Here are a few quick things to look for to avoid buying from a hijacked or hacked account, which I have unfortunately learned from experience. Scammers "phish" for passwords from reputable eBay sellers, usually via spoofed emails from PayPal or eBay. This is not how my seller account was hijacked; according to eBay, my account was temporarily hacked. To their credit, eBay quickly took care of the problem, shutting down the hacker and refunding my money. It was only through the vigilance of an attentive bidder that I was able to act quickly!

1.The listing looks entirely different from how the seller usually lists. I specialize in vintage clothing, but occasionally sell stuff around the house. Most of my auctions look pretty much the same.

2. The auction has a ridiculously low BUY IT NOW price.  The hacked listings were for $200 cell phones for $19.99 and a one day auction. If it seems like the item is too good to be true, it probably is.

3. It's a one day auction. There are some good reasons to list items in one day auctions, but they are few and far between. Most rational sellers will list items for 7- or 10-day auctions.

4. Seller's location does not match previous auctions. My hijacked auctions listed the UK as the seller's location, but I live in Arizona.

5. The photo in the listing is stock art or looks like it was taken in an electronics shop.  Since the hijacker does not really have the item, they rely on stock images or shots they snapped at an electronics store.

6. Listing is short on details but employs a hard sell. Again, the hijacker really doesn't know anything about the item, so they can't really provide many details. This particular hijacker repeatedly stated in 24 point font that the sale was for one day only, hurry hurry hurry!

In short, be careful. Sellers- Never click on spoof email links. Keep an eye on your listings and report any abnormalities to eBay right away. Buyers- Always look at a seller's feedback and previously sold auctions. You wouldn't buy a high end item from some guy on the street. Do a few minutes of research before bidding.

PLEASE MARK THIS GUIDE AS HELPFUL IF YOU LEARN ANYTHING! THE SCAMMERS WILL MARK IT AS UNHELPFUL SO IT WON'T APPEAR IN SEARCHES!