SHOCKED. How did my accounts get linked?? Experienced user

[Hercules]

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Let me start with the fact that I have been doing this for 6 years. I have read the Stealth Book 2x (back in the day when it was a pdf and just last year in the new version).

I just received emails for all of my 16 eBay accounts that each is suspended. Message read that recent activity raised serious security concerns. Some accounts have had a lot activity , ones with a bank acct linked. Others, I sold small used household items almost 6 months ago and have occasionally logged in but did not sell anything since.

Each account had different information, separate prepaid t-mobile phone number, all IP's were tracked and never used the same one. I was using the method of a cable modem and separate router, changing MAC to get new IP on xfinity. Each had a separate gmail account. Never any transfers between PayPal etc. Each PayPal had a separate Visa vanilla, address with matching zip codes.

I have no idea why and how each account was suddenly linked and suspended. Did something change in the eBay process? I did not use any third party services for shipping. I had all email addresses on my iPhone with the images disabled.

Any ideas please????

I see no mention of separate user accts above. I didn't read everyone's imput here but an open logged in ebay acct forgotten then logging in to other ebay accts at the same time would implode everything as it happened to you...that might do it.

[Play]

Originally Posted by Hercules

I see no mention of separate user accts above. I didn't read everyone's imput here but an open logged in ebay acct forgotten then logging in to other ebay accts at the same time would implode everything as it happened to you...that might do it.

https://www.aspkin.com/forums/934862-post13.html

Originally Posted by joanna4051

It's a Mac computer. Each account has separate computer user. IP's always tracked.

[Play]

So I'm just going over this entire thread to find possible clues of where you could of gone wrong, but still need more information from OP, so here it goes...

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Could it have been gmail? (I have the email for each account on my iPhone, always have)

Are you using the GMAIL app on your iPhone, or are you using another mail app to collect your email? (not so much of an issue, but if you're replying to ebay messages from a 3rd party mail app that is NOT GMAIL, then eBay can see your IP address).

For example, lets say you reply to an ebay message using the GMAIL app - mail goes through Google's proxy servers, and your IP is masked.

Do the same with a 3rd party mail app, your IP gets leaked as it doesn't go through Google's proxy servers. That is something not everyone knows, but I haven't heard anyone get suspended over that reason (yet, at least).

Interested to find out what you did?

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Bank accounts were spread between Suntrust, Chase, and Discover.
I have never moved funds between the accounts.
Addresses were all within 20 miles of each other.

Thats all good. In future, i'd suggest to have the addresses a little further apart.

Which bring me onto ask, was this a suspension by eBay or a Vero takedown? (they both look for different variables).

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Some accounts had similar items sold, although I took different pictures and cleared data on each via exifPurge. That, however, doesn't explain all other accounts that have barely been used and never had anything similar sold.
Process I use for images: take with iPhone > upload to dropbox > download from Dropbox to the corresponding computer user > rename photos > use exifPurge to remove data

I've never used exifpurge, usually I use batch purifier. It may be a good idea to see the exif data on the images after the purge, I have a feeling instead of removing the data, they might overwrite it with something, and if that is common across accounts, may have played a part in getting linked... possibly, though unlikely.

Q: IP6 or IP4? Question, did you have big IPv6 IP addresses when you were logging?
A: I always used IPBurger to check ips, hence recording IP4. In a previous post I inquired about the difference and which one is ‘seen’ by ebay. When I tried tethering via my phone (t-mobile), IPBurger showed me the IP6 and I couold only see IP4 on whatmyip.com. Either way, I never used this method (tethering).

First thing to do here is check if your internet connection even supports IPv6 by going here and seeing if an IPv6 has been detected (https://test-ipv6.com/), report back your findings.

Now from my understanding, eBay and PayPal don't actually support IPv6, so their site runs based on the older, more traditional protocol which is IPv4. But whether or not they may be recording IPv6 addresses in the background, that's another matter, and could of potentially played a role in getting linked.

A: I used Safari within each user account. I’m not sure what you mean by signing into the browser? I had the same gmail account signed into from the browser on each user.

