ALL accounts unexpectedly limited: WHY?

[Sammich]

How the heck did they find me? Ive been operating for about 18 months now and not a single account limited then today I wake up to ALL of them being limited! What can be done? How could they have found me? What the hell is going on? AHHHH Help me!

[danshan]

What are the common factors for the accounts? What kind of internet connection do you use?

[Sammich]

The only thing I can think of that has been different is I accidentally clicked an Ebay link from a stealth email on my main computer and the Ebay screen flashed up for a second before I closed it down.

What kind of info can they grab? The only way I can think is if some code in the email I clicked scanned thru my inbox for other alternate ebay emails as I forward all my ebay emails to one central email address for easy management.


Is it possible some bit of email code scanned thru and linked all of these accounts?

That is the only thing I can think of that would link every account I have. Please someone enlighten me.

[Sammich]

This email address is the only common link between them I can think of. I use Qwest and cycle the IP between every account login. I use Vmware to segregate the accounts and thats worked great until now.

[danshan]

I doubt the email is the link but that is an interesting point anyone have any insight to the email linking possibility.

[danshan]

Also how wide is your ip range

[Sammich]

Originally Posted by danshan

Also how wide is your ip range

Huge. I range over several class Bs and many class Cs. I have a spreadsheet with over 2500 IP entries with less than a dozen duplicates. Ive been pretty careful here.

Heres an update. I just got an email from my girlfriend and her account has been limited as well!

Now THATS odd as she uses her internet from work to do all of her ebaying and she just started and has zero link to my accounts as far as I know.

So Im all confused.

I was thinking perhaps it was a wide sweeping ebay dragnet but nobody else on here seems to be losing their minds so I am guessing its just me and her.

[danshan]

Email tracking is done through uniquely titled pictures in the email. For example, in an email I receive, the company logo is called "logo-533147.gif" and in an email you receive, it's called "logo-151348.gif". These are saved on ET's (or equivalent's) server, and when the user opens the email (and has their email set to download the pictures) the system can say "This unique picture 151348.gif was accessed, so that means Stubby Phillips opened the email, and we're going to write down Stubby's IP address and put a cookie in his web browser if he clicked through to the site."

Now, you want to forward it to your friends. The system can't actually say "Stubby then clicked the forward button in their email client and sent it to three people, one of which opened it." because email clients don't send out information like that, they just display emails.

It can say "Stubby opened the email with a unique picture from this particular IP address and visited the site with this browser cookie. Then another person, without a browser cookie and from a different IP address used the *same* unique picture. That appears to be a forward to a new person." It doesn't catch the other two people who it was forwarded to and never opened.


Im sure the experts on here know this and can probably give some insight

[Sammich]

Thank you for your replies by the way. It is much appreciated. I normally make it a point to never click on ebay links from my email, except for this one recent infringement. Also I have made certain display images is turned off and no images come up on my ebay emails. Thanks to the community here I learned that one early.

Has no one else been limited today? The more I think on it the more an ebay mass limiting makes sense. Or something Im just not thinking of.

I mean about half of the accounts are linked to made up withdrawal accounts meaning even if ebay somehow got my name from my linked bank accounts it shouldnt extend to ALL my accounts.

Thats what bothers me most is they got every account I have and Ive varied them up quite a bit over a year and a half.

For them to hit them all at once like this is shocking. Stunning even.

[danshan]

You need to know how they are linked keep thinking. Images, email forwarding

[madmuppet303]

Pretty scary to think that no matter how stealty we think we're being, that they can come and limit every account you have.

[last3379]

Were you and your girlfriend selling the same item/items?
Do you use different user accounts?

[Sammich]

You need to know how they are linked keep thinking. Images, email forwarding

Believe me I a trying. Ill update as things progress. In the meantime keep the suggestions coming in and its clearly something Ive missed. As I said I am forwarding all email from these accounts to one central email address. BUT my gf doesnt employ anything like that as she has only one account (Her real one).

Other common threads with my accounts are using gmail email and gvoice #s for all of them. So I could see if Ebay limited all gvoice users for instance. But again the gf is using all legit info. So why would she be sucked into this?

Were you and your girlfriend selling the same item/items?
Do you use different user accounts?

No the gf sells shoes as thats where her interest lies and Im selling other items (foo foo for certain). She uses her laptop for her stuff and I use my main PC with Vmware machines setup for each account. Ive never logged into any of my ebay stuff from her laptop, although she does have her own vmware on my PC she has used once or twice. Thats all I can think of for now. Will post more as more info comes in.

