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Jennifer wrote:
Ugh… I try and watch the auctions ending on weekends for Windstone but I forgot to catch the end of that one. It was hacked. 🙁
Weird… it went for $510 but I didn’t know the name and didn’t write it down… I have been trying to keep track of the OW’s… just to see what they all go for. That just stinks! 🙁
sunhawk wrote:This is the first I’ve heard of this hacking issue, how exactly are auctions getting hacked? I would think Windstone peeps are pretty savvy about phishing emails and such, so is there another way that “hackers” are gaining control of these auctions? 😯
It’s actually been going on with some of the Windstone auctions for a while now. The way it is hacked is the ebay account is stolen. Usually it’s one with little feedback that hasn’t been used in a while. Then the “hacker” inflates the bidding by doing multiple, multiple “mini” bids towards the end of the auction. It looks different than someone sniping the auction.
sunhawk wrote:This is the first I’ve heard of this hacking issue, how exactly are auctions getting hacked? I would think Windstone peeps are pretty savvy about phishing emails and such, so is there another way that “hackers” are gaining control of these auctions? 😯
It’s been happening off and on for over a year- though it seems far more common recently.
What happens, as far as I can tell, is that a legitimate eBay account is hacked (probably through a phishing scam email, etc). This can be any account on eBay. For reasons we can only speculate (I honestly can’t figure it out, unless someone is just having ‘fun’ being malicious) the person in control of the hacked account will then bid on a huge number of high dollar amount auctions all ending at about the same time, usually within the last 60 seconds of the auction. They enter an INCREDIBLY, unrealistically high bid so that it pushes out every other bidder past their max bid, then the hacked auction wins them. It just happens that Windstone sells high dollar amount items (notice that this does not happen to the auctions that only reach $200-$300?) and that sometimes a Windstone auction ends in the same period that a hacker is hitting eBay auctions.
In response, some employee over at eBay sees a little flag in the system. A bidder has suddenly won over $120,000 worth of auctions in a matter of 5 minutes. Suspicious! So then they realize that the eBay ID has been hacked and their response is to completely remove all traces of the auction, because there has been fowl play.
Here is a screenshot I took before they (eBay) had a chance to respond and remove the hacked auctions. Notice the high dollar amounts, and look at the times! Most ended within a few seconds of one another. Also please note that this is page THREE! There are two other pages of this- stupidly expensive winning bids on multiple auctions all ending within a few minutes of one another.
(( Important: the real ‘simoseven’ is NOT a hacker- someone else got control of this real person’s account, poor guy/gal. ))
I don’t know why or for what purpose the hackers do this. We can only speculate!
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My art: featherdust.comBrats. Seriously… aren’t there more exciting things to do if you want to get a rush- like sky diving or something?? I don’t get how they have much fun doing this. It’s weird.
and cruel to the sellers and potential buyers of these pieces… 👿 Not to mention the poor person’s account they’ve hacked. 👿
Jennifer wrote:sunhawk wrote:This is the first I’ve heard of this hacking issue, how exactly are auctions getting hacked? I would think Windstone peeps are pretty savvy about phishing emails and such, so is there another way that “hackers” are gaining control of these auctions? 😯
It’s been happening off and on for over a year- though it seems far more common recently.
What happens, as far as I can tell, is that a legitimate eBay account is hacked (probably through a phishing scam email, etc). This can be any account on eBay. For reasons we can only speculate (I honestly can’t figure it out, unless someone is just having ‘fun’ being malicious) the person in control of the hacked account will then bid on a huge number of high dollar amount auctions all ending at about the same time, usually within the last 60 seconds of the auction. They enter an INCREDIBLY, unrealistically high bid so that it pushes out every other bidder past their max bid, then the hacked auction wins them. It just happens that Windstone sells high dollar amount items (notice that this does not happen to the auctions that only reach $200-$300?) and that sometimes a Windstone auction ends in the same period that a hacker is hitting eBay auctions.
In response, some employee over at eBay sees a little flag in the system. A bidder has suddenly won over $120,000 worth of auctions in a matter of 5 minutes. Suspicious! So then they realize that the eBay ID has been hacked and their response is to completely remove all traces of the auction, because there has been fowl play.
Here is a screenshot I took before they (eBay) had a chance to respond and remove the hacked auctions. Notice the high dollar amounts, and look at the times! Most ended within a few seconds of one another. Also please note that this is page THREE! There are two other pages of this- stupidly expensive winning bids on multiple auctions all ending within a few minutes of one another.
(( Important: the real ‘simoseven’ is NOT a hacker- someone else got control of this real person’s account, poor guy/gal. ))I don’t know why or for what purpose the hackers do this. We can only speculate!
OOOOHHHHHH That kind of hacking. I didn’t know that it had become such a widespread problem, that people were losing their accounts due to phishing and then the accounts were actually being used that much during the span! I thought phishing was done a little like credit card theft; the person buys stuff they actually want, not just randomly bids insanely high on any high-price thing! @_@ CRAZY!
So you guys lose the auction when Ebay steps in? Can the auction be salvaged? It seems weird that they’d remove the whole auction and not just the actions of the hacked account, though I suppose the point is that it ruins whatever genuine last-minute high bid was made >_<
sunhawk wrote:OOOOHHHHHH That kind of hacking. I didn’t know that it had become such a widespread problem, that people were losing their accounts due to phishing and then the accounts were actually being used that much during the span! I thought phishing was done a little like credit card theft; the person buys stuff they actually want, not just randomly bids insanely high on any high-price thing! @_@ CRAZY!
So you guys lose the auction when Ebay steps in? Can the auction be salvaged? It seems weird that they’d remove the whole auction and not just the actions of the hacked account, though I suppose the point is that it ruins whatever genuine last-minute high bid was made >_<
Oh, I do imagine that many phishing scams ARE out for your credit card/paypal info to steal money. But it seems that people hack ebay accounts for other reasons too. 😯
I think eBay could remove fake bids if they had time to- that is, if it happened a day or even an hour before an item ends. But as it is happening within the last few seconds of an auction, there is no time to go back in and remove the illegit bid, so they completely invalidate the auction. It is removed completely, and not even the seller can access any part of it. Luckily Windstone has been able to watch many of these as they end so that they can often sell the item to the second highest bidder, at the bid price before the ‘hacker’ pushed bids to maximum. Luckily Windstone knows most of the bidders as they are members here so something can be worked out. Imagine how angry and problematic this is to all those other sellers though, that have no recourse except to relist the item! :/
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My art: featherdust.comwolflodge100 wrote:Looks like the hackers are at it again, the Spring Green Secret Keeper this time. 😕
Yeah… 🙁
I was wondering about the SSpring Green SK. It definately was hacked? I was surprised that it ended to be that much. Is there another thread about it and could someone PM it to me?
skigod377 wrote:I dont think there is another thread and it was def hacked. Ebay sent a null and void email. 🙁
Aw darn. Anyone know who the real bidder was?
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