The first hint I had that my ebay account had been hijacked was a message from ebay saying they had closed the 147 auctions I listed that week beacause of suspicious activity with my account.  I was furious.  A weeks worth of work - completely gone.

What really made me mad was - I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  I could still access my account.  And, all 8000 of my store auctions were still there.  Just the ones listed in the last few days were closed down by ebay.  The truth is:  None of it made sense.  My account still worked, and I could still access everything.   Still - Just to be safe, I followed ebay's advice, and changed the password on my email.  Then I changed the password on my ebay account.  That protected things for now.

Next, I carefully checked my individual listings.  And, that's where the trouble was.  Mixed among my normal listings were listings for a travel trailer, and several laptop pc's.  Definitely not my listings.  I cancelled them as I came across them, and began to be much happier with ebay's fraud detection team.  What a mess it would have been if those items had sold.

I still have no idea how my account was breached.  I am the only one who has the password to my email and ebay account.  My network is protected, and I run a firewall. 

All I can tell you is, if it can happen to me - It can happen to anyone.  I was one of the lucky ones because no permanent damage was done, none of my bank accounts were compromised, and my feedback rating was not negatively impacted.

My best advice is to stay on top of your auctions.  Look through them regularly to make sure nothing suspicious is going on.  If you see a picture you don't recognize in your picture manager, jump on it.  And, if ebay contacts you regarding suspicious activity - Follow there advise, and do your best to minimize the damage.

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