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Posted on 20 May 2009 at 13:58 in eBay, eBay Customer Service, Fraud, Legal, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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15 May 2009

DESTROY ALL COUNTERFEITS! - eBay's New June 2009 User Agreement

DESTROY ALL COUNTERFEITS! - eBay's New June 2009 User Agreement
14 May 2009
EventHorizon1984
Commentary

We made a condensed comment on the AuctionByte blog "eBay Revises Fakes Policy: Return, not Destroy". What follows is a full article.

The material in this article is provided to you free of charge, "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Basically talk to a attorney figuratively face-to-face when seeking legal advice. Not that we're dispensing any.

The May 13th AuctionBytes articles "eBay's New Policy Instructs Buyers to Destroy Fakes" and "Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy" brought to light a section in eBay's User Agreement, that would be implemented 14 June 2009.

For covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded, buyers are required to destroy an item if they claim it is not authentic. Once a buyer confirms destruction of the item, eBay will reimburse the buyer.

For covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded, sellers agree to not hold buyers or eBay responsible for the destruction of an item if it is not believed to be authentic

Looking at the California statutes, eBay INC being located in the State of California, this type of action is covered under "California Criminal Law", "Crimes Against Property", "Larceny", "Grand Theft", etal.

All 50 U.S. States and U.S. Territories have similar laws. Then there's the matter of Interstate Commerce, and it's coverage by the U.S. Attorney General and the F.B.I.

And yes, there's more.

A day later someone at eBay with a legal background must have read the MBA produced User Agreement.

***Updated: Changes to the eBay User Agreement***

May 14, 2009 | 04:46PM PST/PT

Scott Shipman

On May 15, eBay will be releasing a revised user agreement. This revision will address the obligations of buyers and sellers in transactions where a buyer has alleged receipt of a counterfeit item.

Under the revised agreement:

Buyers and sellers shall work in good faith during the resolution process to determine that the item is not counterfeit.
If buyer and seller cannot determine that the item is not counterfeit, buyers are required to send the item back to the seller. Cost of return shipping will be paid by the buyer or eBay, unless both buyer and seller have agreed otherwise.
Covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded will count as a violation by the seller of our prohibited and infringing items policy.
If eBay determines the buyer is not acting in good faith, eBay may restrict or eliminate their ability to return items or make future claims.
Sellers shall not list, advertise, or cause that item to appear for sale, barter or trade, on any eBay Inc. web site or service.

These revisions to the user agreement are being made to:

Provide sellers protections against inaccurate counterfeit claims.
Provide buyers assurances about the authenticity of the item received.
Maintain integrity of the eBay marketplace.

The new User Agreement is effective immediately for new members registering on or after today, and on June 14, 2009, for current members. You don't need to do anything to accept the new User Agreement. If you don't wish to accept it, you can follow these instructions to close your account.

Sincerely,
Scott Shipman
Senior Counsel
eBay Inc.

For the casual reader, these are eBay User Agreement sections being referenced:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html

Buyer Obligations:

Buyers agree to file claims in accordance with the conditions, exclusions and coverage limitations as further explained in the eBay Purchase Protection policy.
For covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded, eBay will reimburse eligible buyers by PayPal or by coupon redeemable on eBay, in eBay’s discretion, based upon a number of factors, such as whether the buyer has a PayPal account, the type of payment made to the seller and the payment amount.
Buyers who eBay believes are not acting in good faith, abusing the program or a seller, attempting to commit or committing fraud, or trying to unjustly benefit from the program may become ineligible for eBay Purchase Protection. Buyers who become ineligible will be notified by eBay prior to ineligibility. eBay reserves the right to temporarily, indefinitely or permanently suspend the eBay Purchase Protection program immediately if we suspect abuse, excessive claims, tampering, or interference with the proper working of the program.
eBay Purchase Protection doesn’t cover certain types and categories of goods or services, false, abusive or illegitimate claims, or transactions where you have been or may be compensated from another third party. Please read the eBay Purchase Protection policy for more details.

Seller Obligations:

Sellers agree to follow the program requirements as explained in the eBay Purchase Protection policy.
All sellers with an open claim must work in good faith to resolve the claim, refund money and/or provide a replacement item, and accept a return of the item as explained by the eBay Purchase Protection Policy.
If a seller doesn't resolve a claim, the seller agrees to pay eBay the amount paid by eBay to the buyer in accordance with the eBay Purchase Protection policy. eBay will invoice the seller for these amounts and seller agrees to pay eBay in accordance with the invoice terms.

Obligations when a buyer opens a claim alleging an item is counterfeit:

Sellers shall work with the buyer in good faith during the resolution process to provide buyer with appropriate documentation or other assurances to satisfy the buyer that the item is not counterfeit, if such information is available.
If buyer and seller cannot agree that the item is not counterfeit, for covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded, buyers are required to send the item back to the seller. Cost of return shipping will be paid by the buyer or eBay in our sole discretion, unless otherwise agreed upon by the buyer and seller.
Covered claims that meet the conditions and are not excluded will count as a violation by the seller of our prohibited and infringing items policy.
Sellers shall not list, advertise, or cause that item to appear for sale, barter or trade, on any eBay Inc. (including our subsidiaries, joint ventures, and other members of the group) web site or service located around the world.
While buyers are not obligated to provide third party confirmation that an item is counterfeit in order to open a claim, in cases where there is written confirmation from the manufacturer that the item is counterfeit, or in additional circumstances where eBay elects to exercise its discretion, eBay may request the destruction of the item by an authorized third party and at eBay’s expense.

Let us briefly go through the new legalize. Keep in mind that legal documents are written to minimize, or eliminate, vague, and subject to multiple interpretation, language. At least that is the goal.

Condensing the above counterfeit section down to a more understandable form:

"If buyer and seller cannot agree that the item is not counterfeit" this "will count as a violation by the seller of our prohibited and infringing items policy", and "buyers are not obligated to provide third party confirmation that an item is counterfeit".

Same as Scott Shipman's announcement, got it?

This part is solid:

"in cases where there is written confirmation from the manufacturer that the item is counterfeit"

However there remains more language that eBay's legal team must clean up. Which is not necessarily Scott Shipman's pervue. See http://news.ebay.com/team.cfm Michael Jacobson, eBay Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Take a look at this:

"or in additional circumstances where eBay elects to exercise its discretion, eBay may request the destruction of the item by an authorized third party and at eBay’s expense."

Read it very carefully. eBay can destroy seller property when "eBay elects to exercise its discretion". This part does not clearly explain "discretion". In less legalize, "discretion" could be very very very very loosely replaced with 'whim'.

This has a bit more clarity:

"eBay may request the destruction of the item by an authorized third party".

But lacks the explanation of what happens should eBay NOT request destruction. Because of the word "may", the statement can be interpreted as:

"or in additional circumstances where eBay elects to exercise its discretion, eBay may or may not request the destruction of the item by an authorized third party and at eBay’s expense."

Consider what happens in the event that eBay does NOT request destruction of the item? Do you know what happens to the seller's item? There are multiple possibilities, indicating that this part is vague, and NOT clearly written.

Eventually eBay's legal team needs to put in a list of authorized third parties that will be used for destruction. That is fairly minor though.

This part is not minor:

"at eBay’s expense."

This CAN be interpreted as, 'eBay will pay for the cost of destruction'. Fine, but incomplete. Remember IN CONTEXT "at eBay’s expense" refers to the cost of destruction PERIOD.

