Auction site says incident is a hack, not a leak

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

September 26, 2007

1 Min Read

Users who went to eBay's "Trust & Safety" fraud prevention forum yesterday got a little surprise: Someone had posted the names, addresses, and credit card information of some 1,200 current subscribers on the site.

No, it wasn't an accidental leak from eBay's customer database, according to a report. The information was posted by a hacker who apparently stole the data in a phishing attack.

The attacker, who prefaced a number of postings with "Wheeeeeeeeeeee," posted legitimate names and addresses of eBay users via a script that published about 15 names a minute. However, eBay says it has checked the posted credit card data against its records for each of the users, and it turned out to be fake. The auction site is notifying each of the individuals, so that they can check to see if any of the data is valid.

EBay has temporarily blocked community postings to the Trust & Safety forum and posted a warning to all members.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading

About the Author(s)

Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

Dark Reading is a leading cybersecurity media site.

Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights