Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I Was Hijacked

While sitting at my desk at work yesterday minding my own business and working (yes, I was, shuddup), I received an email from eBay. Then another. Then another. They kept coming at lightning speed and they were all telling me my item had been successfully listed. 23 separate items to be exact. Um . . . I didn't list any items for sale on eBay.

Uh oh.

I'll be real with you- I panicked. I wasn't as calm as I would have liked. Ok. Ok. I freaked the fuck out. Like I've been trying to tell you- little things have been setting me off. And this? 23 fraudulent items listed under my account? That is not what I consider "little" so excuse me why I wig.

The items ranged from sewing machines to binoculars to laptops. Woah nelly! These are not cheap items. My account has apparently been hijacked by someone trying to sell hot merchandise. But why? If a person lists a bunch of stuff through a hijacked account, how would they ever get the money from the sale of said items? I am getting the emails confirming the listings. My account is being charged for listing the items. How. Does. This. Work?

I spent an hour dealing with this crap. What I discovered is that the eBay website has TOO much "helpful" information. So much so that navigating it all is an exercise in futility. I changed my password and sent them an email about the possible fraud. Then I took it one step further and got on a live chat with Rokko. Seriously, that was his name. Isn't that like a WWF kind of name? This might be his side gig but at night he takes to the ring. At least, that was the fantasy I made up as I awaited his lengthy responses.

And get this, Rokko, the WWF champion eBay live chat helper had to CALL me to confirm I was actually real. We're on the live chat typing and he says, "I need to call you to confirm your identity. We will not be able to discuss the issue at hand over the phone. Once I confirm who you are, we can resume our live chat." So let me get this straight- you are going to call me on the phone, say "Hi. Is this Sizzle?" and then we will hang up and type out all this information? Seriously, how lame is that?

After all that hoopla, I ended up canceling my account. I still don't get why a person would do such a thing. How can they benefit from listing items on someone else's account? And don't even get me started on Pay Pal and the infinitesimal emails I get that are likely a scam. After the whole "compromised ATM" situation I am beginning to feel very paranoid. Please, no one slip me a pot brownie.* Now is not the time. I'm already too close to becoming some sort of conspiracy theorist. Let's not exacerbate the situation.

*Someday I will tell you about the pot brownie experience that went very, very wrong.

16 comments:

JustRun said...

I'm glad you canceled your account. That sounds too close to identity theft to just let it slide.
Try not to look over your shoulder too much. :)

Mrs. Ca said...

Dude, that totally sucks. It is weird though that they would hijack an account since it's set up so that they wouldn't be able to receive the money.

Poz Mikey said...

I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I clicked to the WWF homepage. I read that wrong, I read WTF.

Ps. I will stop in the office later I need more sleep right now.

Dan said...

The identity-confirming phone call is hilarious. I imagine you talking on the phone with him while simultaneously instant messaging him something like, "You don't sound anything like I thought you would."

Mr. Rodacre said...

You know the problems I have had with ebay... "and I can assure you that I am a real person who loves chocolate..."

Oh and by the way, the WWF had to change its name to the WWE a few years back. Seems the World Wildlife Federation had dibs. Wouldn't want to get a polar bear mixed up with The Rock I suppose...

Anonymous said...

Wow, that sucks. And makes me think that I should pay more attention to the emails I occasionally get from eBay, which I generally just ignore, thinking, "this is so a spoofed eBay email"

Lizzie said...

This is why I've never used eBay. I don't trust these young whippersnappers and their fancy-schmancy internet auctioning.

(I get those Pay Pal emails too. I always just ignore them - I hope that's ok. I figure my impoverished state keeps me safe from scammers. I've got nothing to steal but debt.)

Melissa said...

So far I've been pretty lucky with Ebay... you can be sure I'll be watching more closely now. And geez, don't you already have enough to deal with?

Bre said...

Ugh, that's so scary! For a brief moment I once thought my paypal account was hacked ... until I realized it came to the wrong email address - hackers suck.

Claire said...

I've always been a bit leery of eBay. Now I'm a bit moreso. Strange though.

My amazon account once had things I hadn't even looked at in my shopping cart. As if I'd just buy stuff I hadn't picked... and then have it mailed to myself. I don't see how that works as a scam either unless some obscure author was trying to get some royalties.

Anthony S. said...

That would freak me out, too; what a strange case of identity theft. What did they hope to accomplish? And how would they get the money, after you sold the phantom sowing machine?

I'll share my one-time pot experience if you share your pot brownie story.

Nihilistic said...

Ok...Pot Brownie story is on your top 3 stories you have to tell when we go get Sushi!

hannahhas said...

I'm with Lizzie about anyone trying to get in my accounts... they can't steal my debt... but if they wanted to, I would fully allow them to do so.

Did you get he entire situation rectified? Rokko sounds awesome... you made a new www friend?
;-)

And, as with everyone, we are dying to hear the pot story...

Anonymous said...

I am currently selling pot brownies on eBay if anyone is interested...

Anonymous said...

this happened to me as well last fall. i'm not sure how this occurs, i think it has something to do with the european mafia. i shit you not, that's what the ebay case manager relayed to me.

Phollower said...

Jenny- C'mon that's false advertising. You can't make a statement like that and then not, you know, deliver. By the way, I'll take 2 pans of the double-nut fudge if you're serious.