Lets revisit the original issue in the original User Agreement. eBay makes the buyer whole and pays for destruction of a seller's item, but THEN who ultimately pays for the money given back to the buyer? The rewritten user agreement remains ambiguous or missing in this matter.

Consider what happens when a seller resolves the claim in good faith, informs the buyer to return the item for a refund, the buyer maintains the item is counterfeit, and eBay chooses to "exercise its discretion"?

"If a seller doesn't resolve a claim, the seller agrees to pay eBay the amount paid by eBay to the buyer"

Is it likely that this provision, under Seller Obligations, would be applied whereby eBay unilaterally chooses to "exercise its discretion", declares the claim is not resolved, and eBay has the now seller's item destroyed?

"eBay will invoice the seller for these amounts and seller agrees to pay eBay in accordance with the invoice terms."

Anyone notice there is more 'whim' in the new rewritten user agreement? Is this deliberate or an oversight?

And as William Cobb would put it, soooo Is there more? Yes.

Think it's time to hit to personally hit the word processor Michael Jacobson ESQ, and clean up this mess?

"It's sort of an obsession with me to do the best I can for a client. My clients aren't blameless. Many of them are crooks. Probably a lot of them are guilty. That's not for me to determine. That's for a jury to determine."
Perry Mason

"The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done."
Oliver Wendell Holmes JR, U.S. Supreme Court

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The "DESTROY ALL COUNTERFEITS!" is homage to the Toho Company movie "Kaiju soshingeki" or "Destroy All Monsters!" (1968).

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eBay Media Center - Senior Management
http://news.ebay.com/team.cfm

Michael Jacobson Senior Vice President and General Counsel, eBay Inc.

Download image

As senior vice president and general counsel at eBay, Mike Jacobson's responsibilities include overseeing eBay's legal department, its risk management program, and its policy group. He is responsible for interactions with content regulators, law enforcement, contracts, SEC compliance, and other legal matters.

Prior to eBay, Mike was a partner with Cooley Godward LLP where he was recognized as an expert in securities law. His responsibilities included corporate and securities transactions, including mergers and acquisition transactions, public offerings, and venture capital financing.

Mike earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, in 1975 from Harvard College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He subsequently received his law degree from Stanford University in 1981, where he was a Nathan Abbot Scholar and a member of Order of the Coif. He also received the Hilmer Oehlmann Jr. award as well as first and second year honors.

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Notable Comments

Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy
by: Grab your torches

Wed May 13 14:28:53 2009
Just calm down, you silly people
When the smoke that you yourselves are generating clears, you'll see that a third party verification is needed. This system is already in place and has been used for a long time.

4343martino ( 1851

)

Well fer sure...every buyer is a honest upstanding citizen of what ever third world country they happen to be in..You should know that by now world-secure....there never has been or ever will be a dishonest e-bay buyer...they dont exist..not in this world or the next..just ask e-bay they will tell ya...LOL>>>What a crock of sh*t e-bay has created with this one..chalk up another one for the lawyers...LOL>>>
Mark

May-13-09 15:27:25 PDT

Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy
by: Grab your torches
Thu May 14 13:45:31 2009

So much hype here.
Where does this false info about mailing counterfeits come from? It is illegal to sell them, yes. Illegal to use USPS to sell them, yes. NOT illegal to use USPS to send them to be authenticated/destroyed.
The eBay UA only states that a buyer must "confirm" that a counterfeit has been destroyed. It says nothing about the manner of that confirmation. The current process for a destroying a counterfeit is not spelled out either. Do you assume this means the buyer just has to say they did? No, they ship it to Texas, where it is supposedly destroyed if counterfeit, or resold if authentic. Is there any reason to believe that this won't be pretty much the same thing?

Any idiot knows that if all eBay will require is a buyer saying they destroyed it, then this cannot possibly be legal. Why then, do you all believe this is what eBay is going to do?

It seems much more likely that the user agreement is being left deliberately vague, for any number of reasons.

I swear, Ina could tell you that eBay Singapore was adding a category for human trafficking and you would all eat it up and repeat it everywhere.
Clowns, all of you.

Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy
by: Grab your torches
Thu May 14 14:18:52 2009

Why doesn't somebody here just go ahead and buy a fake purse? Do it. You'll be making the world a better place removing a counterfeit. Much better than reporting it, getting the listing removed so the seller can peddle it somewhere else. Actually buy it and the fake seller is out the money and the counterfeit.
Now, tell eBay it's a fake and see what they ask you to do.

Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy
by: Grab your torches
Thu May 14 15:04:12 2009

"If ebay doesn't want incorrect information floating around about ANY of its policies, then the policy should be completely transparent and 100% of it posted."

Seriously? This is a defense?
I would like a little more clarity over this policy as well, but that DOES NOT JUSTIFY MAKING THINGS UP!

Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy
by: Grab your torches
Thu May 14 15:11:55 2009

Some secret policies are good.
The list of words in a title that restrict how many of a certain thing you can sell, for example. Make that known and people selling counterfeits know exactly what to avoid.
Exactly how best match works also. Remember when some unscrupulous sellers figured out to put NEW NEW NEW in the title to push their items to the top?

While I do not see the logic behind their vagueness in this case, I wont deign to say that it does not exist. I can't say with any certainty that 100% transparency wouldn't create an opening for the counterfeit sellers to abuse.

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Posted on 15 May 2009 at 10:20 in Commentary, eBay, eBay Customer Service, eBay Spotlight, Fraud, Legal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: AuctionBytes, counterfeit, eBay, eBay Purchase Protection Policy, eBay Revises Fakes Policy Return not Destroy, eBay User Agreement, eBay's New Policy Instructs Buyers to Destroy Fakes, EventHorizon1984, General Counsel, Grab your torches, Grab your torches, Michael Jacobson, Obligations when a buyer opens a claim alleging an item is counterfeit, Puchase Protection Policy, Questions over eBay's New Fakes Policy, revised user agreement, Scott Shipman, User Agreement

13 May 2009

A "Pay with PayPal" Requirement On eBay End Of Auction Message

A "Pay with PayPal" Requirement on eBay End of Auction Message
13 May 2009
EventHorizon1984
Commentary

Nothing like watching eBay push for an investigation of PayPal due to Sherman Antitrust violations.

For a good part of the this year and up until the second weekend in May, after a buyer made a purchase on eBay.com, that buyer received a standard End Of Auction email. And that email started like this:

Dear **customer**,

Congratulations! You committed to buy the following item:Check out and send your payment now to get your item within 4-5 days.

But beginning the second weekend in May 2009, eBay altered the message text. The brand new payment message looks like this:

Hi **customer**,

We hope you enjoy your latest purchase. The next step is pay the seller.
Don't wait. Pay now to get your item within 4-5 days.

Pay with PayPal, the safe and easy way to pay for your eBay purchases.

It does not matter whether a sellers uses direct credit card processing through a merchant account, or one of eBay's straw dog alternatives like ProPay, Moneybookers, Paymate, the buyer will see "Pay with PayPal".

This is what eBay defines as "convenient payment options". That is "convenient" to eBay equals "Pay with PayPal". Or maybe 'Any eBay seller can have a any payment method they want so long as it is PayPal.'

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he want so long as it is black."
Attributed to Henry Ford 1909

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Comments

tryork5ifp ( 262

)

first there was paypal.......then toothbrushpal.....Now there's vegetablepal and genetaliapal!!!!

when will eBAy STOP!!!

