Urgent request for Help from MODS and Community Store hacked then closed by eBay

[epowerbargains]

I will try to make this concise.

1)  On 11/10/19, our eBay store was hacked. Total account takeover.  The hackers listed 8 popular high value items we never listed or sold.  I caught it within an hour but by the time I got thru to eBay over 100 people purchased the fraudulent listings and 150 people sent questions.  Over several days and after many phone calls with eBay customer service, eBay began refunding customers and I sent emails to all who sent questions informing them not to make a purchase of the fraudulent listings.  Over 60 cases were opened, refunded by eBay and closed. I was assured that none of this would impact my store in a negative manner. 

2) On or about 11/15/19,  I put the store on vacation to prevent sales as we were going outside the US on vacation for 18 days. Mid-way thru the vacation, eBay send me a notice of store closure due to suspicious activity and deleted all 800 plus of my store listings. My phone blew up with 800 plus item listing deletions. I had spotty phone and internet access so I had to wait to deal with this until we returned to the US. 

3) I called eBay customer special services unit on 12/09/19 and was told to respond to the email notice of account closure and describe what happened and my account would be fully restored in 48 to 72 hours as they could see the audit trail of what happened and it was, " not my fault".  I expressed concern that since it was clear from their records what happened - would a email response from me really resolve this and would it really happen in 72 hours or less? I was told yes. But I remain very worried and concerned. 

4) My invoice/fee records are a mess, my store is wiped clean, and this is the tail end of the holidays and I have customers waiting.  

Has this happened to anyone else - to the mod's is this the correct way of resolving this issue? What can I do to make sure that my store is reactivated as soon as possible.  I have been a seller in good standing with 100% buyer feedback for over 5 years & never violated any eBay policy, procedure or protocol.

Thanking you in advance.  

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, so sorry this happened to you. I am going to page one of the eBay. Community employees to your post to see if they can assist in some way.

Brian.t@ebay, is there any help for this seller? Thx in advance!

[epowerbargains]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your efforts to help me!!!!!!! 

[loveyourimagination49]

brian@ebay

[epowerbargains]

Thank you very much!!!!

[brettyg599]

Yes, this has happened to me.

My store got hacked, I was told  by Ebay it was on their server side, not on my side as in hacked email address and such.  A person listed high end computer equipment at over 50% off and sold like gangbusters even though I noticed this in less than 4 hours I believe even though I was targeted in the middle of the night.  I just woke up with a bad feeling much earlier than normal, or possibly even on silent the phone still makes some kind of vibration or something so I could tell I was getting tons of notifications.

If you just talked to regular ebay support you need to immediately call and talk to someone in the right department.  I can't remember what it is but something like "fraud"

When this happened to me it did seem like they straightened it all out, I am concerned they ended your listings though.  I also kept getting messages and feedback from these upset buyers despite they told me I would not get anything from them.  They did remove all feedback though.

You need to call ebay over and over today until someone handles this.  THIS IS A HUGE DEAL.  I am really sorry this happened to you when it happened to me it was super scary.

I was literally logged into my account and on with the fraud team as I saw them changing my email on my account to their email.  I just kept wondering what happens if I took an hour longer to notice something was going on really bad.  Also be sure to request compensation.  Atleast multiple months of your store for free, it is unforgivable after all this time their servers are still not secure. 

Hopefully ebay does the right thing, keep this thread updated. Best of luck!

[epowerbargains]

Hi - thank you so much for sharing your experience. Before I left on vacation, I thought everything was handled and it appeared that everything was getting resolved and back to normal.

When my entire store was removed by eBay, I was shocked and very upset. 

I will continue to do everything possible to resolve this - I am disappointed as I am a LOL "rule follower" and stay between the lines  doing what is required for eBay as well as customers - so this feels like a real slap in the face.

 I'll keep this thread updated. Thanks so much for your kind words and support. 

[pink.fish.rule]

Hopefully this thing with it supposedly being "fixed" and then the store closure is an example of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing and it will get all sorted out quickly.

Not that there's ever a good time, but the worst possible time of the year for this to happen to you.