[jeffweico]

My guess is that the accidental logon was the culprit here. That alone cannot kill 12 accounts, but once your account is flagged and they start digging, they can turn up some of your other accounts. A human can see things that a computer cannot. That is one reason why we avoid scrutiny wherever possible.

Oh, and if your girlfriend ever used your computer to go onto eBay or check her email and see an email from eBay, that linked her account. Not so much that they noticed it at first, but when your account went down, they found the link and killed her account.

[Sandy D]

Did you happen to send funds from one account to another?

Did you click on any links in any emails?

Are all of these on separate user accounts?

Did you check IPs every single time you or her logged in?

For all 12 to go at one time you were linked big time.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by Sammich

This email address is the only common link between them I can think of. I use Qwest and cycle the IP between every account login. I use Vmware to segregate the accounts and thats worked great until now.

Email link will be dangerous.

VMware having a glitch you have not noticed will contribute.

There's a thread around where VMware disconnected & showed dangerous info. (eg old IP)

What was the ebay message exactly

[danshan]

Something common happened, you need to figure it out before you start again

[Sammich]

Thank you all for the replies. This is good stuff for she and I to ponder where we went wrong. We will post updates as they become available.

She made a good point that although we need to figure out how this happened our first goal should be to re-instate these accounts. What is the process for doing so? Ive been reluctant to call them as my accounts are either fictional or variations on my own name which has been banned long ago. I assume theyll want us to call but what will they ask typically? I feel the more info we have before we call the better chance we have of being successful. Any info on this is much appreciated.

[Sammich]

Here is exactly what I received. It appears to be identical for all accounts.

Dear Bubba (bubba@gmail.com)

To help you be a successful seller and ensure a safe experience for the eBay community, your account has been restricted until additional information can be verified or obtained and we're able to confirm that your use of services meets the guidelines in eBay's User Agreement.

I understand that this process may seem confusing. Please let me explain a little more about it. We're committed to reducing both fraud and negative buying experiences on eBay. To maintain a safe marketplace, we sometimes restrict selling activity, end active items, or suspend accounts until additional information can be verified or obtained. These actions are not necessarily meant to be a reflection of your account's activity, but rather a preventative measure.

Learn more about eBay's User Agreement:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html

To appeal process this restriction, please review the following guidelines:

-- Submit all of the following information by fax (fax number below):

- A readable copy of your driver's license, front *and* back, or other government-issued ID.
- A copy of a recent credit card statement, bank statement, or utility bill. Your name and billing address should be visible, and consistent with the information registered to your eBay account.
- Documentation that shows that you purchased the item(s) recently listed for sale on eBay. Documentation that will help us verify your items can include either manufacture invoices or receipts. Unfortunately, we're unable to accept photos of the items to fulfill this requirement.

-- Important --
- Make sure that your name and user ID appear on each document that you submit. If this information is not included, it cannot be processed.
- Be sure your submitted documents are current, valid, and legible.

Fax all documents to:
eBay
Attention: SRM Appeals
Fax number: (801) 880-7018

-- Note --
- It may take up to 3 business days to review your information.
- All documents submitted will be destroyed after we review them.



Please reply to this email after the above requirements have been met and we will begin the appeal process. Also, please be aware that we may ask you to provide additional information to appeal this restriction.

We appreciate your cooperation in resolving this matter as quickly as possible, and we look forward to working with you in order to establish a strong selling history and successful business relationship.

Thanks,

eBay


H.......

[Sammich]

**UPDATE** Paypal allowed me to pull my funds from one account. Does being Limited not lock up my $$? That would be nice as I have a nice chunk of $$ sitting in these accounts. Whats the best course of action here? Should I yank my cash right away before the chargebacks come streaming in? Or should I let it ride and call ebay and try to get these unlimited? Someone please advise me on this as Im floundering in the dark.

If my phone call goes bad will they lock up my Paypal? If I call and they see I yanked my $$ will that make it harder to get my ebay accounts up and running again? These are the questions going thru my head...

[BigCJ]

Now that your accounts are all flagged, it is very likely that the paypals will follow suit soon.

[MM78]

Quick question, Do you check/respond your ebay emails from within each stealth? Also, do you have separate user accounts for each account?