May-14-09 12:22:52 PDT

mylegacy-treasures ( 800

)

eBay will stop when they have become the 'we-own-the-world-pal' and Mr. "D" can go to his country club without being embarrassed to admit that he manages a multibillion dollar corporation named eBay. (psssst - don't look at the share price)

May-14-09 12:39:46 PDT

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Posted on 13 May 2009 at 23:30 in Commentary, eBay, eBay Customer Service, Fraud, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Accepted Payments Policy, antitrust, eBay, End of Auction, End of Auction Message, EventHorizon1984, Moneybookers, Pay with PayPal, Paymate, PayPal, ProPay, Sherman

16 April 2009

From eBay - Update your checkout service by June 15

From eBay - Update your checkout service by June 15
14 April 2009
EventHorizon1984

Probably unnoticed by most was the stealth checkout announcement made by eBay on April 13th. See copy of announcement emailed to us. eBay's punctuation and typos not corrected.

If you checkout eBay's Checkout Discussion Board, you'll note that eBay's vaunted PayFlow checkout remains not ready for prime time.

We're already expressed our reservations about the security of the new checkout.

What we're found interesting is maybe Google (and some Google sponsers) thinks the same. Perform a Google search using "eBay PayFlow" and watch what pops up.

"Oh boy."
Samuel Beckett, Quantum Leap

Dear *:

Our records indicate that you?ve recently completed selling transactions through . We?re writing to let you know that as of June 15, will no longer be providing third party checkout service on eBay.

A big step toward reducing unpaid items for sellers is ensuring a secure and consistent checkout experience for buyers. That?s why, in the months ahead, we?ll be working to integrate key functions offered by current third party providers into eBay checkout.

The ultimate goal is to have all checkout and payments take place right on eBay--and to help you make a seamless transition to on-eBay checkout that fully supports your business as usual.

In the interim, as of June 15, sellers will only be allowed to use eBay checkout or third party checkout services offered by one of a select group of approved Certified Providers.

This would be a great time to take a close look at your business needs, and if you haven?t already done so, switch to eBay checkout before June 15.

If you need specific functionality that is not yet integrated into eBay checkout, you can choose a solution offered by a Certified Provider approved for off-eBay checkout.

We?ll keep you updated as new functionality becomes available in eBay checkout. We?ll also make sure you have the time and support you need to make a smooth transition down the road.

Thanks for helping us keep eBay a great place to buy and sell.

Sincerely,

Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

eBay Certified Provider Program
http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ns/checkout.html

If you need additional checkout features not available through eBay, some of our listing solution Certified Providers can help:

Benefits:

Offer payment by credit card
Perform tax calculation
Offer additional shipping carrier options
Show only the specific countries you want to ship to
Support redemption of your own coupon codes
Offer insurance
Collect important information like color selection, customization requests
Up-sell your other eBay items with a customizable merchandising module
Custom seller branding on purchase summary

Certified Providers:
Auctiva
ChannelAdvisor
Kyozou
Vendio

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Posted on 16 April 2009 at 12:08 in eBay, eBay Customer Service, Fraud, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: 3rd party checkout, Auctiva, Certified Provider Program, Certified Providers, ChannelAdvisor, checkout, Denesh Lathi, eBay, eBay checkout, Kyozou, PayFlow, third party checkout, Vendio

27 March 2009

eBay PayFlow Checkout, Hacker Approved??

eBay PayFlow Checkout, Hacker Approved??
26 March 2009
EventHorizon1984

eBay plans to deactivate 3rd party checkout around June 2009. Meaning eBay Sellers with Merchant Accounts (using 3rd party checkout), allowing non-PayPal credit card payments, are required to sign up for a mandatory PayFlow account beginning March 1st 2009.

Well an event that appears interestingly timed with eBay's new PayFlow checkout occurred. It appears that someone may have conducted the first large scale test of the vulnerability of eBay's new eBay/PayFlow checkout.

Cyber Attack: Unsolicited, Unstoppable PayPal Payments
By: Ina Steiner
Wed Mar 18 2009 22:42:14

"There were several disturbing characteristics of this attack. It appears that scammers could use bogus information (including email address, physical address, and phone number) to send payments with credit cards that were, one would conclude, compromised or stolen. In some of those cases, it seems PayPal failed to identify them as suspicious to the merchant in a timely fashion."
"But we know that when one incident surfaces, they are bound to be followed by more, so keep an eye out for strange activity in your PayPal account, and keep a close eye on your credit cards!"

Not that we find this surprising.

Look up active registered eBay Developer spopa2006 ( 3 ) sometime, as we blog back in time.

"According to the affidavit, Popa was sentenced to 71 days in jail in Michigan in 2006 after being charged for using a hijacked eBay account to defraud someone into paying $1,448 for an item that didn't exist."

Remember, eBay code monkeys and Developers are working on and implementing software to allow buyers to input their credit card information directly on the eBay site and through eBay owned PayPal/PayFlow.

So your credit card can be safe.

"What's in Your wallet?"*

* What can we say, we like the Capital One commercials.

spopa2006
Re: Mail address of an ebay User ?
Posted: Jun 7, 2007 12:41 AM

Hey there. I wrote a similar project in C++ by using pointers. However, the implemented network interface i used in C++ is no longer supported and I am not a C# guru as I am in c++. Tell me whether or not you got your solution. You can email me at gam30v3r2007@yahoo.com

Suspect in 'phishing' scheme indicted
A Romanian immigrant is accused of using e-mails to dupe thousands of people into sharing financial records.

By Dan Browning, Star Tribune

Last update: June 20, 2007 – 9:55 PM

"A Romanian immigrant was indicted Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis on charges that he operated a computerized "phishing" scheme for several years that raked in financial records and personal identification from thousands of individuals, including many from Minnesota."
"Sergiu Daniel Popa, 20, of Shelby Township, Mich., was indicted on three counts of possessing 15 or more devices designed to collect data on the Internet without authorization, and three counts of aggravated identity theft."
"According to {FBI Special Agent Theodore} Theisen's affidavit and the indictment:"

"Popa had more than 7,000 identities of victims of various phishing schemes, together with bank account, credit card and Social Security numbers, and passwords for some eBay, online banking and e-mail accounts. He offered to sell the stolen information to others."

"Popa was convicted of larceny by conversion on June 12, 2006, stemming from a case in Saline, Mich. He was accused of using a hijacked eBay account to trick an individual into sending him $1,448 to buy a product that didn't exist. He served 71 days, Theisen said."

From eBay Stores Forum
Phisher Indicted - check out this article

spopa2006 (2 ) View Listings | Report Jun-26-07 13:34 PDT 3 of 3
Listen guys. I am Sergiu D. Popa. I am that horrible guy!

Now let me make things a bit clear for you. First and foremost, I think that the Feds are a bit mentally challenged to put me behind bars because I have access to a lot of databases and I can predict every single move one tries to make against me.

And by the way, employing the described techniques by the newspaper article I successfully obtained about 1.1 Million dollars. I never run a Western Union Scheme as the newspaper says. I run an insurance scheme and therefore there shouldn't be any complaints. Insurances have plenty of money.

They also fail to mention in the newspapers reports who I really am in terms of my education and my real story. If you would really know my background and my level of education, you would probably realize that I can listen to your phone conversation, or maybe take a refinance loan on your house without you knowing. I am really appalled by the fact that you guys are making such comments on my behalf. Who are you to judge me? You guys make me laugh.

They also failed to say that I used to work as a mortgage broker and I regret the mistakes I made by scamming insurance companies but I was only 16 at the time I was doing it. I also offered to pay restitution to the Government. However, they always have to win, and they will never accept restitution because they want to prosecute me.

