Is eBay Leaking Information?

from the just-wondering... dept

The Associated Press has a story about a man who’s been indicted for getting his hands on a bunch of eBay accounts, including credit card info, and using those accounts to purchase $32,000 worth of gift certificates. Yet another eBay scam isn’t that interesting, of course, but what’s unclear from the article here is exactly how this guy got the info. The article says: “he hacked into online auctioneer eBay Inc.’s site, stole users’ credit card numbers and then used them.” That would imply that there’s a problem on eBay’s end, and they have some sort of security hole that this guy exploited. If that’s the case, it’s an issue that eBay might want to address, because it could put other people at risk. However, the article barely focuses on that part at all, so it’s possible that this was a more typical scam (phishing, perhaps) that allowed the guy to get account info and credit cards. Still, it would be nice to know whether or not others are at risk.


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Is eBay Leaking Information?”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
9 Comments
Pat says:

Re: No Subject Given

I know from personal experience that ebay must have some kind of hole and they refuse to admit it. In late November, I had a bunch of auctions for high end electronics stuff just appear on my seller’s list one morning. They were NOT my auctions. Thank goodness the scammer didn’t change my password soI wasable to still sign in and get to safe harborlive help to get it sorted out. Ebay didn’t even ask me which item numbers were the problem. They disappeared in a flash. I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get everything sorted out, but it got resolved pretty fast. I know for a fact that I had not clicked on a phishing email….I’m super careful…..so how did the crook hack my account ???????About a week later another seller I know had the same thing happen. I believe it is muchmore common than we know!

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: ebay hole and fraud

check for a “dell xps laptop” and you will many 1 day listing with a seperate email in the listing. if you email them they will offer you a sweet price if you pay via western union.
you’ll see many sellers selling the same items under the same “email me for buy it now price, pay via western union.” scam

ebay definitely has a fraud problem.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Coward Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...