to blog or post a comment to this blog entry, so that we can add them here.

If these email addresses were not already searchable on the Internet, they now will be, and just hopefully, innocent bidders will check here and not get scammed. As Andy Warhol once said ... Everyone is entitled to their fifteen minutes of fame ... however, these email addresses and domains will live on through eternity.

Whatever you do, protect yourself. Remember, you have been warned at The Nekkid Truth.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the fantastic information. We just noticed that the bogus account just got wiped on eBay. Thanks again.

Unknown said...

good on yer, mate!

Unknown said...

Thanks, upon Google-ing Rahatmic99 i find his name on your website. Saved me a bunch ' cash

Unknown said...

thanks guys! i thought it looked funny having all those high end macs for so cheap!

i did a search and sure enough his email was on your list! his user name is michael_gaffney2 and email is bogdanseller311@gmail.com
i emailed ebay about it. though i probably not the first
thanks again!
ben
benwied@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

This Blog is an excellent idea . . .

If anyone has had a bad experience with buyitloveit@msn.com please contact me. I am gathering evidence to put together a criminal case. Any other help would be greatly appreciated.
email: speed.racer.72@hotmail.com
Thanks

Anonymous said...

add ticketsworld@yahoo.com as a scam as well.

Steve said...

Here is another name to add to your list...

tranopte@yahoo.com

He has PS3 units cheaper than anyone else...doesn't make an auction but he will contact you if you are the loser of another auction and want the unit cheaper:)

Apparently he also had an expensive Sony Camcorder for cheap too:

http://forums.skateperception.com/index.php?s=f53dcddd5d3f0292c7042d40a63072a9&showtopic=82772&pid=1283437&st=0&#entry1283437

Anonymous said...

Please add this address:

tebat22@aol.com

over 40 scams today from them


Regards,

Groove

Anonymous said...

danypalmersell@gmail.com

here's another old scammer who's back...

Dark Stone said...

Great site!! You will save more!!

Anonymous said...

Not only are we working for Ebay for free, their response time really sucks.

I reported a stolen account about 15 hours ago, and it's still there, full of the usual fraud auctions by danypalmersell@gmail.com...

The Nekkid Truth said...

Groove, at least you can rely on me, I did get your contributions listed onto the blog within 5 minutes of you sending them in. Many thanks to you and all of the other contributors.

Anonymous said...

Tractorel@aol
If I am correct, this guy is an ebay scammer who will only accept Western Union and then cutoff all contact. Other names he uses are Brian Obink and Paul Monque.

Hopefully nobody else will be scammed by him. He generally sells construction equipment and offers "free shipping."

Anonymous said...

Thank you everyone here, thanks to you I saved $1000. I was close to buying a Yamaha keyboard from Shaeky666 who was asking to contact him through his e-mail, awermedia@aol.com. The prices were so good that I got suspicious. So I did some searches and found this place. I can't believe the nerves of these people. Thanks again!

Unknown said...

thanx for this info really thanx i was making a deal with this email willierasto@myway.com a few minutes ago i was talking with these by email and he show me and offer in ebay and sudenly the offer disapear and he said that he put it off all his offers and we were apunto of close a deal (and i told him that we close the deal inside the ebay by paypal)then until i decide to search for his email in google and this page appear

really thanx for the information

Anonymous said...

Watch out for davejohnson448@gmail.com

Hes back on ebay and just scammed again.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone tried to purchase an Ebay item from the following seller: topolyto@gmail.com

We paid for a paintball gun and have not heard back that it has been shipped. If you have any clue, please post here.

The Nekkid Truth said...

Regarding the email address topolyto@gmail.com, you were scammed and entered into an off eBay transaction. I am guessing that you paid via Western Union or Money Gram. Your money is not recoverable. Please write directly to me at the blog email address always.the.nekkid.truth@gmail.com and forward all email communication between you and the thief, along with any invoices or other email documentation that you have. When you send the email messages, please expose the full headers.

I am sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

Awermedia@aol.com offered Swarovski spotting scopes via EBAY at 1/4 the price. He's located in Romania. Wants payment by Western Union... all his auctions suddenly dissappeared. was this guy legit or a scam?