I have also seen a newspaper article where I was described as speaking a broken English. Let's analyze that for a second. At 14 I was teaching Differential Equations and Mechanics at a 4 yr college in New Hampshire, and by the time I was 15 I graduated high school. I am not a wannabe. As a matter of fact, I think I read more books in my life than the whole FBI Minnesota office. If the newspapers are going to write an article about me, I ask them to tell the whole truth. Call my college professors and ask them who I really am.

I know FBI, NASA, BOP and all those other government bonehead agencies are not happy when a kid who immigrated from another country penetrates their systems, but such is life. Get used to it. If in this life, we would all have an equal level of intelligence the world would come to an end. But how would you guys know that? I bet you guys never actually read a sociology, philosophy or psychology book and actually made something out of it.

But here is a warning to everybody who will post bogus information about me:

I will make your life a hell. Do not test me. Do not post information that is not accurate. I already have enough bad publicity and I do not want more. I want to be left alone.

This also applies to the Feds. I have been a nice guy with you, but once again, you are not smart enough to catch me for one, and I would really hate to see you guys back to stone age. How much would the Feds loose if one of their databases were to be completely deleted?

I am not an evil person, but I could be if I wanted to. Let's all live in peace and harmony. Mind your own business and I will mind my own.

Very Truly Yours,
Sergiu D. Popa

spopa2006 (2 ) View Listings | Report Jun-26-07 23:56 PDT 5 of 5
Why would you think it is a joke? Better yet, what are the reasons for which you think this is a joke?

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Romanian national cops to $700,000 phishing trip

Who's your underworld Popa?

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco

Posted in Crime, 9th October 2008 18:47 GMT

"Sergiu Daniel Popa, who for the past seven years has lived in New York and Michigan, pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to two felonies related to the scheme. He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $500,000. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled."
"According to Popa's plea agreement, the scheme snagged the identities of 7,000 individuals who suffered a net loss of about $700,000. When his house was searched earlier this year, authorities found a machine for imprinting graphics on blank plastic cards, foil ribbons for making holographic images that appear on finished cards, blank cards, and partially created fraudulent drivers' licenses."
Popa also possessed pre-built websites spoofing the online destinations of multiple financial institutions, such as PayPal, SunTrust Bank, and CitiBank, according to an affidavit filed in the case. He offered to sell phishing kits with step-by-step instructions for $1,500 and software and hardware capable of counterfeiting credit cards.
According to the affidavit, Popa was sentenced to 71 days in jail in Michigan in 2006 after being charged for using a hijacked eBay account to defraud someone into paying $1,448 for an item that didn't exist.

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Posted on 27 March 2009 at 12:45 in Commentary, eBay, eBay Customer Service, Fraud, Legal, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Capital One, checkout, credit card, credit card, Dan Goodlin, eBay, gam30v3r2007@yahoo.com, gateway, hacker, merchant account, Michigan, PayFlow, PayFlow Pro, payment, payment gateway, PayPal, Popa, Romania, scammer, Sergiu Daniel Popa, Sergiu Popa, spopa2006, Star Tribune, What's In Your Wallet

24 February 2009

eBay Garage - Do you really want eBay IN your computer?

Do you really want eBay IN your computer?
24 February 2009
EventHorizon1984

Following in the wake of the hack of eBay 3rd party service provider Auctiva, eBay has announce a protection service.

eBay: Let us look inside your PC, Nick Heath, 23 February 2009 17:30 GMT
eBay to Introduce Malware Scanning Service Called Garage, Ina Steiner, 24 February 2009

According to the reports, "eBay Garage, will run an embedded application that will scan users' PCs for any viruses or spyware" and "the user will be directed to the site of a security vendor." And "eBay is partnering with two, as yet unnamed, security companies."

One of the companies will probably be Symantec. And based on past history, the other company is likely to be owned by eBay, or eBay will have a financial stake in it, or eBay has plans to buy or invest in it.

The eBay Garage program will be run under the auspices of Dave Cullinane, eBay Marketplaces CISO (Chief Information Security Officer). It appears one of his last assignments was CISO of Washington Mutual.

To any serious user of eBay we ask, 'do you really want eBay code monkey written applications loaded onto your hard drive, and running around in your computer?'

"Life was simple before World War II. After that, we had systems."
Admiral Grace Hopper

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Posted on 24 February 2009 at 11:20 in Commentary, eBay, Fraud | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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19 February 2009

The eBay PayPal 20% Hold Solution

The eBay PayPal 20% Hold Solution
17 February 2009
EventHorizon1984

See also The eBay PayPal 5% Hold Solution.
Related article, TameBay: PayPal reserves: here's what's really happening

eBay tests "improvements" on it's International sites, before applying them to the U.S. site. An interesting "improvement" coming soon to U.S. eBay sellers is PayPal holding up to 20% of a sellers gross.

You can see Paypal's draconian application of it's "Reserves for Premier and Business Accounts" policy in the Great Britain thread (PayPal Reserve and Rolling Reserve) below.

With PayPal required to report U.S. seller sales to the IRS in 2011, this is a golden opportunity for PayPal to withhold 10% of a U.S. seller's funds for tax purposes.

Plus up to 20% for U.S. seller reserves.

"Ah arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you!"
Ambassador Londo Mollari, Babylon 5

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http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1100224092
Paypal Reserve and Rolling Reserve

always-authentic-auctions (3925 ) 10-02-09 07:43 GMT
We received an email out of the blue from Paypal on Saturday to let us know that our account that we have held for six years will now be subject to a rolling reserve of 6%. This means that from now on Paypal will deduct 6% of all of payments and hold them on a rolling 6 month basis to protect itself against chargeback's. It also on the same day took the minimum reserve amount from our account of £500.

Over the next six months Paypal will hold somewhere in the region of £6000 - £7000 of our money. As this is a rolling amount as long as we are trading we will not see this amount back. If we stopped trading in six months it would take a further six months to get then money fully back.

According to the person I spoke to at Paypal yesterday this is something that is rolling out to ALL Paypal accounts and that we are 'lucky' as some people are being charged up to 20% with 10% being the norm.

Over the last six years we have sold the same items and have had a tiny amount of chargeback's and buyer complaints, I would estimate that is easily less than 0.5% of our total sales, and that would be a high estimate.

How then Paypal can justify this I have no idea, in the past when there was a buyer complaint or chargeback they simply reversed a pending withdrawal, this has worked fine for the last years.

As the reserve is a rolling amount this effectively means our Paypal fees have increased by 3 time's overnight withy no notice.

Has anyone else experienced this ?

*dimebar* (74 ) 10-02-09 09:12 GMT 1 of 23
There have been a small number of reports - from high volume sellers.

It isn't the norm, PayPal are telling you porkies.

Sadly, what they are doing is in their UA:

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_payments-outside#biz-policy

10.4 Reserves for Premier and Business Accounts. When managing risk for Premier and Business Accounts, we may take various steps, such as establishing a Reserve, changing the speed or method of payment for withdrawals, set off amounts from your Balance and/or requiring you to deposit funds with us as security for your obligations to us or third parties. The following types of events may cause us to establish a Reserve:

1. You cease a substantial portion of or all of your business or adversely alter your business/operations;

2. There is a material adverse change in your business;

3. You or your business becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to pay debts as they fall due;

4. We receive a disproportionate number of customer complaints, Reversals, Chargebacks, Claims, fees, fines, penalties or other liability related to your Account; or

5. We reasonably believe that you will not be able to perform your obligations under this Agreement, the Card Processing Agreement, or any other agreement you have entered into with PayPal.

