I had my account recently hijacked, one of my listings was altered and for a short time, so it seems, I was selling a large, green John Deer Tractor for $6,000! 

Because I have an investigative type of "real" job, I did a lot of research after I discovered that my listing (actually, it was already a sale but the scam artist actually relisted and revised the item.) 

It wasn't hard to figure out who the culprit was who did all this damage.   

I knew that I only had one listing with that design/motif.  The item was sold to a man that had a 0 rating, he never replied to the invoice I sent, or to the two follow-up emails pleading with him to just respond so I knew what to do.  A day or two after it was sold was the day he hacked my account, used that sold item and relisted it as a tractor keeping the design the same. 

I never knew about it because of the time period allotted a buyer to pay for a purchase.  Ebay told me it was relisted on 7/20-it didn't show up until 7/25 or 7/26.  So I imagine that the date was scheduled in advance (while I posted that I was going to be away on vacation).

After I discovered the altered listing (because a helpful person wrote and inquired about my "tractor"),  and because of the design used on the "new listing" for this John Deer tractor, I immediately knew which listing had been hijacked and who the hacker was-it had to be that buyer.  

I contacted EBAY with this information but I do not know what happened after that-I can't even find out what the fees were that he racked up on my behalf (and I understand they can be quite hefty).  I don't know if EBAY attempted to track him down.  His email and id were:

4571Jones  I still have his email which I believe is valid.  Mark-Jones58 at cox.

At this zip code:  06489

He is no longer registered (what a surprise) but I believe the email may still be valid.

I racked my brain trying to figure out how he got into my account.  I remember he won this item two days before I was due to go out of town.  I was rushing around trying to get ready.  I recall receiving an email (under the guise of EBAY correspondence).  The letter was from one of my buyers (I had a rash of sales in those few days) where the person stated they needed to verify my address and info. (no password!) to complete a purchase.  

I forgot about it until this came up on July 26.  I can not find the email either!  I was hurrying so despite the fact I felt this was an odd request, I jotted off a quick response and now realize that this information was just what was needed to hack into my computer.  I am not sure how my name and address was used (maybe my phone number?) to hack into my account but it did happen.  

DOMINO EFFECT:  This caused a domino affect when he relisted the tractor, he changed my Ebay/Paypal address (which subsequently affected three other sales); it screwed up my monthly payment to Ebay (which caused my account to be placed on hold); it was a nightmare.  I had to change my own email account since I have so many clients (in my other "real job" that access me through this email), you can only imagine what a JOB that was!  

Moral of the story, always think twice about responding to anything, take your time, no sale is worth the time and trouble I spent correctly this problem!  Think about any correspondence or question you receive about an item you are selling -innocent or not.  I just received a question about another item I'm selling-and I found it odd since I had already answered the same question and posted it on the ad, not only that, I realized that the information was clearly stated right in the description, too.  And this happened on 7/20/06, as well.  

Just remember to be cautious and courteous, but protect yourself and all your valuable information-at all times.

Suzanne-Buhach's Attic