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Linked again - how did they get me???
 

Okay - I was suspended over the summer for SNP. Completely my fault and I do admit it. Since then, I opened an account in my mother's name. Lasted about six weeks before the account was linked to my old account. My own fault - I stupidly logged into my old paypal account right after logging out of the new one.

Next, I used a friend's name, address, bank, cc# etc to set up an account. Cleaned out all of the cookies, changed the computer name etc. All info was legit. Used it for over five months with no problems. But, the friend was becoming rather annoying (for other reasons) and I decided to close that account. The less ties, the better.

Three weeks ago, I signed up for yet another account. Used another friends name, address, bank, cc# etc. Did everything the same as last time. Today, I got shut down because they linked it to my old account from the summer. I've changed dsl providers so there should be no issues with the ip. And I think it is safe to say that if there was anything at all on my computer linking me to my old account, I never would have gotten away with using the other account for five months.

And while this might be a very stupid thing to have done, I opened a old turbo lister backup file (.csv) in Microsoft works yesterday. I needed to get product information for some old inventory that I still have. I can't possibly imagine any other way they could have linked me to my old account. Is it even possible for them to track me this way? If anyone has an account that they don't mind throwing away, I'll be more than happy to e-mail the .csv file to test this. Or am I just a complete moron and should kick myself in the a$$???

Ebay can't track you by the CSV file. Just don't open it up in turbolister.

The only thing that could have linked you is your Paypal account based on how you're creating accounts. Remember you can only use a New Paypal account per eBay account, and that information must match your eBay account details (name, address, etc).

Both ebay and paypal accounts were brand new with legit information. I recently changed my cable company so my ip address is different. By process of elimination, I am saying that the only way they were able to link it was because of something on my computer.

BUT, I was using another info for ebay & paypal accounts and was able to go for five months and never had a problem. Which is why I am so baffled. If there was something lurking in my computer, wouldn't ebay have picked up on sometime in the five months that I was using them?

If it was your computer, it could only be your cookies or if you accidentally logged into an old account. It happens to the best of us.

You seem to understand how to best create a new account without eBay linking you, just create a new account, and be careful this time. I don't think you'll have any problems.

Hey Aspkin. My cookies are always deleted upon closing my browser and I haven't logged into the suspended account since November. I really did think that I had all of the bases covered. I am anxious to set up another account or two but I don't want to spend the time creating accounts only to make the same mistake twice.

I am at the point where I just want to re-format the hard drive on my laptop and use that solely as my ebay computer. This is so fustrating!!!

What program do you use to clear your cookies?

I use Firefox and it is set to clear everything when I close my browser. But, I haven't logged into my old account in over seven months and I used another ebay account for five months with no problem. I really don't think it is the cookies. I am probably overlooking something really stupid. But what??

In my experience just clearing Firefox wasn't enough, I was still linked, started using Ccleaner, no more problems...

you are just lucky for the first five month.

i could assure you this,just the "detele cookies" techqinue is NOT enough.ebay know it's you all along.i have done some experiments myself and the result I got are consistent.

one of the main reason you lasted this long is because you did not sell high risk,vero,high value items,am I not right?other reasons are something I can't disclose here.

Okay - sounds like I am understanding this a little better. ABC123 - you mentioned that you couldn't disclose other reasons here. Can you pm me?

With the account that lasted five months, I did take it very slow and listed sporadically. With the new account, I was a little more aggressive. Listed 20 auctions - total sales were $600. Two weeks later, I listed 50 auctions. They were set to close tonight. This afternoon, they were up to around $1000. And then came the dreaded e-mail :-(

no,modee,wiping your harddrive is not neccessory if you found the right tools.

but how many people here actually undertand the concept and fundermental of PC,network security to completely avoid linking?

BINGO!!! I just downloaded and ran ccleaner. Found one cookie from "ebayobjects" and two paypal cookies from early 2007. Which is when I was still actively using my now suspended account. And that was just on my laptop. Found three ebay cookies on my other computer dating back to 2006. I guess I have my answer.

--->Wiping your hard drive is not necessary to avoid EBAY detection, period

I agree,but the "clearing cookies" technique or using ccleaner is NOT enough to avoid linking, PERIOD!

--->And my point is that you don't need to understand network security - bah, you guys are all pouring gravel into your pits and even all these years later, they still will not hold water.

No,you don't,but if you do,you could figure out yourown ways to avoid linking,alot of informations in this forum are very misleading.

--->Stick to the basics. Most importantly - avoid PayPal.
all new accounts are required to take paypal or mechant accounts that's approved by ebay.for certain sellers who sell certain products,ebay-approved merchant account is NOT an option at all.

Explain

Are these cookies in Microsoft Internet Explorer? Or another browser? Unless you're talking about flash objects, my guess is it's MSIE.

I see this story a bunch on the forum...
 

and it is always written off to cookies or logging into an old account.

There are other ways EBAY links you. I have covered beacons here. I think they are why some cleaners work better than clearing out just your cookies. But making sure that ALL private data is deleted in Firefox should be the same.

I hadn't heard about renaming your computer. Is that necessary? Can they really get at you through your computer name? I didn't notice that one in Aspkin's instructions!!

EBAY also linked me through Paypal accounts. I am experimenting to see how. So far what I have uncovered is that one of my accounts is absolutely linked to a fixed EBAY account. And I cannot shake it even though I removed the email in Paypal. If I create any EBAY account and put the email into that Paypal account, they summarily execute it (suspend it) and say outright it is linked to that specific account. That sounds to me like what they are sending is a key of some sort and associating that with all accounts that were ever on that Paypal account. If they find one, out you go.

On my other Paypal account, I am not so sure. They never suspend immediately. But I experimented a bit and found that they do within a day if and only if I list something. But they never say it is linked to any other account, I just get the abusing EBAY message. That implies they are on a fishing expedition and have me on the hook, but don't know what they have caught just yet.

Rules apparently to live by:

1. Don't open EBAY advertisement emails. A reference to any EBAY image will create cookies on your system. I believe, at this point, emails from EBAY users are OK to open. I have not seen images in them.
2. Don't respond to EBAY emails to EBAY. (Perhaps not to any EBAY emails) except through EBAY itself. I have seen them put little hooks into messages to track the message. Not hard to do.
3. Open a new Paypal account for each EBAY account, although I haven't gotten a complete answer on this as to how you get around the SS# issue unless you get someone else's, which is shady.
4. Wait a while to list. Some say 2 weeks, some 2 months.
5. Some say it helps to make some bids, etc. Search Help. I am not sure, but I could believe that the Bots look for people that just log in, sign up and start listing. Can't hurt, certainly.
6. Never ever log into an old account. Ever. Even with cleaned out cookies, etc. Once it is gone, it is gone. I think this draws attention to that account and even remotely linked accounts (ones they aren't sure about) will be brought down.
7. Don't use common images for your Gallery. Period.

Good point about the host name though. I didn't think of that. Probably real easy to get once EBAY is connected to your system. And I use the same machine for all my accounts. D'uh.

jonas,

try to think yourself :) ,I won't say anything more unless someone willing to trade something i need(read my other thread). I could give you a hint though: you need 2 PCs.

ebayaintstupid,

log into the suspended account not necesserily make your other accounts suspended.trust me.i purposely log into my suspended account with one *******'s computer(he is a powerseller who sell vero item on ebay and never once he got suspended) TWICE!guess what,it's been 7 months and his account is still up and running.(don't ask me the reason i did this,it's a long story)