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Can I be linked by replying to emails?
 

Chaps,
before you think 'oh no another stoopid question' and 'please read the stealth book dude' I suggest you read my question. Ok, let's say you've opened a gmail and disabled images. A buyer sends you a question, you have two options for reply.
The first one is to click on the respond button which takes you to EB and you have to log in. Obviously if you do this on 2 accts using the same ip you will be linked.
The second one is to reply through your email directly, which means that log in to EB is not required and the buyer will still receive the reply.
My question is, can EB track your ip if you use the second option? Do they see the ip where this reply is coming from OR do they see an email coming from some central gmail server?
You'll agree that it will be a lot easier to not have to constantly swap between user accts(if home) or restart Iphone constantly(to get a different ip) to reply to all buyers.
I know that when I start selling again, the questions will start bombarding my mailboxes and I aim to reply immediately(makes em happy) and with less hassle (buyers like it, don't they, especially the upset ones). Thanks in advance

Yes they can.

Just look at the full headers in an email someone sent to you.
there should be some setting somewhere that you can select to show FULL Headers.


Eaiser is not the best option, safe is.

Tiz,
this may become an interesting discussion thread as I actually think that you can't. Interesting article on this topic at:
Can GMail be traced?
How can I trace where email came from?

Of particular interest:
''When you use an web-based mail program, such as GMail or MSN HotMail, you're not actually sending mail from your machine at all. You're using your browser to interact with a service that they provide on their servers. When you finally press send, the mail originates on the service's server, not your computer. If you take a look at the email headers for a message sent from a service such as GMail, you'll see only GMail servers and the servers required to deliver the message to its destination.''

This is how you view your Full Headers in Gmail:
1. Log in to Gmail
2. Open the message you'd like to view headers for.
3. Click the down arrow next to Reply, at the top of the message pane.
4. Select Show Original.

I just sent a few emails to different gmail accounts I have, and my real ip is nowhere to be seen in the Full Headers.

Been doing some research,
so far: yahoo mail will show your real ip, gmail will NOT show your real ip (however Thunderbird WILL, as it's running from your pc)

I'll be interested to see how this thread pans out. At the moment if I need to reply to a message I change my IP address and switch user account which is a bit of a pain.

It's not too bad at the moment but hopefully the questions will come flooding in soon as my attempt to solve the worldwide debt crisis singlehanded kicks in at which point it will become a major pain :smash:

I have my stealth emails set up in Outlook so I can check if any of them have recieved any messages and usually switch user accounts and IP addresses if I have to reply. I've just sent an email from one of my stealth gmail accounts via outlook to legit email account of mine and my ip address was in the header.

I then sent another email to the same email account but this time from the Gmail web portal and my ip address is nowhere to be seen

I guess if you reply using an application on your system rather than via a web portal your ip address will be included with the header which kinda makes sense.

I suppose the next thing to test would be whether replying to an eb message does the same thing. I can't see why it shouldn't be there can't be any harm in being sure

interesting but if there's no definitive answer then

in the name of stealth

"it's better to be safe..than sorry":)

@resilient

welcome to the forum bro/sis :noidea:

great input so far man

Resently I have had pictures showing up in my MSN/Yahoo emails. All settings right.
I have been clicking them just to read with no links or EB reactions.
Answering is another thing cause there are so many tests that can blow up accts.
Answering on different PC's or libraries
Answering on the road in different cities
Even if you don't get linked there may be a secret flag on the acct for later MC's...
I do none of the above cause finding out hurts

AYE..Respek

excited bout this one,it would be great if you could answer ebay msg's straight outa compton,i mean your email account

AYE

GTB,
thanks for the kind words, it's a bro by the way. As someone who recently lost a couple of EB Pwr Sller (non-stealth) high volume accts (maybe the problem was right there, why would you want to become a Pwr Sller, to attract more attention?!?!, talking about being paranoid...lol), I consider myself to be with extensive EB experience (as in selling, buying, finding deals, using tools like Auctiva, timing of auctions, descriptions, etc...) and Stealth experience close to NONE (as in staying under the radar)! So I'll be happy to share what I know and even happier to learn everything I possibly can about Stealth (the book is my new bible, but I'm sure we'll all agree it only scratches the surface hence the need for this forum and all the good men/gals on it).

