Forum

Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

All on the same day I lost the majority of my stealth accounts because of "security concerns". I follow all stealth practices. The only difference between accounts that were suspended and ones that weren't, were the computers they were accessed on. The eBay Accounts were all suspended but none of the paypal accounts. The only thing I can think of is that the Mac desktop I had used, transmitted some unique data all of a sudden, but who knows.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

This happened to me too a few months ago on 2 separate days, 2 days apart. I have a feeling it's not necessarily anything I did to link all accounts. I'm thinking it's a public database sweep. No public data=Security concerns = Suspended account. It's just a theory, but very possible. :rip:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I don't think this is the case. eBay tends to check the account when you register them.

Also, the OP stated that all of the accounts she lost were accessed from one computer and the other accounts accessed on a different computer were just fine. If it was some sort of a sweep, the lost accounts probably would have been a mix of accounts from both systems. We would also be hearing from other users about it, there would be DOZENS of posts. But I DO like that you are thinking about what could have happened. Because ONE DAY, your theory COULD come true.

TO THE OP: Dont close those PayPal accounts. They MAY go down, but you can always use them for something else if they do not. I have a couple of PayPal's that I kept when an eBay account got burned and now I am thankful that I kept them.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Yea, the paypal accounts are on the backburner for now. One got limited yesterday... after I got the funds out :heh: Anyone think it could be the fact I was using a Mac? Some of my accounts were 3 years old with thousands of feedback. Never had an issue like this before. Just started using the mac a few months ago. Any other theories, ideas?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Call and ask what's going on. Stop asking us: We don't know. We can only guess. An eBay rep can give you insight.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

OMG that's a great idea... I already have several times and each time was simply told I was a security concern. Why would you assume that I hadn't already called eBay? Sorry bud if I offended you somehow...

Now, is anyone else interested in sharing similar experiences or ideas and theories so that maybe we can actually shed some light on why this happened. I am currently speaking with another member who had a similar experience and we were both explicitly following stealth rules.

Just trying to connect the dots...

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Didn't realize you weren't drinking the "calling eBay is the devil" kool-aid.....

My bad.

:surrender:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

hmmm that makes no sense... he just said he did call...:doh:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

hazy listen dude. give more details man. no1 can help when the problem like your username is unclear and "hazy" <_>

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Were the accounts selling similar items? Similar listings?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Not in either of the posts prior to my comment.

Are you high?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

uhhh wut... I guess so...:confused::confused::heh:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

My bad, I read i wrong originally,
The thing is, it happened to me last spring, almost 20 accounts on a Sunday and almost 20 accounts the next Tuesday. Mine where across different computers & some had not been accessed for over a year. Some had listed items & never sold, in other words a very big mix of lots of different accounts. After it happened i came back to the forums & I saw many other threads with similar stories apparently since last fall. I knew I wasn't alone.
I know database is checked when accounts are created (now) but most of mine where created in 2012. I was much easier then. They may not do a sweep that is ebay wide, (it would hurt there cash flow ). But maybe on smaller scales.
My strategy now will be to stagger account creation, in 2012/2013 i created about 100 accounts, in a 9 month period. I wasn't creating accounts in the last 2 years because 1. I didn't need 'em & 2. the ones I had were working so well. EBay taught me a lesson, now that i have a really good base built again I'm going to create 2-3 a month just in case. ...:ban?::ban?:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

LoL it's cool, yea I figured what can they do, suspend me? haha

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Thats the thing, some were and some weren't. Some are still selling the same items as ones that got hit, yet they didn't get hit. The only thing in common with the ones that got suspended vs the ones that didn't is the usage of different computers, one being a mac.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

What browsers are you using?
What is the IP method?
similar ship from locations?
do you clean your pics?
are you using separate user accounts? If so are they all admin?
Phone numbers active?
VBA and credit cards all good?
have you been editing the from zip code if printing labels off ebay?

You called in to ebay on all the accounts and did not get any answers at all? Not a single rep read from the report? How long did you wait on hold while they investigated the reason to report to you?
I can usually get a good amount of info. I may have to call a few times but I can almost always get some info.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Same here....I wasn't going to push the issue though.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Yankee nailed it I was thinking of all those things too just did not feel like typing them

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I use a paid proxy service.
I use a 3rd party shipping/ label application
All pics are cleaned
Yes separate Admin accounts for each.
Phone/ VBA/ CC all good...Also, if not then I would imagine paypal would have limited the accounts as well.
I do not print directly off of ebay.

One rep. had me on and off hold and came back just to say their security team reviewed my account and triggered concern.

Another didnt put me on hold and said that they had an issue with the items I was selling. None of the other accounts had this item for sale.

The 3rd rep. transferred me to a different dept. which had me on hold for about 10 min to say ebay has made their final decision and the account is suspended indefinitely due to risk.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

So you only called 3 times....I'm guessing once for each account?

If you REALLY want to get to the bottom of this, you're going to have to be a LOT more persistent with eBay. They are the only ones who know for sure why the accounts were suspended.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

could be your proxie along with a couple other things such as the items or catagory.

