sheila@ebay
I don't know the source, Sheila. I do know there have been a number of posts asking about how to earn badges, etc., from the Sri Lankan members.
It is an assumption on my part that they're being told that participation in the Community somehow enhances their selling accounts via higher visibility or in some other fashion, or lends credibility to their selling account.
Several of these members are simply copy/pasting other people's questions from Reddit or Quora discussions and posting those in new threads as if they were their own questions/situations. They are also copy/pastings each other's questions and reposting them as though they were original. It appears they've been coached or "schooled" on how to post on the boards, but to what end? Hard to say . . .
We've also seen these members give solutions to replies that are obviously not solutions--not to offend anyone who's received a solution. Even I've received one or two that asked the OP a follow-up question and could certainly not be considered a solution to anything.
It makes sense to see all these new topics, helpfuls, solutions, etc., if one looks at the badges available to Community participants. It's not too much of a stretch to come to the conclusion that they're attempting to earn those badges.
Shortly after they all started posting, I did a quick Google search of potential sites that might be counseling these members, and most of the results involved YouTube channels that were in their native language. I listened to one for maybe 15 minutes, and recognized the phrase "discussion boards" (IIRC), since it apparently doesn't translate well. If eBay has anyone on staff who speaks the language, it might be helpful to listen to them.
If I run across anything more concrete, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you know how assumptions can miss the mark and appearances can be misleading . . . but you also know the saying about how to identify a duck.
Let me know through an @ tag or private message if I can provide any further information.