The Nekkid Truth said...

awermedia@aol.com and any other email providers he uses is a scam artist. His email address is on the blog, and we report the accounts he hijacks on eBay daily. If you give him your money, you will not receive your item, and you will never get your money back. Never make payments via Western Union or Money Gram to anyone you DO NOT KNOW PERSONALLY.

Anonymous said...

i just found this website but it was to late beacuse we had already got scammed by Auchan146@aol.com

Anonymous said...

Before finding this Blog,
kapusellforyou@aol.com scammed me for $700 for a Bernina Sewing machine. It was on eBay listed as sweettc as the seller. The scammer is Mazalu Cosmin, Str. mioritei nr 53,Braila, zip 6100, Romania

Being new to eBay I made an expensive mistake. He picked up the funds at Danube Bank in Braila

Anonymous said...

christmasauction@gmail.com just tried to scam me. He asked that all bidders eail him BEFORE they bid on an ultra cheap Canon EOS camera. I did, already suspicious, asking for pics and whatnot, and he told me the price was 800,(the auction was at 98), and that I could send it to him directly. I "agreed" knowing it was a scam, and asked for the auction number again.... (I lost it!)

he sent this:

"auction has ended

this is my payment info for western union money transfer :
To arrange the transfer, you must go in person to a Western Union office and
send the money from your name and address to my name and adrress

First name: Constantin
Last name: Iulian
Address: Comunarzi , Bl A4 , Ap 12
City: Braila
Zip: 6100
Country: ROMANIA

when you will make the payment tell them that you are sending money to a friend ,
if you tell them that you are doing an transaction the fees will be bigger .
please send me your shiping address and tell me whe you can make the
payment because I must to know when I start the shipping"

BellaB said...

x-sierra.com

I thought I had done due diligence, but I got scammed. I wish I had read this blog. What's worse? They are still advertising on getafreelancer.com under

usa77

I've asked that they be pulled. It's a whole network in Moscow. I have a pile of names as well as Western Union routing info if that would be helpful. I don't want anyone to have to go through what I went through. Am still going through.

Is there anywhere else I can warn people? I am so sick over this, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Thanks.

The Nekkid Truth said...

bellab,

Please email the blog address. Look in the upper left hand corner of the blog under CONTACT. Please send all info to that email address with full headers exposed. Many thanks.

Anonymous said...

kenismoble2000@hotmail.com

Beware of this person. His name is Kenis. He is from Finland.

And he is total fraud.

Will try to sell costly latest phones very cheap.

Dont fall for it.

Anonymous said...

I Lost $2,700 to great_sell_offert@yahoo.com .....I wish I would have seen this forum beforehand............he was selling Apple iPods...........

Anonymous said...

wui34453f@yahoo.com is a fake as well.

Unknown said...

rmyers20@googlemail.com

is bad too, he is doing the exact same thing as davfriske@googlemail.com

Which is a guy who ALMOST screwed me and about 10 other people over, thank goodness we were smart enough not to except wire transfers

Anonymous said...

Seller 2007Auction@gmail.com

Tried to scam me with an offer to sell outside of ebay. Here is what they sent!

First I am going to tell you some things I think you should know before ending this deal.I travel a lot and now I am in Eastern Europe. The item is going to be shipped from Europe also.My item is brand new, unopened box all accessories included and also an international warranty.Now, I can ship through UPS air next day delivery. I will pay for all taxes. If you wish you can also send me your full shipping info so I can make a reservation on your name .The price of the item is $700 (as I said earlier with shipping and insurance taxes included). .Here I am stuck to western union wire transfer.I can't use paypal because it's not available yet. Just because of this I set up an insurance with ebay which guaranties 100% of this deal. If you wish I can contact eBay right away and have them send you an invoice with my insurance.If you agree on my terms I am sure we can close the deal right now.Please reply after you think it over.Best regards.

Thanks for the website, you just saved me $900!

Anonymous said...

add this to your list : MCLEOD7462@YAHOO.COM

Anonymous said...

Hi nekkid may i know is the listing of the email is all fake? faurd? cause i met kam01kam and mr3dmt both of them are on your list too and pay through westren union. mr3dmt told me that when i recieve my goods from him than i pass him my westren union number. can he be trusted?

thanks
edison

The Nekkid Truth said...

