eBay Admits Growing Fraud Problems

Iria · Dec 18, 2005, 02:32 AM

Even as eBay touts celebrities using its service this holiday season, the company is facing growing online fraud and complaints of foot-dragging.

The end-of-year holidays are important for Internet retailers, and eBay definitely wants access to the spending frenzy as it issues press releases touting celebrities' successful purchases, including consumer electronics grabs by Jessica Simpson, Sela Ward, and Eva Longoria.

However, a less pleasant side of eBay is emerging: strong increases in hijacked member accounts, auction fraud, and counterfeit goods being sold over the service. According to the BBC, eBay's director of trust and safety Gareth Griffiths admitted to "extreme growth" in the number of account hijacking and fraud incidents during 2005, and another company spokesperson refused to deny that the number of compromised and hijacked accounts might number in the tens of thousands.

Naturally enough, the BBC's reporting focuses on the U.K., reporting that eBay is drawing the ire of both brand manufacturers and law enforcement officials for the amount of fraud on the site and the amount of time eBay takes to respond to requests for information or reports of criminal activity. For instance, Adidas told the BBC up to 40 percent of 12,000 auctions for its goods the company monitored were selling counterfeit items, and clothing brand Ben Sherman said eBay took five days to close a series of counterfeit auctions, by which time many of the items had been sold. Law enforcement officials have reportedly characterize eBay's slow response times as "obstructive;" North Yorkshire Trading Standards claimed eBay took two months to provide information on suspects.
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Read More / Source: Design Technica

Tipstaff · Dec 18, 2005, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iria

".....strong increases in hijacked member accounts, auction fraud, and counterfeit goods being sold over the service."

I had this experience happen a few times. I would get periodic emails from eBay asking about password and email address changes off and on, yet I hadn't ask for neither. When I talked with eBay they said that someone had tried to access my account with them. Kinda freaked me out actually since this happened right after my Dad had his credit information stolen.

BWX · Dec 18, 2005, 11:33 AM

I have never been ripped off on e-bay.. I don't buy a lot of stuff, but made quite a few purchases in the past..

You get a feeling about people, and if one thing seems wrong... just move on.

The CPU in my rig right now was bought on ebay- a cheap Athlon XP with "special" numbers.. exactly as advertised. An XP 1800 (1.5ghz) that OC's to 2.2 ghz+. Served me well over the past couple years.. Time for a new one though. I'm thinking Opteron.

**temeteus82** · Dec 18, 2005, 11:41 AM

yeah, phishing is a big problem now days... I've got some time ago over 100 e-mails in same day asking for my banking info

as far as I know my bank don't send e-mails to it's clients asking their logon info, same would go for e-bay...

Zardon · Dec 18, 2005, 12:12 PM

unfortunately these scams are getting more devious. they arent sending out fake emails anymore to get passwords, they are sending out fake emails pretending to be from another user asking how much you want for xxx auction. I even had one a few days ago stating he was a new user and wanted to understand how to use ebay.... to login click here (leads to ip address/fake site etc).

there are so many ebay scams right now its understandable why some people fall for them.

**dj_stick** · Dec 18, 2005, 12:24 PM

they're doing similiar things with paypal aswell

BWX · Dec 18, 2005, 12:26 PM

Yeah I have gotten a few e-mails myself.. from "paypal"..

I just make a rule to delete those from the server.

Dec 18, 2005, 02:32 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	eBay Admits Growing Fraud Problems Even as eBay touts celebrities using its service this holiday season, the company is facing growing online fraud and complaints of foot-dragging. The end-of-year holidays are important for Internet retailers, and eBay definitely wants access to the spending frenzy as it issues press releases touting celebrities' successful purchases, including consumer electronics grabs by Jessica Simpson, Sela Ward, and Eva Longoria. However, a less pleasant side of eBay is emerging: strong increases in hijacked member accounts, auction fraud, and counterfeit goods being sold over the service. According to the BBC, eBay's director of trust and safety Gareth Griffiths admitted to "extreme growth" in the number of account hijacking and fraud incidents during 2005, and another company spokesperson refused to deny that the number of compromised and hijacked accounts might number in the tens of thousands. Naturally enough, the BBC's reporting focuses on the U.K., reporting that eBay is drawing the ire of both brand manufacturers and law enforcement officials for the amount of fraud on the site and the amount of time eBay takes to respond to requests for information or reports of criminal activity. For instance, Adidas told the BBC up to 40 percent of 12,000 auctions for its goods the company monitored were selling counterfeit items, and clothing brand Ben Sherman said eBay took five days to close a series of counterfeit auctions, by which time many of the items had been sold. Law enforcement officials have reportedly characterize eBay's slow response times as "obstructive;" North Yorkshire Trading Standards claimed eBay took two months to provide information on suspects. ____________ Read More / Source: Design Technica

Dec 18, 2005, 11:33 AM	#3
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	I have never been ripped off on e-bay.. I don't buy a lot of stuff, but made quite a few purchases in the past.. You get a feeling about people, and if one thing seems wrong... just move on. The CPU in my rig right now was bought on ebay- a cheap Athlon XP with "special" numbers.. exactly as advertised. An XP 1800 (1.5ghz) that OC's to 2.2 ghz+. Served me well over the past couple years.. Time for a new one though. I'm thinking Opteron. __________________

Dec 18, 2005, 12:26 PM	#7
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Yeah I have gotten a few e-mails myself.. from "paypal".. I just make a rule to delete those from the server. __________________

Dec 18, 2005, 12:12 PM	#5
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	unfortunately these scams are getting more devious. they arent sending out fake emails anymore to get passwords, they are sending out fake emails pretending to be from another user asking how much you want for xxx auction. I even had one a few days ago stating he was a new user and wanted to understand how to use ebay.... to login click here (leads to ip address/fake site etc). there are so many ebay scams right now its understandable why some people fall for them.