OK, back to the topic. I did some research today and this is what I found. Basicly, there are 2 types of email clients: system based(run on your PC- Thunderbird, Outloock, etc.) and web based (run on a server- YahooMail, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Of course you can set up access to all your web based accts through your system based clients (but this will give your IP away even if the web based acct, accessed directly, hides it).

The first type will always give your real IP away because they use either SMTP or POP protocols which require originator's address (this is where the advantage of some web based clients is: your PC is not the originator, the server is, so they don't have to disclose your IP, although some have chosen to-Yahoo for example). Thunderbird even goes a step further, it discloses your internal IP as well, the one that your router assigned to your PC (which only makes it easier for the hackers, but this is a different topic, talking about invasion of privacy, hey!!!), check it if you don't believe me. The advantage the system based clients offer is that you can access all your email accts through one client (easy management, etc.), but you will most certainly be LINKED! :croc:

The second type, as mentioned above, are hosted on a web server, so although you are typing your email on your PC, it originates from the server once sent. Nevertheless, Yahoo still discloses your real IP (DO NOT USE Yahoo to reply directly to buyers!!!), but Gmail DOES NOT, Hotmail I haven't checked.

I only use Gmail with EB so the following is only Gmail related. If a buyer sends you a question, you have two options to reply. The first one is to click on the RESPOND link which takes you to EB and you have to log in. Obviously if you do this on 2 accts using the same IP they will be linked. The second one is to reply through your email directly, which means that log into EB is not required but the buyer will still receive the reply. At present Gmail does not disclose your real IP (Yahoo DOES) in the Full Header of the email, which SHOULD mean that EB simply can't see your real IP. Please DYOR
You may(or may not) find the following links helpful:
Can GMail be traced?
How can I trace where email came from?

Of particular interest:
''When you use a web-based mail program, such as GMail or MSN HotMail, you're not actually sending mail from your machine at all. You're using your browser to interact with a service that they provide on their servers. When you finally press send, the mail originates on the service's server, not your computer. If you take a look at the email headers for a message sent from a service such as GMail, you'll see only GMail servers and the servers required to deliver the message to its destination.''

This is how you view your Full Headers in Gmail:
1. Log in to Gmail
2. Open the message you'd like to view headers for.
3. Click the down arrow next to Reply, at the top of the message pane.
4. Select Show Original.

I sent several emails from/to different Gmail accounts I have, and my real IP is nowhere to be seen in the Full Headers. Please DYOR

The inconvenience of being logged into several Gmail accts at the same time is that you will need to run 5 different browsers (as one browser supports only one login at a time). I believe that Firefox has a plug-in to make it possible on the same browser, and Chrome has the incognito windows, so not a problem. Of course the best solution to this is offered by Gmail itself. You can find it at the following link:
How to Login To Multiple Gmail Accounts Simultaneously From The Same Browser | All About Websites

The bottom line, in my humble opinion is,
if you only receive an occasional email you are probably better off swapping routers/changing MACs/changing user accts on you PC etc. But if you have tons of stealth accounts which receive tons of buyer emails you may want to consider all the above. Once again, please Do Your Own Research as I don't want to be accused of having other people's stealth accounts linked. All comments and additional tips will be highly appreciated...

GTB,
of course you can. Ebay states it under/above most of the yellow RESPOND buttons: 'Reply in your email program or through My Messages'

This is my concern as well TLS. I haven't utilised my stealths yet but can already imagine the pain! :typing:

To add to my loooooong(boring) post above: NO need to mention that 'Ask before displaying external content' in Gmail should be selected:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/a...&answer=145919

i know that bro

thats not the question

i know i can reply to ebay messages directly through my email account

what i want to know is can you link ebay accounts by not changing ip address and wndows user accounts?

If you use Gmail, I don't see how EB will link the email to the IP, because they can't see the IP of the sender. This is what I did today. I have 2 emails: A(gmail), B(any other). I sent an email from A to B, then logged in B and opened the email received form A and opened the Full Header (this is what EB or anyone else you send the email to will see). In the header I saw the following: sender's email(A), text of the message, IP addresses of the different servers the email travels through (not even similar to my real IP) and not a sign of my real IP. Obviously, if you are logged in 2 gmail accounts belonging to 2 stealth accounts, it is imperative to disable the images first.
I may(or may not) try it, but strictly only for replying emails. All the EB activities I'll still be doing through the separate user accounts/IPs, etc...

