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Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

For all who believe that answering emails through Thunderbird configured at your computer while using Google or any other SMTP is safe, have a look at what is inside a message that is being relayed through google or any other smtp email servers, obviously a failed stealth operation:

Received: from [MY.LOCAL.NETWORK.IP] (MYHOST.MYISP.COM [MY.HOME.PUBLICREAL.IP])
by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id r6sm1391239lbw.11.2015.02.02.14.08.04
for <my_stealth_user_email@gmail.com>
(version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128);
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:05:05 -0700 (PDT)

compared to what is there when answering via gmail website:

X-Received: by 10.112.188.227 with SMTP id gd3mr43335301lbc.0.1428005747812;
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:15:47 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.114.76.178 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Apr 2015 13:15:47 -0700 (PDT)

No any signs of real IP.

Beware!

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

I would never answer an email without using my stealth IP anyway... that's basic stealth to me. Why take any chances?

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

this would most likely happen to messages sent via iphone email app also correct?

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

This.

I mean... I'm no tech guy and I clearly don't do enough research but one this for sure- Why even TRY to take that chance?
It might have worked 5 years ago, it might have worked 2 years ago, it might still be working as far as I'm conerned but if it changes one day because of ToS changes or some other "update" then you always run a risk of falling into a trap that could be avoided, easily.

When it comes to certain aspects of stealth, just keep it simple and don't take any chances that you don't need to take. Something might take you extra 10 seconds, but in the long run it might cost you an account or few.

In my eyes, just not worth the risk as I don't know much about it. I'll just keep it simple and keep it under my close control.

:spy:

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

Gmail has taken the step of storing all graphics on their servers, and serving them from there, to protect their user's privacy. AS far as I know, they are the only email service to have done so, or at least the only MAJOR one.

If you tried this through Yahoo mail, or Hotmail, etc. the result would have been different. And Gmail recently implemented this, it is relatively new. Less than a year at any rate.

I also saw a post where you questioned the value of "cookies". Cookies give eBay and PayPal confidence in you, as when they see their cookies, they know your machine is the same one you were using before (among other things).

There may be circumstances under which stealth rules can be bent, but ONLY when the user knows what they are doing. If you want to be successful, I would suggest following ALL of the stealth rules. If you have a lot of technical knowledge and you fully understand stealth, you can tweak it to suit your needs. If not, just follow the rules.

The people who are the most successful with this are the ones who DO NOT cut corners, who try to eliminate ANY possibility of linking accounts. The ones who say IP, MAC, cookies, flash cookies, geography, etc. do not matter are usually the ones posting a question about why 5 of their accounts went down all at once.

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

I agree with you 100%. When I first started with stealth, about 5 year ago, it seemed overwhelming at first. I probably read the guide 5 times. I rushed to create a couple of accounts and lost both fairly quickly.

Then, I wrote all of the steps down on a list and tried to figure out other things that could help prevent linking. The end result, for me, was success! Not only was I able to create stealth accounts, I was also keeping them going. With my methods, I RARELY lose an account. My way is more expensive (I always keep a working phone number through an actual service, I use a separate PC for each stealth identity, I use different ISP's for each connection, etc.) but the results are worth it for me and I sleep well at night. But I also am an adult with 12 people, 3 cats and 2 dogs to support. I cannot AFFORD to lose accounts!

If you are doing this for beer money, or a few extra dollars here and there, then cutting corners may not be a big risk for you. But if you are counting on the money to pay your bills and feed people, you want to be as careful as possible.

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

I think you and me are soulmates when it comes to stealth, as I agree with everything that you have just said.

It's very important to note that some people really do it more as a hobby and they earn fractions, compared to more serious business people here.
I'm lucky enough to have eBay as my main source of income but that only because I take it as seriously as I possibly can and the only way I can do it, is when I take every single step possible to make my ac****s stronger, healthier and stable.
I want to sleep well at night, knowing that I will wake up in the morning and everything is working, stable and successful. The only way to do it, is to take things very seriously, carefully and keep it simple but safe.

:spy:

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

I is just a common rule being distributed here, that it is ok to use mail clients for answering emails through Thunderbird with images turned off. And it is obviously not, unless you are using a stealth IP.

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

It would happen to any device that uses SMTP to send emails.

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

Regarding caching - great feature, just checked and can confirm that they proxy all images, so reading an email with images turned on is safe through gmail's webmail interface. But it is not safe to do that trough Thunderbird, even if emails are redirected through gmail mailboxes, it won't use cache for images read through POP3/IMAP. And answering through the email client without using stealth ip is a NONONO.

About cookies - your idea is correct, they track what a user does, and from which computer. But I don't think in influences anything a lot, except the cases when two accounts are being used from a single browser, thus causing a link via cookies. The store all user activities at their side for sure, and cookie is just to understand, what browser was used to access the account. I don't think that absence of cookies raises a flag over an account, but if cookies are never used with the account - it may raise a small flag. It is a thought from my savvy point of view.

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

So this is for SMTP services and it's only when you're sending replies etc. back and forth to eBay through Thunderbird? What about Paypal?

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

When in doubt, only answer e-mails once logged into eB...I prefer it like that - focuses on 1 account, no other issues of e-mails and IP headers etc

Re: Important - How EB can see your real IP
 

And 2/3 of this was started by YOU giving out bad advice to another user who completely misunderstood you.

Ages ago there was never issues about IP detection.

The young bucks came along and sprouted rubbish.

Now we see the dangers.

Make sure you know what you are talking about down the line.

:smash: