ebayaintstupid | 02-09-2007 09:56 PM | X2RuffU, are you opening EBAY EMAILS? If you are, you could be getting nailed by them. Here is a great strategy used by EBAY.
1. Let a user log in and create an account with all the info.
2. Send a Welcome Message (beacon enclosed). User opens it and the beacon gives EBAY the IP Addres at least of where it was opened. If a cookie is there, and it is of a suspended user, you are dead.
3. If not dead, you go ahead with your buying and selling and EBAY sort of ignores it until you execute like 3 transactions.
4. EBAY sends a corny congratulations message. You open it. The beacon shines. EBAY gets your IP address again and checks for cookies. If it finds you have ever logged in as a suspended account and left a cookie, you are suspended. But you never even went to ebay right? Wrong. The beacon did it for you.
Another tactic I saw recently on an account was simultaneous identical emails sent to two different accounts. Hope is that both accounts open up on the same IP address. Indicates possible link, but not definitive. But it ups the suspiscion count.
The EBAY software is likely based on probabilities. Artificial Intelligence software uses probability to determine likelihood. Each account likely has a number assigned. And when you cross a threshold, you get nailed because it is statistically impossible to not be linked with an account if you get to that magic number.
I honestly think EBAY spends way more time on this than on their pathetic User interface.
Anyway, answer that question. Are you opening EBAY emails? |