Edison, I am sorry to say that you made two off eBay transactions, and that since you paid by Western Union your money is not recoverable. Both kam01kam and mr3dmt are thieves. You will NEVER receive any items from them, and you will NEVER get your money back. If you haven't received them already, you will get fake eBay invoices. eBay tells you to NEVER pay by Western Union or Money Gram, and The Nekkid Truth Blog and Team Whack a Hack also advise you to NEVER pay via eGold.

If you have not completed the transaction, DON'T GO THROUGH WITH IT. If you have gone through with the transaction today, make sure you call Western Union immediately, and retract it.

The Nekkid Truth said...

One more thing ... if an eBay invoice DOES NOT appear in your My eBay mailbox, then the listing is fraudulent. You must also receive an End of Auction notice from eBay. If you don't receive either in your My eBay mailbox, DO NOT go through with the transaction.

Anonymous said...

topolyto@gmail.com has a scam up right now for a juicy sidekick. good think i googled this email address, i was just about to bid! thanks so much for making this site!

Anonymous said...

topolyto@gmail.com is at it again tonight. They co-opted the eBay sellers account (stillaliveandwell)and listed 484 items all high end stuff, expring in 24 hours, low prices, no reserves, free sipping. Helluva deal. I notified both the account holder and eBay.

Anonymous said...

i see.thanks. what if i ask the seller to send to me the item first and i checked nothing wrong, then i send him the money = |haha(am i too much)

edison

The Nekkid Truth said...

edison,

I hope you're joking. Thieves don't ship COD. If they did, the best you could hope for is a box of rocks. Let me make this very clear, all of the email addresses and the fake domains listed in this particular blog entry are THIEVES. DO NOT do business with them, because all they are trying to do is steal your money. They are not selling any items, they are selling BUBKUS - that's a Yiddish term for NOTHING.

Do you understand now?

edison, maybe you don't understand that The Nekkid Truth is an informative blog to make eBay buyers aware of the scams. Review the comments that others have left on the blog. If you don't want to believe me, then believe them.

We are not trying to steer you in the wrong direction, we ARE trying to steer you away from being SCAMMED.

Anonymous said...

ya.. i'm kidding, aniway thanks u very much! i have learn much from this blog. i will recommend my friend also to vist here before purchase 4/5 STAR ****

Anonymous said...

hi it's me again edison, may i know amtec_computers(power seller) can he be trusted? sorry i cant find his email. actually intend to buy a phone(n92,n93 0r n95)

sorry for trouble
i am very sincerly ask thats why i still put the same name.=D

The Nekkid Truth said...

edison,

I will check on the seller later, as I am off to bed right now. Please email me at always.the.nekkid.truth@gmail.com and I will give you further information. One thing, I don't think you read the information on the blog that carefully. The Nokia N95 cell phone is NOT AVAILABLE for sale anywhere until at least March 2007, and that information was obtained off of Nokia's website - http://www/nokia.com. There is a blog entry about NOT buying the Nokia N95 cell phone on eBay now. If anyone is selling it on eBay, they are just trying to steal your money. eBay doesn't even allow pre-sales that far in advance.

Please do your homework. If you want to buy a cell phone, email me the listing numbers, and I will look at them.

P/S - Nokia has no plans to market this cell phone anywhere in North America. From the information presently available, the Nokia N95 won't even work in North America.

Anonymous said...

here is one for your list
...fresh_year@mygroove.us...
what a deal!
i sent an email saying my email and ebay accounts are being monitored and tracked by an independent fraud service

Anonymous said...

Noi2882@aol.com scam mi yesterday for
1000 pound i wanna die.

Anonymous said...

rmyers20@gmail.com has been hijacked as well...it's based in Italy, or wants you to Western Union there. "selling" MacPros at $900...I was curious but didn't get scammed

Anonymous said...

Noi2882@aol.com
scam me 10.1.2007 for
1000 gbp. he sent an ID verify from transaction@ebay.com

Noi2882@aol.com
hat mich um 1000 englische pfund betrogen.
achtung:
er sendet ein ID verify von der email adresse transaction@ebay.com.
ich hoffe es fallen nicht noch mehr leute auf diesen bast.. herein!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the heads up on click99.gmail.com - but i could tell from his reply he was a thief, just good to see it validated cause i tend to want to trust people. $8k hdv camcorders for $1k??? cheaper if you buy more? like daddy always said...if it's too good to be true, it is.

Anonymous said...