Having a tab with Google mail, and logging in, is fine. What I meant was, were you signed into the browser? I dont know about safari, but Chrome and Firefox allow you to actually sign into the browser, which in turn syncs all your browsing history, cookies etc. to their servers. So if you go onto another computer/user, it all carries over. Make sure your safari browser isn't signed into anything, i.e. icloud which may be syncing all this data across user accounts.

Furthermore, going forward, I suggest you diversify your browsers, use a mix of firefox, chrome etc.

Q: The listings - were you selling same item across accounts? were you using the same images? were you removing exif data from images? did you're listings contain any html content that were the same across all listings?
A: As explained above. I’m not sure what the html content is but I hope the exifPurge took care of those?

What I meant was were you using any embedded content in your listing description?, within the description you can have text, but also HTML content. Such content could be images from a specific website etc. and across accounts can cause a link.

Q: Did all 16 accounts go down same time, or over some period of time?
A: Yes, down to the minute according to the timestamp on the email messages.

This is an indicator that the link was exceptionally strong. Just to explain briefly, if the accounts went down a few hours apart, then it would imply this link was quite weak, so perhaps someone had to manually review account, and limit them. But when they go down at the exact time, that means the link was very strong.

Q: OP, in your GMAIL accounts. Did you disable IMAGES? if you didnt, and opened an email to read, you basically spread a virus to ALL of your accounts :(
A: Yes, images were disabled.

Don't worry about this, that's not a big deal.

Can you explain the local vs public ip? Is that related to the ipv4 vs. ipv6?

When you say you were recording IP addresses, were you recording the public or local IP? Give us the first few digits of the IPs you've been recording (obscuring the last few digits), we'll be able to tell you.

Looking forward to your responses.

[joanna4051]

Play:
For the gmail, I use iPhone’s default ‘Mail’ app in which I have each e-mail account added (including personal yahoo email).

I suspect it may have been a vero or an upset buyer that lost a case against me with eBay. Nonetheless, the reason is not as relevant as the link to other accounts. Most of them did not have vero or any other negative marks/violations.

exifPurge is something recommended on here by a user once. It is a batch purifier. I am not sure how I’d check if data was cleared?

I did have ipv6 (supported by my internet connection) but never tracked it. Just now based on a answers by nate in this thread (https://www.aspkin.com/forums/ip-add...tml#post934990) did I disable it on my computer. So far from all the input I’m thinking this may be the reason for the link (tracking of ipv6 by eBay).

Thanks for the browser info. It’s I don’t think there was any signing in as far as Safari goes but I did once ina while use chrome on some user accounts. That may have cause a link but between some but again, not for all 16 accounts ( I did not use chrome on most on the computer user accounts).

I did not use any images or links within my description window.

Here is an example of the ips I was recording (without the last 2-3 digits):
76.16.213. 8/6/18
76.16.214. 2/2/18
73.209.246. 12/26/18
76.16.212. 01/29/18
73.50.124. 01/30/18
73.209.246. 01/30/18
73.209.246. 02/01/18
73.72.45. 2/5/18
76.16.211. 2/6/18
71.201.221. 2/11/18
71.201.218. 2/19/18

[joanna4051]

Q: How are you uploading tracking on your orders? Are you using shipstation or manually putting in the tracking# on these orders? Where is the tracking coming from? USPS?

A: no third party apps, I directly print the labels from eBay which automatically uploads tracking. In case of a return, I’d email a shipping label PDF file directly to buyer in their email.

Q: how long were all these accts up n running for???
A: Since December of last year. I had all my accounts closed down before Christmas, that time because I had the same return addresses (learned my lesson). I got away with it for 2 years until Christmas time came and I tried to sell more merchandise last year. That triggered a manual review I assume, as I had an eBay rep contact me on my private cell phone number that was on my personal ebay account (with my info).

Q: Did you use the same dropbox account for image hosting?
A: Yes. I’d download the images to each computer user acct from a single dropbox acct and then use exifPurge to clear data on them.

[donkeykong2012]

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Q: how long were all these accts up n running for???
A: Since December of last year. I had all my accounts closed down before Christmas, that time because I had the same return addresses (learned my lesson). I got away with it for 2 years until Christmas time came and I tried to sell more merchandise last year. That triggered a manual review I assume, as I had an eBay rep contact me on my private cell phone number that was on my personal ebay account (with my info).

