Forum

Ebay account security it is a joke...
 

I have known this for a long but i thought my recent convo was kinda funny. This is after i had to submit documents (hydro bill and drivers license) to get my account back the old info outdated and phone number wasnt active anymore. My account was still restricted from updating and buying because i had a new IP and all cookies were cleared so they couldnt recognize me. So i had to contact them to unrestrict, the convo lasted 45 mins but this some of it:

Ebay rep: Do you have any family or household members that has an account on eBay too?

ME
i have lots of family with ebay account...who doesnt have an ebay account

Ebay Rep
Do you have their email address so I can check it on my end? We need to find a registered address the same with yours.

ME
wait why would my families address automatically be the same as mine?

Ebay Rep
That is how we can verify your information and identity.

ME
submitting my drivers license and hyrdo bills doesnt verify me but a matching address on another account does? I dont have another account with this address as far as i know so i dont see how that will help

Ebay Rep
I understand your point. Please understand that we can use matching information with your family or household member here in Live Help.

ME
yea i understand that but like.. i have family on ebay but why would their account have my address if we dont live together is what im saying...

Ebay Rep
That is the reason why I informed you a while ago that we will need to check an account that has a matching address with yours. If none we can move to another verifying question for you.

ME
you asked me if i have a family or an household member with an ebay account not if they have an account with matching address...but ok.

Ebay Rep
Thanks. Can you try to recall this item you bought Brushed Line SOLID Tungsten Carbide Ring Band? (They asked this one because its not searched anymore since it was a while ago)

Ebay Rep
You can provide the description the seller put on the listing.

ME
i cant describe in full because unfortunately i dont save them but there was info about Tungsten (the company) and the ring. (ok i was being a bit of a *** here lol)
Ebay Rep
May I have the particular information the seller included on his listing?

ME
tungsten are partially unbendable and excellent quality rings and unscratchable (all tungsten rings are so any auction could have this info)

Ebay Rep
Thanks. Do you remember how thick the ring was?

ME
i think it about 2.4mm (considering it was a mens ring and the type this would be an easy guess)

Ebay Rep
May I have your date of birth? (keep in mind I already have the account its just restricted so even if I wasn’t the owner I could just look at the personal info)

ME
********
Ebay Rep
Great! Thanks for your patience *****.

Ebay Rep
I will restore your account now.

ME
thank God...its like ebay jeopardy

Ebay Rep
You are welcome. I appreciate your cooperation. You still cannot update today, you can try to update it later tomorrow. What I have done is added your computer machine ID to the trusted list of computers for your account.

ME
ok well thank you...the 45mins of Q & A was entertaining but i should get going now. Thanks for your assistance

Ebay Rep
Before I let you go, is there anything else I can assist you with?
ME
Nope, have a great day and Happy Chinese New Year!

Ebay Rep
You too. Have a bountiful New Year. Thank you for using eBay, I hope you have a good day.


*After all this im still only allowed to buy and maybe sell not sure...but i cant update the contact info for another 48 hrs maybe...*

and can someone take out the if in my title? ...typo! :)

Im curious what the ebay rep meant by computer machine ID? Is that something different from cookies /ip address

GREAT INFO! Nice to know what kind of questions they might ask.

As far as I know the date of birth cannot be accessed on a account anywhere by the user. Its surely not in the Personal Information section.

Make sure you have each date of birth written down for each stealth account for circumstances just like this.

Thats a good observation... i didnt notice that i just assumed she meant cookies. But they cant possibly get information from your actual computer because if that was so...this forum would be flooded about how so many of their accounts are getting shut down because of linkage and i also run 3 accounts from different user names from this computer and never was linked. So i think she really did mean cookies and flash cookies. But i dont think they will come out and say that...for the people who dont know what that is so they can catch them. Thats my take on it.

Considering how idiot their Security and trust and safety team its hard for me to think they have the intel to do that.

-----

I didnt want to double post. I just checked again to make sure i wasnt senile but the birthdate can be found in personal information its right at the bottom above Gender and its not blocked.

Might only show that information because your account was created in Canada? Or maybe its an older account?

I checked again and there is no date of birth or gender for that matter. Then I signed in to the Ebay Canada to check and it is the same info as U.S., no date of birth or gender.

Oh Well...doesn't really matter. Just make sure the info. is written down to be on the safe side.

hmm interesting... didnt know that there was a difference, this must be a new security feature they have applied to new accounts. The account im referring to is a little over 3 years old and i just checked another account and thats 2 years old and the gender and DOB is there.

But yea keeping records is smart in any event.

AND: a note of warning to anyone speaking to LiveHelp to be careful of the answers you
give. Note the potential trap of saying you have other (family) accounts? Make sure YOU
control the questions and not ebay.
Never ever speak to ebay unless you have ALL details of your account, DOB,security question. Be careful as MissDivine says.

Yea thats a good point because i didnt get why another ebay account with my address would prove im the original owner of the other account, the only thing that would have done was linked me. Linking and Ebay in the same sentence can never be a good thing, unless there is a never in the sentence.

Thanks Divine,
Im sure your correct on the computer machine id being cookies and such.
Im glad you posted your conversation with them because it shows just how sneaky they are with there questions. Its an eye opener.

Flash objects

I always have the excel file with the accounts information bolded in front of me when on the phone or with live help. Only once they have asked for additional information, I was glad I had it ready.

On another note. Its great to see you posting again devine. I thought something happened to you!

haha i guess i was on a little hiatus from the forum since...everything i have learnt is working perfectly, but i'm back, but nice to see i was a little missed ;)