THANKS!!! The auction didn't look right to me, the seller didn't have a PayPal account under the name of bouri179x@aol.com so I started looking. I was going to call eBay but you saved me the time!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this list!!! it was VERY helpful, this address : williamcellphones@yahoo.com comes out he was selling an Apple iPhone brand new, and unlocked, the thing is that this phone is NOT for sale until june in US, then he cancels the auction and asks me if I want to complete the deal to send him 1000$ via Money Gram, I agreed, and he sent me his details :

FIRST NAME: MANUEL
LAST NAME: MITRE
FULL ADRESS: REGINA MARIA 21
CITY: RM VALCEA
STATE: VALCEA
ZIP: 1000
COUNTRY: ROMANIA

STAY AWAY FROM THIS DUDE, the APPLE iPhone is NOT for sale until JUNE and is NOT unblocked! It will only work with Cingular, and it doesnt cost 100$ but 599..

Anonymous said...

sellings9@hotmail.com is connected to esquaretrading wich is just another gimick of cheating thanks to this website i was able to catch that fonie adress thanks u guys so much

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I also contacted bogus sales on ebay and gumtree. They wanted money via Western Union.
Their names:
arthurstypa@yahoo.com
prostudecristel@hotmail.com

The fraud escrow website was:
www.expresairs.com

Please add them yo your list to save time&money for others.

Anonymous said...

Below the address of a fraud trying to sell me a loudspeaker for 1/3 of the normal price. Luckily I knew that "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is". I found out the website mentioned was a fraud.
Here the fraud's address:
First Name: VĂ­ctor
Last Name: Santer
Address: 180 Lambeth Road
City: London
Zip Code: SE1 7JY
Country: United Kingdom

Anonymous said...

Re: Victor Santer

180 Lambeth Road is in SW8.

Obviously the name and address are fake...

It is typical that the scammers give a name and address with the wrong postcode.

Anonymous said...

I wish i saw this homepage before
i payied that bastard..

Lost 580 euro to
Genius1975@aol.com for a xps laptop,

he send me these info

First Name: Cojocariu
Last Name: Alyus-Eduard
Address: str Alexandru Donici,#6,sc B,et 1,ap.3
City: Botosani
State: Botosani
Zip: 6800.
Country:Romania


I hope this bastard gets what he deserves...
Go karma

Anonymous said...

motorelu@aol.com offers a scam ATV with trailer--price WAY too good to be true. Buy it now price listed but no button.
See @
http://cgi.ebay.com/2005-Bombardier-CanAm-Outlander-400-Max-4x4-ATV-with-P_W0QQitemZ190079518179QQihZ009QQcategoryZ1269QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the excellent tips--I suspected, but didn't know what to look for.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the list I will donate to your cause because I just tracked down a fraudulent listing that was to good to be true. The funny thing is this guy was supposedly a native of this country, but couldn't type in anything other than broken Engrish.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info, ROMSTYLE130@AOL.COM is posting a too good to be true offer on Craigs List at http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/car/297561580.html

Anonymous said...

I was scammed on this one even though I knew it was too good to be true.

Anonymous said...

I see that multcacat@gmail.com is getting pretty bold - his email address appears in auctions for computer servers in which there is a real "buy it now" button. The auction doesn't appear to be your garden variety scam either - the same macbook or alienware laptop auction endlessly recycled. Rather this was for servers posted under a seller who actually deals in that kind of equipment. Except for multcacat@gmail.com's email address, the auction looks identical to apparently legit auctions posted by that seller. (I called the seller - Chestnutmicro to confirm that I wasn't being paranoid, even if my placing of a long-distance call did confirm that I was otherwise out of my mind.)

Anonymous said...

I have just discovered to my horror that my ebay account had been hijacked. I was deathly ill for several years, and my account sat unused for that time. I'm okay now, so when I tried to get back into ebaying (by the way, I only ever bought, never sold, and I had an excellent rating at the time), I found I could not log in, my security question information changed, and my account suspended. Ebay has given me back my account, but now, no doubt, I have some very nasty reviews on me where I once was very highly rated. How do I deal with this? And what of the people who bid on the items that were listed fraudulently under my account? I do hope they were not out any money. I am a very honest person, and this has upset me very much. I'm not a power-user of ebay, so I have no idea how to fix this issue. I feel very bad for the people that bid on those fraudulant items. What to do? Thank you.

-Sand4Doo