38 votes

Banned from eBay for life with no explanation

Today I got an email from ebay.

It says:

We wanted to let you know that your eBay account has been permanently suspended because of activity that we believe was putting the eBay community at risk...

Well this is weird because I don't use ebay. I sold some things there over 10 years ago. Since then I may have logged in once or twice. Maybe I reset my password a few years ago to make it more secure. So I couldn't have violated any of their policies.

This is a concern to me because I assume someone has been using my account. I assume they have been logging into it and scamming other people. And the account is linked to my email so the scammer has that. So I don't know if someone found out my address info, credit card, or something else. But I can't login to ebay and change my email or check account history because my account is suspended.

So I contacted customer support and they replied a few hours later that I'm banned for life and the reason can't be told to me.

By the way, I did not reply to the original email or click any links in it. I went directly to the ebay site and contacted customer support through that. I'm sure it wasn't a phishing attempt, it's really ebay and they really banned my account (which I haven't been using).

Any suggestions? In my opinion eBay has not used proper security and is exposing me to risk by not giving more information about what has happened.

15 comments

  1. Eji1700
    Link
    You’re not going to get anything. There’s no reason for them to tell you anything, they don’t even know that you’re you, and they don’t have any good reason to go through the hassle. General best...

    You’re not going to get anything.

    There’s no reason for them to tell you anything, they don’t even know that you’re you, and they don’t have any good reason to go through the hassle.

    General best practice here would be to just reset any passwords that might be compromised, make sure you have 2FA set up on what you can, and if you want cancel any possibly exposed cards, although if you haven’t used it for 10 years I would assume it’s all expired info anyways.

    If you’re not about to make any big purchases like a car or house you could freeze your credit as well to be extra cautious, but more than likely your old account/creds were sold in some giant bundle.

    35 votes
  2. PraiseTheSoup
    Link
    I created a brand new eBay account a few months ago, spent a couple weeks looking at items, adding them to my watchlist, bidding on a few. Then I got banned from bids for "suspicious activity". I...

    I created a brand new eBay account a few months ago, spent a couple weeks looking at items, adding them to my watchlist, bidding on a few. Then I got banned from bids for "suspicious activity". I can still use eBay but can only purchase "buy it now" items. I did literally nothing to deserve it, so I just went back to not using eBay like I have for the last 15 years. Fuck them. Everything is severely overpriced anyway

    13 votes
  3. [6]
    gryel
    (edited )
    Link
    Edit: Eeek, it felt like it was just last year; I've apparently been terrible at keeping track of time. As @l_one points out, the breach I was thinking of was in 2014, not 2024.

    Edit: Eeek, it felt like it was just last year; I've apparently been terrible at keeping track of time. As @l_one points out, the breach I was thinking of was in 2014, not 2024.

    eBay was hacked last year with logins and passwords being leaked. So if you didn't change your password then my bet is that your account got abused to scam others.

    Make sure to change your password(s) elsewhere if you happen to be reusing (naughty, naughty) your passwords on other sites.

    11 votes
    1. [4]
      l_one
      Link Parent
      Link please? I found the record of the 2014 hack that exposed 145 million accounts, but not seeing one from 2024.

      eBay was hacked last year, with logins and passwords being leaked.

      Link please? I found the record of the 2014 hack that exposed 145 million accounts, but not seeing one from 2024.

      7 votes
      1. [3]
        gryel
        Link Parent
        You're absolutely right. My bad. I was thinking of the 2014 breach (I can't believe it's been that long already?!) and for some reason I had it nagging in the back of my head as happening just...

        You're absolutely right. My bad.

        I was thinking of the 2014 breach (I can't believe it's been that long already?!) and for some reason I had it nagging in the back of my head as happening just last year.

        7 votes
        1. l_one
          Link Parent
          Don't worry about it, I have those moments too. "It was how long ago?" One of the most memorable memory malfunctions was some (many) years back thinking one of the Jurassic Park movies had been...

          Don't worry about it, I have those moments too.

          "It was how long ago?"

          One of the most memorable memory malfunctions was some (many) years back thinking one of the Jurassic Park movies had been recent, and then seeing the gas station with gas prices in one scene, with a gallon being around a dollar.

          3 votes
        2. CannibalisticApple
          Link Parent
          Well hey, you were only one digit off! Granted it was the tens digit, but you got 3/4 numbers right!

          Well hey, you were only one digit off! Granted it was the tens digit, but you got 3/4 numbers right!

          2 votes
    2. FishFingus
      Link Parent
      Oh, shame I never heard about it at the time. Well, thanks for nothing, eBay.

      Oh, shame I never heard about it at the time. Well, thanks for nothing, eBay.

      6 votes
  4. FishFingus
    Link
    Yeah, I got that too. I don't even remember ever buying or selling anything on the site. Just got a phishing-looking email one day, ignored it, and spoke to customer services months later when I...

    Yeah, I got that too. I don't even remember ever buying or selling anything on the site. Just got a phishing-looking email one day, ignored it, and spoke to customer services months later when I tried to list something online for my mum and got an error message.

    Also happened to a friend, and they never got an explanation either. Ebay must have some crappy security.

    9 votes
  5. [5]
    sleepydave
    Link
    Unfortunately their terms of service probably state something to the effect of "we can terminate your access at any time for any reason without explanation". If they refuse to reinstate your...

    Unfortunately their terms of service probably state something to the effect of "we can terminate your access at any time for any reason without explanation". If they refuse to reinstate your account I'm not sure there's much you can do about it.

    6 votes
    1. [4]
      hobbes64
      Link Parent
      Yeah. But I don't care if they reinstate the account. I'm trying to find out what might have been leaked about me. It's also weird that they said "you shouldn't open another account because we'll...

      Yeah. But I don't care if they reinstate the account. I'm trying to find out what might have been leaked about me.

      It's also weird that they said "you shouldn't open another account because we'll probably ban that too". So they've misidentified me and it's really bothering me that they don't seem to have used 2FA or any other proper method of authentication.

      8 votes
      1. [3]
        zestier
        Link Parent
        Was support unwilling to engage with you at all? I understand they're refusing to tell you why you were banned, but maybe you could get someone to answer something like if your account had any...

        Was support unwilling to engage with you at all? I understand they're refusing to tell you why you were banned, but maybe you could get someone to answer something like if your account had any activity after 2023.

        Seems like a long shot and probably not that useful, but it would probably be nice to have some confirmation that your account was in fact compromised.

        5 votes
        1. [2]
          hobbes64
          Link Parent
          Support are answering emails but are just pasting a script that doesn't answer the points I am making.

          Support are answering emails but are just pasting a script that doesn't answer the points I am making.

          3 votes
          1. Noox
            Link Parent
            You could try hitting them up on Twitter maybe? A public call-out might get you more of an answer, or at the very least get a human being to actually attempt to read what you're asking about...

            You could try hitting them up on Twitter maybe? A public call-out might get you more of an answer, or at the very least get a human being to actually attempt to read what you're asking about without immediate copy/paste generic answer.

            Alternatively, if you're in Europe you could do a data request? That should give you everything they have about you, including maybe any weird behaviour that could confirm your account was hacked.

            11 votes
  6. datavoid
    (edited )
    Link
    I am also banned from eBay. Apparently when I signed up like 13 years ago, I selected a "seller" account. Last year I tried to buy something, but forgot to turn my VPN off. Got banned almost...

    I am also banned from eBay. Apparently when I signed up like 13 years ago, I selected a "seller" account. Last year I tried to buy something, but forgot to turn my VPN off. Got banned almost immediately - but at least I still got my iPod!

    4 votes