I picked up on this on your early post. Something tells me the reason why you lost your accounts at Christmas might be the same reason why you are having issues now. The Return address might have been the final nail in the coffin and indeed a red herring, that the Rep noticed only in a manual review. Addresses can be very similar especially return addresses with no issues. This on its own is unlikely to result in a loss of a number of accounts at the very same time IMO.

Personally I think the issue you are having is something to do with your setup and/or Internet/IP connection.

[joanna4051]

I have had the same setup for many years, I admit. I haver not updated it since reading the Stealth Book for the first time. I am looking into other options now. Trying ng to figure out the hotspot option.

[nodeal]

I had something similar happen to me the beginning of this year. All in all I lost around 50 accounts.

I ultimately narrowed down the reasons to the types of items I was selling in specific categories. There was a certain consistency in the accounts that got shut down in regards to this. The accounts had different items, but there were similarities in categories. When I really analyzed it, I found consistencies in certain categories that triggered these limitations. There really was no other variables.

Do you sell brand name? I know you mentioned you sell different items but is there any similarities in the categories of the accounts that got shut down?

[Othmane]

Are you disabling images on your email?
If you're using the gmail app on your iphone, I believe that in the latest version of the gmail app we can't disable images. so what I do is opening my gmail accounts on a browser withing my iphone, to make sure that images are disabled.

We are talking about images in emails, because eBay and PayPal When sending an email message, if it is a graphical HTML message (not a plain text message) they may embed a tiny, invisible tracking image (a single-pixel gif, called a web beacon) within the content of the message. When the recipient opens the message, the tracking image is referenced which may reveal info about your IP, OS and other details, which may link your accounts, if you're opening all your emails from the same machine and using the same IP.

[donkeykong2012]

Originally Posted by nodeal

I had something similar happen to me the beginning of this year. All in all I lost around 50 accounts.

I ultimately narrowed down the reasons to the types of items I was selling in specific categories. There was a certain consistency in the accounts that got shut down in regards to this. The accounts had different items, but there were similarities in categories. When I really analyzed it, I found consistencies in certain categories that triggered these limitations. There really was no other variables.

Do you sell brand name? I know you mentioned you sell different items but is there any similarities in the categories of the accounts that got shut down?

To lose 50 accounts at around the same time would take much more than simply listing in similar categories.

If that was the case, this Forum would be jam packed with unfortunate sellers having lost their business.

[Leader2dark]

Very scary stuff, I have almost the exact same setup, but with portable browsers in windows. I need to look into my Comcast ipv6.....

Edit. I don't seem to have any IPV6 from comcast and I turned off ipv6 in windows.

My return label situation is risky as any manual review would see the return address on label I send....But for now I think i'm ok.

My accounts are all within 5 miles of each other, some paypals don't have banks added yet, I use Thunderbird for my email. Other than that, my setup matches yours.

[monkeys@ebay]

Hello

Just reading this post and I'm very sorry this happened to you but rest assured this is the best place to find an answer.

I have around 60 ebay accounts spread between 2 countries I've have 4 or 5 of them shut down I also had a few suspended but I managed to get them back up and running after answering some questions from ebay in the chat room and they always asked me the same question "where did you get your items from" I think on the last few occasions I almost lost these accounts but ebay weren't sure so they let them live, ever since then I've been racking my now paranoid brain for ways ebay and paypal might find to link accounts and one of the things I'm really worried about and something not mentioned in your post is BROWSER GEO LOCATION.

Can you imagine ebay sees an ip address but the browser geo location shows your in a different area or even another country have you looked into that.

Did you also add flash block to firefox (if your using that browser)
I would recommend going through everything EVERYTHING you do when setting up and listing items maybe you have something on your phone theres SOMETHING linking you I hope you find out what it is please come back here and enlighten us when you find out what it is.

GOOD LUCK

[prodigyace]

Originally Posted by joanna4051

Play:
For the gmail, I use iPhone’s default ‘Mail’ app in which I have each e-mail account added (including personal yahoo email).

I suspect it may have been a vero or an upset buyer that lost a case against me with eBay. Nonetheless, the reason is not as relevant as the link to other accounts. Most of them did not have vero or any other negative marks/violations.

exifPurge is something recommended on here by a user once. It is a batch purifier. I am not sure how I’d check if data was cleared?