We may immediately establish a Reserve if we reasonably believe that it is warranted under this section. If we establish a Reserve, we will provide you with notice specifying the terms of the Reserve. You may close your Account if you object to the Reserve. We may increase or decrease the amount of the Reserve, provided that in our reasonable judgment the amount of the Reserve is related to the risk for which it was created. If your Premier or Business Account is closed for any reason, we have the right to hold the Reserve for up to 180 Days. You agree to provide us, upon our reasonable request and at your own expense, information about your finance and operations, including your most recent financial statements (certified or otherwise) and merchant processing statements (if applicable). You also agree to undertake, at your own expense, any further action (including, without limitation, executing any necessary documents and registering any form of document reasonably required by us to allow us to perfect any form of security interest or otherwise) required to establish a Reserve in a manner reasonably determined by us.

Has your account had any payment reversals, charge-backs or claims within the last 6 months?

Do you sell scammable or expensive items?

Personally, I think it's another excuse to create another revenue stream.

One man can make a difference.
Need help? Click here for the Popular Links and Useful Me Pages thread

always-authentic-auctions (3925 ) 10-02-09 09:18 GMT 2 of 23
Hi, yes I read the terms and conditions and none of the reasons they quote apply to us. I have just got off the phone to them, they cannot help me with the specifics of our reserve, I am awaiting a call back from the team that applied the reserve. The shocking thing about this is that because the reserve is rolling this effectively means an increase in our fees of 6% which is a huge amount over a year, it's basically our profit that they have just wiped out.

always-authentic-auctions (3925 ) 10-02-09 09:21 GMT 3 of 23
Just another point to add. We were given no notice of this happening other than the email from the US, although when I checked our account straight after reading the email the reserve had already been applied.

When I asked why we had not had any notice and when this was announced I was told by the Paypal agent that this was an ongoing process that started at the beginning of the year and that they had 60 million accounts to go through.

So other sellers should be prepared for the same thing.

global_megastore (21239 ) 10-02-09 10:54 GMT 4 of 23
Paypal did this to us last November. They put a 3% rolling reserve on our account and then later that day sent us an email telling us they were doing it. We ended up having a conference call with Paypal in Ireland and the States and were told that this was because we sell high risk items and have a high rate of non-deliveries!? We sell children's duvet covers (hardly 'high risk'), Paypal refused to explain how they decided we have a high rate of non-deliveries, and wouldn't give us any specifics.

Currently they are holding over £6,000 of our eBay payments.

This reserve made us decide to stop accepting Paypal as a payment option for our non-eBay business. This means Paypal now lose out on approx £500,000 worth of business from us.

Would be interested to hear from anyone else affected by these rolling reserves.

*dimebar* (74 ) 10-02-09 11:38 GMT 5 of 23
"This means Paypal now lose out on approx £500,000 worth of business from us."

:-D

I hope you told them that to boot

One man can make a difference.
Need help? Click here for the Popular Links and Useful Me Pages thread

global_megastore (21239 ) 10-02-09 14:23 GMT 6 of 23
We did explain this to the representative we spoke to in the States. He said he was only concerned with 'risk' and it was our decision how we accept payments. He made it very easy for us to decide that Paypal wasn't the answer.

global_megastore (21239 ) 10-02-09 14:29 GMT 7 of 23
To make things clear, let me state that I am not posting here simply to knock Paypal. But holding a % of our money for long periods of time could badly affect our business, especially in these financial times. All it does is drive us away from Paypal, and in doing so, away from eBay. Amazon, VISA, Mastercard etc don't give us these kind of problems.

*dimebar* (74 ) 10-02-09 20:40 GMT 8 of 23
Some corporations can't see the woods for the trees.

One man can make a difference.
Need help? Click here for the Popular Links and Useful Me Pages thread

global_megastore (21239 ) 11-02-09 09:52 GMT 10 of 23
I think that one of the reasons Paypal aren't keen to discuss this is because they do not fully understand how and why the reversals are placed. We got lots of conflicting information from different Paypal representatives (in the UK and Ireland), none of whom seemed to have been fully informed/educated.

After approx 3 weeks we got a call from 'Risk' in the States who explained that the reserve had been placed and offered very vague reasons for it.

He also made it clear to us that Paypal could increase the % of the reserve if they wanted to.

*dimebar* (74 ) 11-02-09 10:38 GMT 11 of 23
Same old story from the PayPal chimps.

One man can make a difference.
Need help? Click here for the Popular Links and Useful Me Pages thread

junkerking (0 ) 11-02-09 10:42 GMT 12 of 23
We got lots of conflicting information from different Paypal representatives (in the UK and Ireland), none of whom seemed to have been fully informed/educated.

as dime said paypal chimps

cheryl30uk78 (Private ) 11-02-09 17:07 GMT 13 of 23
and in the meantime they hold ppls money while they get the intrest another pp profit makeing enterprize

secure4life (40 ) 12-02-09 01:07 GMT 14 of 23
We just received our reserve info today...out of the blue. We just started our store in September, therefore I don't know where this is all coming from. Anyway, does anyone know how to maybe avoid this? Or get rid of the reserve on our PayPal account? 5% is a lot - makes me re-think this whole PayPal method...

global_megastore (21239 ) 12-02-09 11:06 GMT 15 of 23
I'd like to ask the same question as secure4life; "Does anyone know how to maybe avoid this? Or get rid of the reserve on our PayPal account?".

I have a feeling that once Paypal have put a reserve in place (i.e. once they get used to holding a sellers money), there is very little chance of the reserve being removed. It looks like we might just have to accept this as an additional cost for selling on eBay.

It's still early days, but it will be interesting to see the reaction should Paypal start rolling this out to more and more sellers. After reading about eBay's poor sales figures for the last year, I'm surprised they're putting more and more obstacles infront of sellers.

banannasarego (26 ) 12-02-09 16:10 GMT 16 of 23
I think it is a simple situation :

PayPal want to be a bank ( and have registered as one in Luxemburg ).

A bank requires a stable supply of capital to lend against - and preferably free of any interest charge.

They can then make discreet loans to other businesses at relatively high interest but knowing what their rolling 6 month capitalisation is.

In effect they are taking a rolling six month loan from you - against your wishes at 0% interest.

secure4life (40 ) 12-02-09 16:32 GMT 17 of 23
Yes...this whole Rollback Reserve idea is very unfortunate. For my situation we have a 5% reserve - even for money which we bring into the account from our own bank account. We ended up putting our store on hold (Vacation Mode)- in order to change all our prices to make up for this 5%. I have been told by PayPal that after 90 days they will review my case and see if the reserve will be taken off. In my opinion this will not be a very good thing for eBay and PayPal. Not only will they lose their customers - they will also lose a lot of money and business. I literally got laughed at when I said that this might cause us to shut down the whole eBay operation...I do not think that is funny. Anyway, I guess we will have to deal with it as sellers and the more people find out and get put on a reserve the more eBay and PayPal will get hurt in the long-run.

global_megastore (21239 ) 12-02-09 16:56 GMT 18 of 23
Thankfully we didn't have to up all our prices, but it has given us a very negative impression of Paypal. We hope to continue using eBay in future, but it makes sense for us from a finacial point of view to concentrate more on avenues that aren't actively hampering our business. It's certainly made us more pro-active to non-eBay sales.

