Ok Anyone Heard Of This One....

[ToraToraTora]

I get called by Ebay, to talk to me about an item I am selling. Except I am not selling the item, I have no clue about what she's talking about. The "Ebay" lady asks me to confirm my email address which I refuse to do, at this stage I am doubting whether this is Ebay. So I hang up and go look at my Ebay account. I have 120+ messages and indeed I do have 5 items for sale, that are desirable at the very cheap prices they are listed at! I have not listed these items. People are asking me all sorts of things and at least one of them has already sold and been paid for. Anyway I read through the inbox for the messages from Ebay, it seems I have a shop and I am now a business seller! However later massages from ebay seem to indicate that my account has been compromised. Ebay now have cleared up the whole thing, I have changed all the related pass words etc and I am back to normal. So my question is, what possible benefit is this to a scammer? How are they going to get any money?

[ToraToraTora]

for further info, they did try and change the email address on my account and the IP address they logged on from is Tallahassee.

[woofgang]

Are you an ebay seller with a decent rating? they could be trying to nick your rating? They could be planning to take the money and run leaving you in trouble for non delivery...it could be a long term thing....building up a good rep in your name by selling cheap stuff them put up the expensive stuff and when sold take the money and run leaving you holding the baby.

[bednobs]

when the items sell they will ask for payment to their account. Clearly they won't send the items

[AKMild]

I've been victim of something similar, although it was eBay that picked it up, locked my account and emailed me asking me to contact them. Basically, a hacker had accessed my eBay account and listed an item for sale, but replaced my bank details with theirs. That way, a buyer would remit funds to the hacker and then pursue me for the non-existent goods. EBay then set me up on two step login (whereby they text me a single use PIN when I want to log in) and have assured me that my account will no longer be vulnerable to hacking.

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps they were attracted by your -2500 rating ?

[Old_Geezer]

Did they insist on cheques; or change the related PayPal account ?

[ToraToraTora]

"They could be planning to take the money and run leaving you in trouble for non delivery." - well the money went to my paypal account!
bednobs this is done on my account.
akmild: thanks but it seems odd that they haven't altered the payment details at all.

[ToraToraTora]

OG, no, they listed items with silly prices that's all. It may be a bulk attack on ebay, I mean it would tie up their admin if it was 1000s of accounts for example but looking at what happenned to me I can't see anyway they can make anything.

[EDDIE51]

Ebay tell you that they will NEVER call you. If they need to contact you they will send a message to your account home page.

[Togo]

I replied earlier TTT opining that you may have been targeted personally, and that it may not have been "random" seeing as how it seemed to be quite specific. I posted, and the message came up that the post had gone. I also indicated that I had been there had that...….recently. The post never appeared. Did you know that your "answers" can be viewed as you type by.....some.

[ToraToraTora]

quite right eddie that is why i did not give them any info. By the time I logged in to look, I could see the items they had listed and also about 120 messages from potential buyers, but 10 mins later it was all gone and tideed up. One person was refunded but Ebay.

[ToraToraTora]

no idea togo, raise it in ED's blogg see what they have to say.

[Togo]

Thinking back I also opined that the IP address would probably just be a proxy server routing through the dark web.

[ToraToraTora]

sorry togo are you saying you typed a reply but this post was gone and then it came back again?

[Peter Pedant]

// IP address they logged on from is Tallahassee.//
o mi god no not where billy joe ( lookin tired now) chucked off that thang from the bridge ?

say no 3T - it was not you ....

er either the chucker or the chucked

[Togo]

No TTT. It "disappeared" into the ether......then I posted a new reply. Not the first time either, by a long chalk...….some "mysteriously" vanish half way through. Never happens when I type up in file explorer docs. then copy and paste.

[KARL]

Thank you for posting this, it is an insight into the sort of thing that is possible via this technology and a wake-up call to be vigilant. But it is distinctly uncomfortable to feel like hunted prey.

[ToraToraTora]

hardly hunted, someone listed items and sold them, just fond out that I sold 59 items totalling £7k, the money went to my paypal account briefly and is now refunded. Not much of a scam is it! more an annoyance.