This is a copy of the header (presumably what EB will see as well):

Delivered-To: B@xxxxx.com
Received: by 10.42.178.200 with SMTP id bn8cs37639icb;
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:23:54 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <A@gmail.com>
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of A@gmail.com designates 10.224.116.1 as permitted sender) client-ip=10.224.116.1;
Authentication-Results: mr.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of A@gmail.com designates 10.224.116.1 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=A@gmail.com; dkim=pass header.i=A@gmail.com
Received: from mr.google.com ([10.224.116.1])
by 10.224.116.1 with SMTP id k1mr750158qaq.6.1321601032880 (num_hops = 1);
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:23:52 -0800 (PST)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
d=gmail.com; s=gamma;
h=mime-version:date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type;
bh=AqZEA9rxtMhmIWO+bXhXEoZHLQLmeACTNI9pwf2H5Hw=;
b=k85e+b5PhrVxzDOK8THRhi9HaAJmDb/AaKOaWLAFuPv9PsGVBw8dteqFoFu6mPTElM
LqbjmLx0frtF6+kxWv1pMR5DiZVBafQcqup1w1ThdaFdfbPgfw TwElzeMhNUYrTY5X+x
7qab7dl+DP5rsDeKmtVCMFcvV/tZYw5ICbdsY=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.224.116.1 with SMTP id k1mr750158qaq.6.1321601032878; Thu, 17
Nov 2011 23:23:52 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.229.223.203 with HTTP; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:23:52 -0800 (PST)
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:23:52 +0000
Message-ID: <CAMtb2RWLLhyWXTCNnjMj5ypzNHropKAigHQtseTP6ZA_15r4 SA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Hi dude
From: A@gmail.com
To: B@xxxxx.com
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=20cf3074d7ee197b5504b1fd38ca

--20cf3074d7ee197b5504b1fd38ca
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Dude

--20cf3074d7ee197b5504b1fd38ca
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Dude<br>

--20cf3074d7ee197b5504b1fd38ca--


A@gmail.com is the sender.
B@xxxxx.com is the receiver.
Obviously I've changed the real addresses for privacy.
Nowhere in the Full Header you can see my real IP, only a bunch of Gmail server IPs.
Just for reference, my real IP is 86.19.xxx.xxx (administrators can confirm...lol) so nowhere even close to the different IPs in the Full Header.

gmail just shows the server ip not your real one - In theory.....this is in the stealth guide

I always like to remain on the safe side and only log in from the correct IP.

Too big a risk to take in my opinion.

Guys, what about something like anonymousspeech or Neomailbox where the ip is anonymous/clean headers among many other features.....??? or other similar such paid for services ???

i answered yes to this question because you can, i have been and it was through heads although not gmail.

i really don't see the point.

i always answer my messages through my message.

it takes me as long to log into ebay and answer question there as it does my email account.

it shows activity in eby and eliminates any risk associated with cookies, beacons and any other form of tracking that could trip me up.




Not sure but i would like to guess that ebay wouldn't like it, just like they don't like annonmous browers vpn that sort of thing.

TizWoz, I suppose you are correct about ebay possibly not taking too kindly to an anonymous ip/no ip headers....though I still think a paid for email service has got to be as good as Gmail for the purpose of not revealing the ip address & a whole lot better features to boot...

Suve,
I guess the difference is that Gmail hides it by default without user interaction hence Ebay has no reason to suspect you. And using a paid for service may raise a question mark with as to why this particular user chose this paid service to hide their IP. :suspicious:

I guess the best is to use the IP annonimity of Gmail TOGETHER with the stealth rules of swapping usernames on the pc. This way you can add additional protection to your account in case you log into the wrong email by mistake (in the context of replying to emails directly rather than through the RESPOND button which requires EB login)
:clap:

Hmm, you are right & I take your point on board about the ip being hidden by default on gmail- though I would say that given that ebay has millions of users worldwide, unless ebay were specifically looking out for the fact the ip maybe hidden on purpose on this paid for service which has many other genuine uses & many other features (rather than solely an ip hider email service provision), this issue might not necessarily be at the top of their list of considerations/drawn to their awareness of this & bearing in mind the volume of worldwide ebay user base means ebay are used to seeing a very broad spectrum of email providers etc etc used on ebay accounts & hence this paid for service may not draw an immediate red flag to ebay for this reason.....

can i ask why you want to go to all this trouble ?