I did have ipv6 (supported by my internet connection) but never tracked it. Just now based on a answers by nate in this thread (https://www.aspkin.com/forums/ip-add...tml#post934990) did I disable it on my computer. So far from all the input I’m thinking this may be the reason for the link (tracking of ipv6 by eBay).

Thanks for the browser info. It’s I don’t think there was any signing in as far as Safari goes but I did once ina while use chrome on some user accounts. That may have cause a link but between some but again, not for all 16 accounts ( I did not use chrome on most on the computer user accounts).

I did not use any images or links within my description window.

Here is an example of the ips I was recording (without the last 2-3 digits):
76.16.213. 8/6/18
76.16.214. 2/2/18
73.209.246. 12/26/18
76.16.212. 01/29/18
73.50.124. 01/30/18
73.209.246. 01/30/18
73.209.246. 02/01/18
73.72.45. 2/5/18
76.16.211. 2/6/18
71.201.221. 2/11/18
71.201.218. 2/19/18

Based on what Play said, it sounds like it might have happened via the leak through your email? You are using a third party app for your emails, since you didn't use googles app directly, its very much possible there was the IP leak through your emails?


@Play, if you're using entirely different user accounts on different computers with IP's in different states, is it possible to link accounts through browser history/syncs?

[walkingupwards]

I have just read OP original post. It doesn't seem that eBay suspended the accounts because they linked them. eBay would tell you if they suspect that your account is associated with a suspended account.

The usual message that reads "Recent activity raised serious security concerns" is just a template they use. They want the account's owner to call in and verify themselves.


@OP:

I don't think eBay linked your accounts in the first place. It could very well be just a coincidence that they limited newly created accounts and wanted to verify them.

[Play]

Originally Posted by prodigyace

@Play, if you're using entirely different user accounts on different computers with IP's in different states, is it possible to link accounts through browser history/syncs?

Well if you're going above and beyond to isolate these accounts. Why would you then sync browsers? It defeats the purpose, if the browser happens to sync a little too much.

Different browsers sync different amounts of data. Best not to use that feature and keep things isolated.

[Muts]

How do you run all those accounts ? same PC / multiple browsers etc ? if yes then it's very Clear you get linked by Canvas fingerprinting

[agent006140]

anyone with 16 ebay accounts,multiple Paypal and bank accounts,GMAIL accounts would make a mistake on a clear day,no matter how cautious she is.
with each Ebay account,what is your return shipping address?
you cant have 16 different return shipping addresses?
may be gmail snitched,like AOL.
anyway,are you one of those oink oink pig who relies on dropshipping/retail arbitrage to sell goods you dont have ,you can smell a dropshipper a mile away,?

[cafonabob]

Same thing happened to me right about this time last year.

They got you from the beacons in your gmail account. You need to set each of your gmail (or whatever email you use) to never download images. If you are opening emails on the same device, ebay knows you are the same person.

These accounts are toast. Sorry.

[cafonabob]

For the gmail, I use iPhone’s default ‘Mail’ app in which I have each e-mail account added (including personal yahoo email).

There is your problem. Every time you open an email from ebay, your IP is sent to them. You need to set it to not accept images.

[yolanmith]

Originally Posted by yankee

using window users? VMware?

My guess if all got closed down at the same time, it is a very solid link such as repetitive same IP used or all accounts on one computer user.

do VMware have any factor in getting you flaged?

[agent006140]

OP is just begging for something like this to happen,
how can one person with one phone keep track of 16 ebay accounts,multiple paypal accounts,gmail accounts ,return address,shipping address,bank accounts,etc.
And they are all stealth accounts,one slip and the 'bot' will catch it.
OP said a few Ebay accounts are used to sell personal item,so what about the rest?
do you really need ten or more accounts to sell?
(I guess the reason behind it -since these are stealth accounts,spread sales among different accounts to keep them under $20k/200 transactions?

[SaiJin]

let's put it this way... OP said he's not a newbie and has been doing this for 6 years.
Because you've been doing the wrong thing for 6, 10, 100 years, it doesn't mean it's right.

And people need to think about this.