The "seller" in this case (as well as many others), does not own the account, he has stolen it. It is probably one of the most fundamental forms of identity theft but far from the most malicious types that others practice. It is most likely the case that the actual account owner is not even aware that the account was stolen (yet). When eBay shuts them down or the original owner finds out, the guy moves on to the next account, and so on. This is why the guy keeps stealing many different accounts and using each only for a very short time (typically 1 or 3 day listings if you notice). They steal the account only to use it for the feedback to create the perception of trust on the part of a would-be buyer. These particular guys aren't interested in stealing money from the original eBay account holders' bank accounts, etc., their interest is to masquerade as the seller himself and funnel money into their own bank account and that is why they don't even allow a bid unless you email them privately to a specific email address that they post in the listing. If you were to do a "ask seller a question" the actual account owner will very likely get the email, and if the thief has actually changed the email address associated with the account, the reason they will not respond using the eBay messaging system (and they say they will not) is because doing so would give eBay the IP address from which they operate and that would hinder their "craft". Although a reply from their yahoo email account to you will contain the same basic IP data, the best part for them is that eBay doesn't have it, and eBay has almost no interest anymore in verifying fraud unless it was perpetrated using their messaging system. And these guys know it and bank on it, literally. Allowing the IP to be revealed by an email back to you or me is a risk they will [have to] take, but going through eBay's messaging system is a dead giveaway.
By the looks of it, this particular thief (or band of thieves) is probably in the same relative geographic location (if not the same exact place) every time he steals an account. Note that in many cases (maybe every instance) the country to which the account is registered in will change from the US to the UK. But since the accounts are stolen using direct emails to the original account owners and not through eBay's message system, eBay cannot get a grasp there either. The whole institution of eBay's messaging system was to minimize such things and to be able to get a handle on these very abuses when they do occur, but steel gates don't hinder snakes: they just slither under, over, and around them. The guy would probably be easy to catch by compiling and analyzing the email headers associated with the email replies he sends to would-be buyers, but gathering that information ex post facto is nearly impossible, mostly because eBay wipes out any evidence that the thieves ever existed and by doing so they take away any ability to track the buyers (i.e. the only people who can genuinely help catch the thief). Loran, I think I still like it the old way. Let's just make eBay go out of business (and stop the earth from orbiting the sun and rotating while we are at it) and promote more antique phonograph shows and swap meets. I remember getting my best antique radio parts out of the back of someone's old monster Chevy Montego station wagon and never even needed to know their name or "log in" to their site....Ah, the good ol' days.....LOL... Somebody else said it well....Caveat emptor..... Walt -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Albert Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 9:50 AM To: Antique Phonograph List Subject: Re: [Phono-L] famous home once more curious that the seller has lots of good feedback, but almost always as a buyer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Plavzic" <[email protected]> To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 1:57 AM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] famous home once more > Amazing, its back again!! > > http://cgi.ebay.com/Early-Edison-Home-Phonograph-Model-A-Suitcase-SUPER_W0QQ itemZ150018555331QQihZ005QQcategoryZ307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > > > > > > On 8/2/06, Patrick Gunn <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> This listing has been appearing on a different hijacked accounts EVERY >> day for the past three weeks (this and the Edison Kinetoscope...). I've >> been reporting them to Ebay as soon as they appear, and they're >> removed, but I've given up as they still keep appearing over, and over, >> and over... Ebay needs to adjust their filter mechanism for locating >> repeat fraudulent listings. >> >> On a similar note that's quite scary - on a few of these "home" >> listings, there was a feedback form within the Ebay auction page. When >> clicked, it goes to what appears to be an Ebay login page, but the URL >> shows it's fake and not on an Ebay server, and is only used to harvest >> your account name and password. >> >> Patrick >> >> --- Robert Plavzic <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > Just how stupid is this guy - good point is that he is using up his >> > fake >> > ID's with feedback...... >> > >> > >> http://cgi.ebay.com/Early-Edison-Home-Phonograph-Model-A-Suitcase-SUPER_W0QQ itemZ330014365144QQihZ014QQcategoryZ307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem >> >> __________________________________________________ >> Do You Yahoo!? >> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >> http://mail.yahoo.com >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> [email protected] >> >> Phono-L Archive >> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/ >> >> Support Phono-L >> http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank >> > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > [email protected] > > Phono-L Archive > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/ > > Support Phono-L > http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list [email protected] Phono-L Archive http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/ Support Phono-L http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.5/406 - Release Date: 8/2/2006
