Beware of Webinterpret’s scam that ebay is allowing

[bigdeals.etc]

A couple of days ago a banner within my Seller Hub advertised reaching buyers in ebay international sites (shown in screenshot). I clicked it to learn what it was about. It pushed me to a 3rd party page (Webinterpret) explaining what it was and allowed me to register/sign up for their service. I didn’t sign up and just closed the page.

The next day, Webinterpret hacked into my ebay account. They duplicated all of my listings 4-6 times each listing. My usual 200 live listings became over 1200 listings. Each listing was specific to an ebay international website (au, uk, ca, de, etc.). They basically duplicated my inventory quantity as well… obviously I don’t have that much inventory to cover it. Beware, this is on ebay’s Main Seller Hub page that ebay is advertising.

Read further if you want to know ebay’s response to this:

I called my ebay concierge and after a few hours of asking around and researching, he called me back and said the company has been with ebay since 2011, they shouldn’t have access to your account without your signing up, authorizing, generating a token, etc. I told him I did none of that and the agent was confused on how the company was able to hack into my account like that. The agent helped me remove the duplicate listings manually (took awhile) and revoked any access from that company to my account. I checked and it appears many ebay members (dated as far back as 4 years) had the exact same thing happen to them and did the revoking, only to find months later the company hacks back into their accounts doing the same thing… sometimes even billing them. Ebay says they will check on it, but then again… this problem has been around for at least 4 years now and ebay hasn’t done anything about it.

I’m just warning others to NOT click on that banner.

[gracieallen01]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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@b.shanks wrote:

October 5th this same thing happened to me. All I did was click learn more, never actully clicked the sign-up link. I am astonished that this has been happening since May. This is not a glitch. I wonder if the “boost sales in just one click” slogan in the banner is a loophole....since you literally click once and you are enrolled with no consent. Unbelievable.

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This is exactly why I never click on ANY eBay banner or ad anymore since I got hit with webinterpret. Call me paranoid, but practicing abstinence is the only way we can avoid being "infected". 

And I say again. I am astonished a story of this caliber hasn't hit any major tv news channels yet. I would think this is a pretty juicy piece of information that the stations will eat up. We see worse stories on there regarding the Brazil Rain Forest more often.

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News went out at the turn of the century.  Now it is talking heads and social, ah, um, oh yeah, media. PalmFaceBook, Twit, er, Tweeter and Huffingnpuffington.

[div_style]

I realize that WI is not for everyone, but if you are selling small items like stamps, postcards, trading cards, this works well.  I have about 3000 items on the US site and another 10,000 on international sites with the Webinterpret promotion.  I am getting multiple international sales every day.  I have had NO problems with duplicate listings.  And when an item sells on any one site, the stock level is adjusted on all sites.  No out of stock issues at all.

I am getting sales in Euros, GBP, and Australian $, which are easily converted to USD within PayPal.

OTOH, from what I can figure, WI's fees are too heavy for inexpensive items, so I will allow those listings to die off at the end of the promotion.

And, on the 3rd hand, for many items that I have sufficient stock, I will be listing them on ebay UK and Germany, since that's where most of my intl. sales are coming from.  And why not?  Listings are free (up to 10,000 per site with an anchor store).

[gracieallen01]

Personally, I've liked Delcampe - been around a few years and have a following.

[bassileid5]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

alan@ebay

People still seem to be having problems with Webinterpret and there seems to be even less help, assistance or even input from ebay. 

Since ebay apologized, have they washed their hands of the problem - even though sellers are getting suspended for the dups that Webinterpret are listing?

Do you think you might put someone on it to find out what the current status is - whether Webinterpret is going to do anything about this, whether ebay is going to do something, is it just in the contract and it will have to play out as it does, or what is going on?  It's been almost 3 weeks and nobody has responded here.

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Hi gracieallen01, 

Many thanks for your inquiry into this. 

We understand this has been a frustrating experience for many sellers. We are working through the problems and trying to resolve them on a case by case basis. For the sellers that have been impacted by duplicates, please feel free send me a private message on community and I will look to assist as best as possible. 

Appreciate your participation on the boards to help sellers through this and your consistent feedback. Thanks again gracieallen01, 

Bassil

[bassileid5]

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@ghost-star wrote:

Hey alan@eBay, 

You acknowledged that eBay was aware of the one-click enrolment and confirmed that it was an error... You confirmed this back in MAY of this year. It is now OCTOBER and yet this so-called "glitch" has not been fixed. In fact, eBay has created more links to Webinterpret enrolment, except now they have removed the name WEBINTERPRET entirely to mask the notorious scam of a company behind this deal. 