Like i said it is much safer just to log into ebay and answer the questions though my messages, take the same amount of time to login and resond as it does gmail.

also
Using a paid email is more professional.

Im not sure paid email makes a difference at the end of the day as in regards to tracking, read the tread and understand why.

i think it was paid email i was tripped up on, saying that it was 10-12-years ago so can't really remeber.

TizWoz....good question.

I was looking at/into anonymous/secure email/browsing services anyhow recently unconnected to this ebay/amazon lark .....I just saw this thread & I thought I'd run this past you guys.

I think the paid email has its place on the professional side & not as some kind of joint enterprise with ebay; that was just a speculative approach on here by me to get gauge the mood on this & whether there were any bodies on here that had any first hand insight on that.

I think if GMail hides ip addresses as has been detailed on this thread, that it does the job it is meant to do in addition to the various links on this thread about being about to log into multiple GMail accounts from one browsers etc etc, then I think in all honestly, that is the best way to go....no need to break what is not broken.:amen:

Tiz,
under normal circumstances you can follow the stealth rules of changing IP/swapping user accounts etc. (this is without a doubt the safest way). BUT imagine you're you are on the go, or any other circumstances where you don't have administrative control over the internet, maybe even overseas. You receive an important question from a buyer, you know that if you don't reply immediately they'll leave negative feedback, what do you do? The easiest way for me will be to just reply directly through Gmail thus not having to login EB. EB receives the reply and forwards it to the buyer's mailbox, everyone's happy and no-one has a clue what IP I am using.

I usually get tons of emails every day. To keep my customers happy, I aim to reply immediately but in the same time I am constantly on the move. I started this thread to get tips on replying without having to constantly worry about your IP (strictly communicating with buyers, and not EB acct maintenance, listing etc which clearly requires to login first)

That explains it.

personally when I'm out of town i have my other half fire up the computer/s and log in through team viewer.

its just like I'm sat at home.

i would careful logging in from other country's, i think eby expect you to actually use the holiday setting when your away.

Suve,
I've tested the different devices I have with Gmail and these are some very important points if you decide to log into several gmail accounts belonging to different stealths:

If you access your Gmail through:
1. Outlook, Thunderbird etc, your IP is VISIBLE when you send an email
2. A browser, your IP is NOT VISIBLE
3. Your Iphone/Ipad(3G or WiFi) email client, your IP is VISIBLE
4. Your Iphone's browser(Safari), your IP is NOT VISIBLE

Bottom line, all your host(pc or smart phone) based email clients will give your IP away. ONLY accessing Gmail via a BROWSER will keep your IP private.

You can aviod your ip been given away from a local mechine buy changing the headers, easiest way is to use some kind of bulk/spam email client for sending you emails, they remove or change header.

just a thought.

Hmm, this got me thinking about using remote access software then....you use team viewer but I am assuming any other decent remote access software will the job just as well, not used one in a while but I do know you have very powerful remote access solutions out here, I am familiar with Symantec pcAnywhere, so that should be good to go for this purpose.

what about android phones

using the gmail app?

Not sure about that but I do know that when you send an email via Gmail's web interface, your IP address is not revealed in the Received: headers BUT using a a device such as the iPhone to send mail via Gmail's SMTP server, your IP address will be revealed every time you send an email from that device.

It will NOT be revealed if you use the internet browser of the device!
It will be revealed if you use the email client on the device!

so am on my android right now

am in my gmail app and i have a ebay message to reply to

can i send straight from the gmail app or do i have to go into my browser,go to gmail,log in and reply that way

feel like i'm lost in the amazon jungle on this thread

way outta my territory:juggle:

The best thing you can do is to send an email from your Gmail application to another email you have. Then log in the other email, open the received message and check the header. You will most probably see the real IP where the mail was sent from.

Then open the internet browser on your device and log in gmail just like you do on your pc. Send another email and check the headers. Your IP will not be there.

P.S. Best way to read the header is from bottom to top.

Yes, you have to go through the browser, but please test it first as per my previous post.

ok bro,thanks

Well I currently use two phones and both have separate ebay account per phone so I respond via email directly, but I only use one phone per account

depending on the phone.

d2 and s2 can change the m.a.c