Ebay's not the only place to sell online, but it is the only place that wants to hold a % of our profits for 3 months.

banannasarego (26 ) 12-02-09 17:04 GMT 19 of 23
secure4life:

1) You have not been charged any extra fees - they are just ho;ding a minimum of £500 or x% ( whichever is the greater ) for at least 6 months or until 6 months after: your last trade, and / or closure of your account. Unless there are chargebacks in which case the amount will be reduced accordingly.

2) Having reviewed rhe status of ebays attitude to their members I believe ebay and paypal are very happy to get as many accounts as possible closed: They do not want sellers any more neither do they want buyers - the idea that ebay want to become a mall or like amazon may be incorrect --> THEY WANT TO BE A SEARCH ENGINE to compete with google! so all they want are listings to publish and collect a fee per click!

ndc-uk (8747 ) 15-02-09 12:42 GMT 20 of 23
They hold 5% of every transaction you receive weather or not you refund it. So if you refund a payment you have to subsidise the 5% they hold out of your own pocket.

Our solution?
Up to now we have kept eBay prices in line with our website/amazon/other venues. Now however we will increase our prices by 10% and then offer a 10% discount to people who pay us directly with a credit/debit card or via bank transfer/cheque. Although this may initially slow the sales down once people get used to our policy I beleive the slump in sales will be negligible. Furthermore it will probably push more people to just buy off owr own website which charges us NO commision!

I suggest others join this revolt!

ndc-uk (8747 ) 15-02-09 12:44 GMT 21 of 23
and if someone does decide to pay by paypal they can hold 5% if they wish as the customer would have paid 10% over our desired selling price anyway!

global_megastore (21239 ) 16-02-09 08:47 GMT 22 of 23
Will putting your prices up by 10% not badly affect your standings in Best Match, and drive customers away?

I like the idea of offering a discount for non-Paypal payments, hope this works for you.

ndc-uk (8747 ) 16-02-09 13:51 GMT 23 of 23
it depends on how unique your product is and what your sales strategy is. For us currently the important thing is getting brand recognition for our website and trying to attract as many people as possible to that. We know that our prices are keen and we have a product which has a high demand, and beleive that once customers see tehy will get a lower price than listed if they pay by credit card etc then ultimately they will buy. We anticipate 1-2 slow weeks but we're prepared to buffer that.

Also we are now advertising quite clearly the 10% discount. Have a look at one of our ads.

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Posted on 19 February 2009 at 11:31 in Commentary, eBay, Fraud, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: 10%, 20%, AuctionBytes, bank, eBay, IRS, PayPal, PayPal 20% hold, PayPal 5% hold, PayPal hold, PayPal reserve, PayPal reserve amount, PayPal rolling reserve, reserve, Reserves for Premier and Business Accounts, rolling reserve, TameBay, withhold

11 February 2009

From eBay PayPal Forum - Son may have charged $500 on my Paypal credit card

We feel sorry for the SELLER of the Xbox 360. That is should wisconsinlady715 attempt to use PayPal to return the now well used Xbox 360 bought by her 20 year "just a baby" son.

Although see post #20.

sandypurins provides PayPal's unofficial response; Chargeback

"Your kid's a jerk.
And, yeah, it's probably your fault."
Gregory House M.D., House, The Jerk

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Paypal/Son-May-Have/520088360

Son may have charged $500 on my Paypal credit card

wisconsinlady715

Posts: 21

Feb 11, 2009 6:15 AM

My son recently bought a Xbox360 and some extras and told me that he got the money from the profits from his Ebay business.
Well now I just got my Paypal credit card bill and noticed the minimum payment went up.

At first I thought that maybe Paypal wanted more money because of the financial crisis they are having but then realized that almost $500 dollars was charged last month.

I am thinking of asking Paypal if I could get the number changed.
Any suggestions on what I should do would really help, thanks!

sparkstert (0) View Listings

Posts: 314

(1 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 6:42 AM

Resale the Xbox on Ebay, ground your son and report the card as stolen. They will send you a new one.

Good luck. Don't try to burn the seller, if your son committed the crime.

nosportss

Posts: 726

(2 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 7:15 AM

Simply change your passwords and this time don't give it to your son. If you give your son access, it's your responsibility.

whiskysix 63

Posts: 450

(3 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 9:54 AM

> Resale the Xbox on Ebay, ground your son and report the card as stolen. They will send you a new one.
>
> Good luck. Don't try to burn the seller, if your son committed the crime.

Concur with all of the above.

Your son lied to you and stole from you. The five hundred bucks is the least of your problems. You might want to think hard about how you want to deal with this out of control youngster.

- Dennis

--

Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
-Robert Heinlein

wisconsinlady715 (0)

Posts: 21

(4 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 12:40 PM

My son is 20 years old I can not ground him. Also the Xbox has been used for almost a month it can't be sent back. Why would you even suggest such a horrible act like that anyway?

twangnbang 12

Posts: 554

(5 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 12:48 PM

If your son is that old he should know better.

You could file charges against him but I bet you won't.

If you raised your son to be accountable for his actions he will pay you back.

Now you know better than to trust him.

So.........just change your Paypal password and chalk it up to experience.

Check Ebay’s Stock

diamondntheruff (0 View Listings

Posts: 27

(6 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 12:54 PM

My son is 20 years old I can not ground him. Also the Xbox has been used for almost a month it can't be sent back. Why would you even suggest such a horrible act like that anyway?

Because you never TOLD us how Old and imature your son is. Because you never TOLD us that your son was a liar and a thief. Because you never TOLD us that he has been using the xbox for a month.

For charging 500 on your credit card and letting you find out on your own..........sounds to me like he is STILL young enough to be grounded and he can use his lunch money to pay you back! Just a thought or will he lock himself in his room and throw a fit?

larryflew (1965

Posts: 159

(7 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 1:51 PM

Also the Xbox has been used for almost a month it can't be sent back. Why would you even suggest such a horrible act like that anyway?

There is no item in this thread that even remotely suggested that??? How would resell the xbox be construed as sending it back? OR how would reporting your card as stolen (which it was) mean return the xbox? Certainly "Don't try to burn the seller, if your son committed the crime." can't the line in question.

My sons are considerably older BUT had they done such a thing I would have ........... OK can't go there.

Like others mentioned, the stolen $500 is not the worst problem you have at this point.

gporpc 3761

Posts: 351

(8 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 1:58 PM

How did jr get access to the card?
<

cliniclady2000 (Private) View Listings

Posts: 2,955

(9 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 2:24 PM

Suggestions....make junior pay you back! That is a no brainer. Then change your account passwords. He could not have used this if it was not available to him.

Nurses Walk Softly and Carry a BIG Needle

i3uyer (3) View Listings

Posts: 92

(10 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 3:01 PM

Although the others are very rude they do make good points. At that age there was no way I would have considered doing that to my parents (not without asking/begging 1st anyways lol).

Pressing charges against your son is just nonsense but I do recommend you make him pay you back with interest. I would also take the unit until I was paid back in full.

sparkstert (0) View Listings

Posts: 314

(11 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 3:46 PM

Also the Xbox has been used for almost a month it can't be sent back. Why would you even suggest such a horrible act like that anyway?