[epowerbargains]

Sadly, I have a funny feeling that you may have nailed the problem spot on - I am very concerned that the entire store was wiped out because over 60 cases were opened by customers due to their purchase of items listed by the hacker and over 60 refunds were given by eBay on those fraudulent listings. And now - during the time when sales are vital I am stuck not having any real assurance that this will be fixed. 

It looks/feels like I am being punished (perhaps by a bot system) for the horrible thing that this hacker did........But once you are in eBay jail - even if you are innocent trying to get someone with the keys to get you out seems really challenging. 

What is really alarming is that this could happen to anyone.  

[epowerbargains]

Well this situation is far worse than I ever expected. 

I called eBay today to get a neg and neutral removed for two items that were listed by the hacker.  eBay did remove both. 

I then asked to speak to Trust and Safety to find out the status of my account restriction.  Only to find out that what I was told yesterday was false.  You know the old duck shuffle and say whatever gets someone off the phone routine. I did not believe what I was told then - thus the second call. 

I was now told that I need to provide a receipt for each of the over 800 items that were listed for sale on my account. Keep in mind that many of the items were purchased from and then up for resale on eBay.  But that does not matter. I sell household stuff I don't need, vintage jewelry and stuff under $100. I do not sell designer or frequently faked items. Never had a neg or a neutral or an unresolved case. Our store was rated at 100% for years. 

I am supposed to get proof of purchase - proof on manufacture purchase on each item and upload it. 800 items. Find proof of purchase and upload it for 800 items.  Just imagine 800 uploads. Nobody wants to even check out my purchase history for some assurance that many of the items were purchased right here on eBay.  Even if I was to try to do such a thing the holiday sales season would be long gone. Just think of the hours involved in finding & uploading receipts for flip flops, used books and vintage jewelry. 

So - I quit. I am even relieved. The hacking mess was bad enough but this is just the push I needed to let this go entirely.  I am very glad I don't need eBay for income.  For several years it was fun but no more. 

I will sell some stuff on other sites here and there. Craigslist some stuff. Donate for a tax write off and regain a room and some degree of sanity.  The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  

Clearly,  eBay has a circular logic system to punish and destroy great sellers who NEVER ever did anything wrong to any buyer, followed eBay policy to the letter and maintained 100% buyer ratings. Fall into their trap and you will be destroyed.

I would and will never buy from or recommend eBay to anyone ever again - this is a shameful situation and a warning to anyone who sells on eBay - your account could be restricted  and all listings pulled for no reason anytime. 

I am disgusted, frustrated but feel oddly free and liberated. 

To all the great people on this board and the wonderful buyers who visited my store - I sincerely wish you the best. 

[brian@ebay]

---

@epowerbargains wrote:

Well this situation is far worse than I ever expected. 

I called eBay today to get a neg and neutral removed for two items that were listed by the hacker.  eBay did remove both. 

I then asked to speak to Trust and Safety to find out the status of my account restriction.  Only to find out that what I was told yesterday was false.  You know the old duck shuffle and say whatever gets someone off the phone routine. I did not believe what I was told then - thus the second call. 

I was now told that I need to provide a receipt for each of the over 800 items that were listed for sale on my account. Keep in mind that many of the items were purchased from and then up for resale on eBay.  But that does not matter. I sell household stuff I don't need, vintage jewelry and stuff under $100. I do not sell designer or frequently faked items. Never had a neg or a neutral or an unresolved case. Our store was rated at 100% for years. 

I am supposed to get proof of purchase - proof on manufacture purchase on each item and upload it. 800 items. Find proof of purchase and upload it for 800 items.  Just imagine 800 uploads. Nobody wants to even check out my purchase history for some assurance that many of the items were purchased right here on eBay.  Even if I was to try to do such a thing the holiday sales season would be long gone. Just think of the hours involved in finding & uploading receipts for flip flops, used books and vintage jewelry. 

So - I quit. I am even relieved. The hacking mess was bad enough but this is just the push I needed to let this go entirely.  I am very glad I don't need eBay for income.  For several years it was fun but no more. 

I will sell some stuff on other sites here and there. Craigslist some stuff. Donate for a tax write off and regain a room and some degree of sanity.  The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  

Clearly,  eBay has a circular logic system to punish and destroy great sellers who NEVER ever did anything wrong to any buyer, followed eBay policy to the letter and maintained 100% buyer ratings. Fall into their trap and you will be destroyed.