TO ALL SELLERS: You may have noticed that eBay has doubled-down recently on there criminal partnership with Webinterpret by installing a link to enroll with Webinterpret right in our SELLER HUB page. DO NOT CLICK ON THAT. CALL EBAY AND DEMAND THEY REMOVE THAT LINK FROM OUR SELLER HUB! EVEN AN ACCIDENTAL CLICK OF THAT LINK WILL ENROLL YOU IN THE WEBINTERPRET PROGRAM OF WHICH IT IS NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE TO OPT-OUT!

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Hi ghost-star, 

Many thanks for your feedback. 

I certainly apologies for the experience you and others have had. As correctly stated, we have gone out with the promotion again in Sept and Oct. The eBay link from the seller hub banner should lead you to another landing page. https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/Webinterpret.html?_trkparms=clkid%3D6630351417263172321

Apologies if there was a glitch at some point. This should have not occurred and is not our intention. I am also attaching our opt out link for those that opt in and want to opt out - https://app.webinterpret.com/submit-request/

Please do us updated on seller feedback as it is important. Thanks again for activity on the board. 

Bassil

[bassileid5]

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@pturnbough wrote:
How do you get rid of it. They have no phone, no chat, don't answer emails.

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Hi Pturnbough, 

Apologies for your experience. You can opt out here at the link - https://app.webinterpret.com/submit-request/

This is also in our landing page. https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/Webinterpret.html?_trkparms=clkid%3D6630351417263172321

Please let us know if you have any issues. 

Bassil

[bassileid5]

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@b.shanks wrote:

Also, the third party token was listed in my eBay as Lithium Technologies or something like that...not WebInterpret. Where is Alan? Why did Alan say it was fixed and now Alan is not responding?

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Hi b.shanks,

Thanks for the feedback and apologies for your experience. 

The eBay link from the seller hub banner should lead you to another landing page. https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/Webinterpret.html?_trkparms=clkid%3D6630351417263172321

Apologies if there was a glitch at some point. This should have not occurred and is not our intention. I am also attaching our opt out link for those that opt in and want to opt out - https://app.webinterpret.com/submit-request/

Please do keep us updated on seller feedback. Thanks again for your activity on the board. 

Bassil

[Anonymous]

@bassileid5, please make sure CS has that opt-out link readily available anytime someone calls about Webinterpret. It should appear for them when they search the keyword Webinterpret. Not every user will find this board and those who call shouldn't be told by CS that it's not eBay's problem.

[newview]

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@bassileid5 wrote:

I am also attaching our opt out link for those that opt in and want to opt out - https://app.webinterpret.com/submit-request/

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That link should be a “sticky” at the very top of this forum and the technical forum ... not buried this thread.

AFAIC ... eBay INFECTED everyone who clicked the “Learn More” link with what is essentially account based malware.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@newview wrote:

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@bassileid5 wrote:

I am also attaching our opt out link for those that opt in and want to opt out - https://app.webinterpret.com/submit-request/

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That link should be a “sticky” at the very top of this forum and the technical forum ... not buried this thread.

AFAIC ... eBay INFECTED everyone who clicked the “Learn More” link with what is essentially account based malware.

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Yea, I doubt many will read thru 300 replies to find that link. So far this is the most replies I've seen in a thread.

[gilmore177]

Can ebay tell me if I have successfully opted out of this. This is awful and after selling for 17 years this is the first time it feels like a scam. I clicked and just wanted info and it automatically put me in as well. I think I am out but would like it checked.  

[holidayshopper201]

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@b.shanks wrote:

Also, the third party token was listed in my eBay as Lithium Technologies or something like that...not WebInterpret. Where is Alan? Why did Alan say it was fixed and now Alan is not responding?

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Lithium is the company that runs these ebay discussion boards. It has nothing to do with WebInterpret.

[mys-trees]

1. Like many people posting here, I clicked on More Info and was automatically signed up.

2. Besides not wanting to sign up, it's not until that point you see all sellers are required to offer free 30-day returns, which I don't do. But I guess I do now.

3. It's impossible to reach Webinterpret.

4. Their translations are terrible.

5. All of my own information on my eBay page converted to Russian. Seriously. Russian.

6. Why can't eBay simply get Webinterpret OUT of the system and restore everyone to a pre-WI status?

[gringostarr64]

I have the same problem...going to cancel today