I lost 13 accounts a few weeks ago. I called ebay more than 100 times over three days. Basically my accounts were altogether different but unique at the same time. Similar selling methods, different items on all accountsbut all outdoor sporting goods and many within a certain category. All used the same browser, all had a similar IPS, all had similar ship from locations. A couple of accounts had loose links via IP during a single day. All were created around the same time. All were created with the same procedure. All had similar shipping styles and pricing. All account had 100% positive feedback or zero feedback.

NOT all have even sold an item or had been listed on.

My point of all this is that NOTHING seemed to be a solid link at all BUT several loose links.

Now 100% of my accounts that were created differently and different times and also had the same loose ip link the same days are cranking along just fine. All the paypal accounts are fine.

I find when they tell you nothing at all they suspect FooFoo. Pricing too low on a BIN can do this.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

What's up with the user accounts being admins ?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

admins share flash or something along those lines. It is essentially like using two browsers on the same user account. Eventually a strong shared fingerprint is formed.

This was all for one account. Busy regrouping and trying to get a steady flow of sales back. Then I am going to revisit the accounts and put some more calls in.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Unless they manually check the tracking for shipments, wouldn't they not be alerted of similar ship from addresses?

What do you mean by "A couple of accounts had loose links via IP during a single day"

In terms of pricing too low for BIN, the majority of my sales are auctions.

I sell in an overly saturated, highly competitive category. Almost all sellers use the same shipping method and similar pricing as there is not much room to adjust margins.

Can you elaborate on that? Are you saying admins share flash amongst other admin accounts?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

When enough "loose links" are formed, bots trigger a manual review, then they can see the similar ship from address. Likely the nail in your coffin.


Flash cookies are shared but only by ADMIN accounts. Bottom line: Make your accounts "Standard", "Guest" or equivalent (name depends on your OS)

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Spot on.

Ship from zip codes was mentioned several times plus account creation technique and approximate time the accounts were created(last fall)

Manual review could have happened from a bad/removed VBA or bad telephone number. Ebay does test this especially when money is pouring through.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Thanks Ghost, I see I need to change a few things. I always thought the accounts were to be ADMIN accts. I am assuming this was another soft link which got me.

Now, my accounts that are still standing, should I delete and create new users that are standard? If so, should I transfer over cookie and cache data?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I absolutely would get rid of all admin accounts. Cookies are more critical to paypal but can be created quickly after some daily browsing.

I may be incorrect about this so do a little research but I personally would feel safer creating new cookies knowing that they are not linked compared to possibly transferring the link to new accounts by importing cookies.

Does your proxie possibly leak like a VPN?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I agree, will do!

I asked my provider who is always open and honest and he said there should never be an issue like a dns like or such.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Hmmm....I'm not 100% sure, but I would say transferring only BROWSER cookies SHOULD be ok, since these are not shared, but FLASH cookies are. You can delete flash cookies, (even if transferred) separately.

My THEORY is that if your accounts all started over with clean cookies, around the same time, etc etc it would further "soft link" your survivors.

This is all just theory.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I figured the same, I was only going to test out a couple...but I have come to realize all my PC accounts are Standard users. The ones I accessed on the Mac, which were suspended, were ALL ADMIN! So back to my theory that it had something to do with using a Mac, maybe it did, maybe it was Flash cookies that killed :rip: my accounts.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Nope, I think we found the culprit. I'm 99% sure that it has NOTHING to do with the "type" of computer (PC or MAC) you used, or using separate computers, etc....it all boils down to the flash cookies being shared. This forms a STRONG link between all the accounts, and that, with the other similarities, and the different names, addresses, etc, tipped eBay off. They knew ONE person was in charge of all these different accounts, in different ID's, etc, and their security team looked at it and said: "This isn't right...this person is up to no good." Boom----suspended.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Well I didn't mean the mac computer itself. I had not previously noticed that the accounts on the mac were all admin and the ones on the pc were all standard. At the time I was aware the only difference with the suspended accounts and non suspended was the fact they were accessed on the mac. Thanks to all of the help from you guys I now know it was 99% due to all users on the mac being admin.

I seriously would LOVEEE to have access to their data and what they see when they review accounts... I cannot even imagine...

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

can any1 else confirm the whole admin flash cookies dilemma as never heard of this before...

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Would there still be an issue with sharing flash cookies with admins, even if your made adjustments in the 'Global Settings Panel' for each user account?

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

I don't know....why does it matter? Just keep things simple and use Standard accounts. We KNOW this works, and if you need to install or change something, you can type in your password and add it.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

QUOTE=GhostOfAmazon;696194]I don't know....why does it matter? Just keep things simple and use Standard accounts. We KNOW this works, and if you need to install or change something, you can type in your password and add it.[/QUOTE]

hmmm time to go back n change everything to standard. this might take a while... :ahhhhhh::bolt: :typing::typing::typing::typing::typing:

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

hmmm time to go back n change everything to standard. this might take a while... :ahhhhhh::bolt: :typing::typing::typing::typing::typing:[/QUOTE]

Upgrade to Windows 10... User accounts are created and setup wayyyy quicker.

Re: Lost majority of stealth accounts in one day
 

Ugh, after Windows 8, I'm sticking with Windows 7 until they pry the OS out of my cold, dead hands.