Good golly. I thought I gave very solid advice. I would never suggest a return, as that penalizes an innocent seller. I said resale it, because you own it, not your son. What is horrible ? The fact he won't have a video console or the fact he learns there are consequences to his actions. Hate to tell you, but this is where you have to step up as a parent. It is imperative, trust me. He committed a crime. Just because you are a relative does not change that fact.

wisconsinlady715 (0)

Posts: 21

(12 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 3:48 PM

Wow I can not believe how rude and mean you people are. To suggest that I should call the police on my own son tells me the type of people that you must be. I would take my son any day over the likes of you people who would suggest putting you're own son into prison.
Not to mention who says that he was the one that made the charges?
The bill on the account just says charges paid on Ebay. So I still do not know for sure that he was the one that made the charges. Also this is a credit card so he would not have to use my Paypal account at least I do not think?
I hope that you are not suggesting that my son got into my Paypal account to do this?
Even if my son was able to do this why would he do this to buy a Xbox?
This just shows how sick our society has become when we do this to our young people.

courtneylaren18 (2

Posts: 4

(13 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 4:07 PM

I am 18 and would NEVER consider using my parents credit card without permission and if i did trust me there would be consequences! I think the fact that he is 20 and would use your card for a xbox (or anything for that matter) shows alot of inmaturity and lack of respect on his part. You should sell the xbox and and if you don't get enough from it to cover the cost then make your son pay the difference.

sandypurins (255

Posts: 1,081

(14 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 4:09 PM

If your son didn't use your PayPal credit card, you need to immediately call the number on the back of the card and submit an unauthorized use claim.

To change your avatar, click on the image on your feedback page.

profdata (860

Posts: 495

(15 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 4:15 PM

> Wow I can not believe how rude and mean you people are. To suggest that I should call the police on my own son tells me the type of people that you must be. I would take my son any day over the likes of you people who would suggest putting you're own son into prison.
> Not to mention who says that he was the one that made the charges?
> The bill on the account just says charges paid on Ebay. So I still do not know for sure that he was the one that made the charges. Also this is a credit card so he would not have to use my Paypal account at least I do not think?
> I hope that you are not suggesting that my son got into my Paypal account to do this?
> Even if my son was able to do this why would he do this to buy a Xbox?
> This just shows how sick our society has become when we do this to our young people.

At what dollar amount would you call the police.

Not to mention who says that he was the one that made the charges?

You did

My son recently bought a Xbox360 and some extras he charges?

Who wants to bet chargeback is in the future

wisconsinlady715 0)

Posts: 21

(16 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 5:29 PM

Please do not alter what I wrote. I never wrote the thing that you just posted.
I did not come on here for you to attack my son this way. X-(

Yes I know that he is immature for his age. All he wants to do is smoke pot and play video games. In a way I am happy that he bought this game because it keeps him busy.
At least I know where he is when he is in his room playing rather then being out on the street with the types of young people we have today.
He is just a baby I know that this is a phase he is going through and he will then move on to more productive things.

itisworsenow Private

Posts: 10

(17 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 5:57 PM

Who wants to bet chargeback is in the future

Well, we can bet that Paypal will not go to bat for the seller in case it does happen..

OP, no matter what you do, certainly your "boy" is likely the one that purchased the "video game box".

I doubt seriously anyone hacked your card and had it shipped to your address....

Since your son seems to be enjoying his "gift " from the internet, maybe you should confront him, and not to be rude, or mean/judgmental, but the blinders need to come off.

sewbuyit (118

) View Listings

Posts: 70

(18 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 5:59 PM

> Yes I know that he is immature for his age. All he wants to do is smoke pot and play video games. In a way I am happy that he bought this game because it keeps him busy.
> At least I know where he is when he is in his room playing rather then being out on the street with the types of young people we have today.
> He is just a baby I know that this is a phase he is going through and he will then move on to more productive things.

Yes, move on to more productive things.
$5000.00....... $50,000.00........$500,000.00..........

Most will not understand, but the one I really have sympathy for is the son.

courtneylauren18 2 View Listings

Posts: 5

Ignore

(19 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 6:26 PM

20 years old is NOT a baby he is a grown man (or at least should be) and you making excuses for him does not help him it will only hender his future. At 20 he should be working or in college not sitting in his room playing video games. I go to college full time and work two jobs. Enabling his bad choices and lifestyle will only hurt him in the future. I think some tough love might be in order.

hg80 Private)

Posts: 64

(20 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 6:31 PM

Yes I know that he is immature for his age.

"Immature" ..LOL!

All he wants to do is smoke pot and play video games.

Guess what, we all wanted to dot that (and still want to do that!). But our mommies loved us so they pushed us to do more. ..like, to be productive human beings...?
And now we are happy that they did that because now we can hire people like your son to do things like taking out the garbage.

In a way I am happy that he bought this game because it keeps him busy.

And in a way, I'm happy that you are the one he stole from.

At least I know where he is when he is in his room playing rather then being out on the street with the types of young people we have today.

Yes, people like..your son.

He is just a baby.I know that this is a phase he is going through and he will then move on to more productive things.
Yes, until he gets caught again.

..I'm just playing along. OP is making this up.

hg80 (Private)

Posts: 64

(21 of 21)

Feb 11, 2009 6:33 PM

When I read "he is just a baby", I knew..

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Posted on 11 February 2009 at 18:16 in eBay, Fraud, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: chargeback, eBay, fraud, PayPal, sandypurins, wisconsinlady715, Xbox, Xbox 360

05 February 2009

WalesOnline - Police join eBay to combat fraud

To quote TameBay readers:

http://www.tamebay.com/2009/02/welsh-police-get-ebay-education.html#comments

hitch on February 5th, 2009 6:09 pm

This collaborative approach has contributed to over a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008, sending a clear signal to criminals that they won’t get away with illegal activity on our site.
Steve Edwards, eBay Senior Manager Law Enforcement Relations

So 80% getting away with criminal activity is acceptable ?

board_surfer on February 5th, 2009 12:56 pm

“a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008″

Is a bit like saying you have lost 10 stone in weight and forgetting to mention you weighed 50 stone to begin with.

Whirly on February 5th, 2009 4:17 pm

Training someone else to do something for nothing, sounds familiar.

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http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/02/05/police-join-ebay-to-combat-fraud-91466-22858147/

Police join eBay to combat fraud

Feb 5 2009 by Robin Turner, Western Mail

OFFICIALS from internet auction site eBay are working with Welsh police to help stop fraud.

{SEE FULL ARTICLE FOR DETAILS}

Steve Edwards, the company’s head of law enforcement relations, said: “Trust is the engine of eBay, and with 15 million people in the UK visiting our site each month we have a duty to make it as safe and secure as possible.”

He added: “This collaborative approach has contributed to over a 20% reduction in the number of people having a bad experience or being defrauded on eBay in 2008, sending a clear signal to criminals that they won’t get away with illegal activity on our site.”

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Posted on 05 February 2009 at 13:57 in eBay, eBay Customer Service, Fraud, Legal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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17 January 2009

The eBay PayPal 5% Hold Solution

The eBay PayPal 5% Hold Solution
EventHorizon1984
17 January 2009

"In a very small percentage of cases, eBay asks PayPal to hold a payment in a seller’s PayPal account for up to 21 days." Monroe Labouisse, "Director of PayPal’s business on eBay in the US and Canada"

eBay Public Relations published another puff piece, eBay Item Holds Explained (eBay Ink, Richard Breyer-Hay), regarding PayPal's holding of seller funds for "21 days". As in prior years, eBay-PayPal described the account holds as affecting a small percentage of sellers.

And then they quantified IT.

This is what eBay-PayPal said in the January 16th article:

"We’re talking about single-digit percentages. Usually less than 5% of transactions."
Monroe Labouisse

To understand the magnitude of what "5%" represents, here's what was said earlier in the article:

"PayPal’s history with hundreds of millions of eBay transactions"
Monroe Labouisse

Based on "PayPal's history", "5%" would represent 5 million transactions put on hold for every 100 million transactions.