I would and will never buy from or recommend eBay to anyone ever again - this is a shameful situation and a warning to anyone who sells on eBay - your account could be restricted  and all listings pulled for no reason anytime. 

I am disgusted, frustrated but feel oddly free and liberated. 

To all the great people on this board and the wonderful buyers who visited my store - I sincerely wish you the best. 

---

Hi @epowerbargains, I'm sorry to hear that your account was accessed and used by a scammer. My suggestion for you is to reply to the email you received from us on November 29 and explain the situation with the account takeover you experienced. This email will go directly to the team that took this action on your account, so explaining your situation directly to them via this email is the best course of action as this point. Please keep me updated with the response you receive!

[epowerbargains]

Thank you for your response - your suggestion is what I was told to do the day before yesterday. I have sent an email describing the account take over etc.  with no response as yet. 

However, this is different than what I was told today over the phone and the restriction notice does say that I must provide a receipt for each of the over 800 listings - there is no reason given for this request for information.  There has never been a complaint against me or my store from anyone.  I would understand it if perhaps one or several of my listings was in question - tell me why & ask for purchase verification - no problem. But it is absolutely unfair to demand a receipt for each of 800 listings on a whim - for no discernable reason.  

[a_c_green]

---

@epowerbargains wrote:

Thank you for your response - your suggestion is what I was told to do the day before yesterday. I have sent an email describing the account take over etc.  with no response as yet. 

However, this is different than what I was told today over the phone and the restriction notice does say that I must provide a receipt for each of the over 800 listings - there is no reason given for this request for information.

---

It sounds like at some point the wrong canned response got attached to your case. CS people looking at that case then parroted the wrong explanation when you asked for more details.

That demand for receipts is made when eBay suspects that you might be selling fakes, and they want to see where you obtained whatever high-priced, high-scam items you might be offering at suspiciously low prices. In this case, however, the problem wasn't with the items you were selling, but the false listings from the hackers that triggered this account meltdown. It should be pretty straightforward to identify the time of attack, delete the fake listings and leave the earlier ones alone.

At this point, it sounds like the password compromise (or however they got in) has been resolved and the fake listings taken down, so you should be (but are not) past the point of  where a suspicious seller (not you) would be asked to document the remainder of his listings. Someone at eBay needs to cancel or override that demand.

Whether eBay can also restore your obliterated listings is another question. If they're still visible in any folder within your account (e.g. Ended listings or Unsold listings), it should be possible to reactivate them. If you can't find them on-line anywhere, I sincerely hope that eBay can. Good luck.

[epowerbargains]

Thank you for your thoughts. Honestly, I feel like the situation with my store is getting to the hopeless point.

When the account was hacked, the hacker opened an anchor store under my account ( per eBay this should have been impossible as there is a review process before eBay approves an anchor store).  I was told my account would not be charged - but just saw the charge on my account - so I need to get this reversed -  yet another painful phone call where I tell my story for the 30th time. 

I am stuck in some bot loop hell and there is no way out because it seems like there is nobody who wants to take the time to ask - how could a 5 plus year seller with 100% buyer feedback and no unresolved cases deserve having their 800 plus listings removed during the holidays - when it is clear as day that a hacker compromised the account. During that account compromise I worked hand in glove with eBay to resolve the mess as quickly as possible. I wanted to ensure that the fraud listings were removed, all buyers were notified and refunded and I reached out to the over 100 people who sent messages wanting to buy the fraudulent items but had questions and explained the account takeover and asked them not to make a purchase. 

I then put the store on vacation and went out of the US for 18 days - intending to return and contact customers who expressed interest in a purchase as soon as I returned. Midway thru my vacation - eBay restricted my account - deleted all 800 plus listings.  Initially, I was told to respond to the restriction & explain that the account was hacked - I did so.  Later, I was told by a different person - no - you must provide a receipt for each and every one of your 800 removed listings. Why? No answer - no explanation. 

My account has always been in excellent standing with 100% buyer feedback. This is a horrible way to treat a honest and dedicated seller.

I feel so stupid that I invested so much time, energy and funds only to be slapped in the face by eBay for doing nothing wrong. 

[pink.fish.rule]

They KNOW it wasn't you who changed to an anchor store and they STILL went ahead and charged you?