Sydney Morning Herald: eBay account hijacked, bidders bilked in 'rampant' fraud

The story of how Kevin Pilgrim's eBay account was hijacked.

While online auctions rely on trust between buyers and sellers, scammers take advantage of that trust to do their dirty work. In the past, many scammers simply opened their own accounts to hoodwink bidders. But they were more easily traced. Now, the scammers - often international gangs - have wised up. They hack into the accounts of users with good reputations, sellers who showcase their positive feedback, and use those good reputations to ambush bidders. That's what happened to Pilgrim. On December 16, when he checked his email, he found 18 eBay users wanting to buy camcorders from him. When he tried to access his account, he found he was locked out. The password had been changed.