Here are the numbers from eBay's SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) filing, 23 October 2008 10-Q Quarterly Report Form 10-Q.

Quarter 3, 1 July 2008 to 30 September 2008

Active users: 83,000,000
Number of new listings: 555,600,000
Gross merchandise volume: $14,395,000,000

Active registered accounts: 54,800,000
Net total payment volume: $11,569,000,000

Given that neither transactions nor sellers are homogeneous, here's what a "5%" hold policy could represent in a completely off-the-cuff fashion:

Active eBay users affected: 4,150,000
Number of new listings affected: 27,780,000
Gross merchandise volume, HELD: $719,750,000

Active registered PayPal accounts affected: 2,740,000
Net total payment volume, HELD: $578,450,000

eBay-PayPal considers numbers like these "small." We wonder what they would consider to be 'big'?

...

"What's life without the ability to make stupid decisions?"
Dr. Gregory House, House

...

See also our follow up article The eBay PayPal 20% Hold Solution.

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Posted on 17 January 2009 at 12:16 in Commentary, eBay, Fraud, PayPal | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: 21 day hold, 5%, Director, eBay, eBay Ink, Monroe Labouisse, PayPal, PayPal 5%, PayPal hold, PayPal reserve, PayPal reserve amount, PayPal rolling reserve, reserve amount, rolling reserve

29 December 2008

Seeking Alpha - Paypal Ruins Christmas for eBay Customers

Parade! ...... strip
29 December 2008
EventHorizon1984

It appears PayPal/eBay managed to censor the original article "Paypal Ruins Christmas for eBay Customers."

Because we're wondering what some one objected to, we are providing a Google copy of the article as it appeared on 25 December 2008.

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:MFTF-kDI7vcJ:seekingalpha.com/article/112265-paypal-ruins-christmas-for-ebay-customers+Paypal+Ruins+Christmas+for+eBay+Customers
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:MFTF-kDI7vcJ:seekingalpha.com/article/112265-paypal-ruins-christmas-for-ebay-customers+dinah+balk+december+25+seeking+alpha

Was this high level censorship? Was the initial post inaccurate? Did Seeking Alpha accidentally erase the article? Whatever the reason for the article vanishing, we're viewing this as some one threw the article into the bit bucket.

Of course while the article is gone from Seeking Alpha, it is not completely missing.

DinahBalk.com
PayPal Ruins Xmas For eBay Customers
Sunday, December 28, 2008 7:48 PM
Dinah Balk

Meanwhile we'll recap the what the eBay seller seasonalstuff had to say on her own eBay blog, and the public viewable eBay/PayPal Discussion Board.

Before eBay "archives" them.

As we understand it when independent parties asked for comment from PayPal, this was PayPal's official response:

<cue crickets>

And as a Post-Christmas bonus we've included the comments to the original PayPal Ruins Christmas For eBay Customers article that were thrown away.

Stay tuned for a follow up ...

"If only one gets out, it's a victory."
Major Eric Fincham, Von Ryan's Express (1965)

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// Seller email address has been edited.
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http://blogs.ebay.com/seasonalstuff

INFORMATION ON CANCELLED ORDERS

Posted Dec-16-08 17:15:28 PST

Due to circumstances beyond my control Iam going to have to cancel some orders and give full refunds and end all listings tonight.

Paypal has decided that after over 300 COMPLETED transactions and NO problems, they need to freeze my account for a minimum of 21 days. Over the last few months I've sold here on Ebay to save money for Christmas, times are tough as many of you know and this is a great way to earn some extra money. It was explained to me that my account was picked to be reviewed for the simple reason that I have sold alot of items in the past 30 days. (It is Christmas time and I do sell holiday decorations!) Anyway, this is the only reason, not because of disputes or complaints or anything else. I was told that although my account is verified by my bank account and credit card they want more personal info, my supplier's name and address and tracking numbers for items that WERE SHIPPED THROUGH PAYPAL!!! I was also told that since they are "reviewing" my account it will remain frozen for 21 days, if I do not agree to their terms then my account will be closed and they'll release my balance in 180 days.

Here is my problem, I'm already verified. They want a copy of my SS# and drivers lisence too???? Thats just asking for identity theft!! Supplier info? I already gave it to them 3 times over the phone (all of my supplier purchases were through Paypal). Tracking numbers??? I ship through Paypal!!! They have them! Even if I give them my personal info they are still holding my funds for 21 days!! 90 percent of my current balance is for transactions that have already been delivered, days, weeks and months ago!

I feel horrible having to cancel these transactions and refund some of you. The problem is they have frozen my shipping funds and all of my Christmas money. I dont have much cash. I cant pay for the remaining shipping out of pocket without completley ruining Christmas for my kids. I hope you can find it in your hearts to understand.

I will be leaving Ebay. After I get through this mess I'm moving my inventory over to Amazon. Those of you who are sellers too...you may want to consider it too some day. I pray that it doesnt take something like this.

I wish everyone the best and I hope your Holidays are wonderful. My apologies again.

Ps. Its going to take awhile for me to email everyone who I need to, If I dont refund you tonight, then your item was already shipped and Paypal should have emailed you with tracking info. If anyone needs to contact me, you can post here (at least until they pull it) or email me directly at seasonalstuff1@Christmas

ONCE AGAIN, I AM SO SORRY I HAVE TO DO THIS.

Comments

roper-girl ( 391

)

WOW! This sounds ridiculous!

Dec-16-08 17:20:29 PST

victorian_rose_inc ( 860

)

Sorry you are having issues.

I already closed my eBay store and shut down all of my listings on eBay.

I am selling on my own now. It is much less stressful.

I wish the very best for you, and I hope you can get this all worked out without making any of your customers angry.

Dec-16-08 17:21:22 PST

richard1rst ( 8309

)

Are you sure that came from Paypal? I routinely get emails "your account is restricted" and when I check the senders email address it is anything BUT Paypal (or ebay).

Dec-16-08 17:24:10 PST

seasonalstuff ( 156

)

Thank you for your comments and support! I know its Paypal..I've spoken with them on the phone about 8 times in the last 24 hours. I really do want to sell on my own, for now I just need to get through Christmas and figure out how to get out of the financial hole its putting me in!

I also need to get the word out to bidders on the last of tonights auctions. Ebay wont let me end the listings with less than 12 hours left. I'm going to try and message people.

Thanks again for the comments!

Dec-16-08 17:33:27 PST

samatbayer ( 48

)

I heard that paypal has pulled stunts like this before. I just hope things will work out. I am still interested in the Noel sign and maybe in the future we can do business.

Dec-17-08 06:20:02 PST

kathleen5837 ( 212

)

Sorry about all this trouble you are having with paypal. I read all the posts on SC and all I can say is ebay and paypal are completely out of control. Paypal is nothing more than a thug and a bully. They are stealing other people's money and getting away with this crap. I can only hope that the US Goverment goes after paypal and they put these crooks in jail where they belong. You may want to file a complaint with the US Attorney General's office.
Paypal makes their service pretty much the only way you can sell on ebay. The seller collects money in their account from their sales. Never suspecting that paypal was not going to give you your money. You used paypal with the understanding that you can take YOUR money whenever you wanted it. It's nothing less than fraud. Did you ever hear of a bank not letting you take your money out of your own account?? I never did.

Dec-17-08 22:53:00 PST

kathleen5837 ( 212

)

Correct my comment; all the posts on SC to all the posts on PayPal

Dec-17-08 23:01:26 PST

technoguru168 ( 3 )