Thursday, May 24, 2007

Software pirate to pay $205,000 fine for illegal eBay sales

The defendant also agreed to help authorities ID others involved in the scheme

May 22, 2007 (Computerworld) -- A software pirate who sold illegal copies of Symantec Corp. software on the online auction site eBay Inc. has agreed to pay a $205,000 fine.

In an announcement today, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) trade group, which filed suit in the case on behalf of Symantec -- a SIIA member -- said the defendant has also agreed to assist authorities in identifying the parties who actually made and distributed the illegal software that was sold.

Keith Kupferschmid, senior vice president of intellectual property for the Washington-based SIIA, said the name and location of the defendant is being kept secret under the terms of the settlement.

source article here

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Bucks County man pleads to six counts in eBay coin auctions case

A Bucks County man who authorities say fleeced dozens of people on eBay avoided trial by agreeing to plead guilty to six counts of mail fraud.

According to an indictment, Todd Rabenold, 38, of Quakertown, stole $18,741 from at least 53 victims who replied to his Internet auctions for "rare and old" coins.

In each case, federal prosecutors said, Rabenold took customers' payments but never sent any goods.

Rabenold, who could not be reached for comment, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Source

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

eBay condemned for allowing "rampant" ivory trade

LONDON (Reuters) - The elephant, the world's largest land mammal, is being threatened with global extinction by a "rampant trade" in ivory on the eBay online auction site, animal welfare campaigners said on Tuesday.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said it had conducted a survey in Britain, Australia, China, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Canada and the United States and tracked more than 2,200 elephant ivory items listed on eBay websites.

It found more than 90 percent of the listings breached even eBay's own wildlife policies.

complete article here

Thursday, May 10, 2007

New eBay Phishing mail scares users into revealing information

What do you do when you receive an email from an online financial company that you regularly deal with, informing you about the completion of a transaction that you never did in the first place? There’s a good chance you might lose your senses for a short while. That’s exactly what people behind this new Phishing scam targeting eBay customers are hoping for!

The advanced AntiVirus, AntiSpam and Content Security solution provider MicroWorld Technologies says a new email in circulation tries to pilfer confidential account information of eBay customers by sending them a tricky phishing mail. Appearing as a routine conformation message from eBay, it tells the recipient that she has sent $249.20 to an email address at aol.com.

Then it shows a Transaction ID and Subject to numb the unsuspecting victim. To view the details of the transaction, she is told to click on a link. The mail ends with a ‘thank you for using eBay’ line, deliberately written to aggravate the user. Once she clicks on the ‘view details’ link, a new page opens up where her account information will be captured by online criminals behind the scam.

complete article here

Monday, May 07, 2007

Man Sentenced For Selling $1 Million In Counterfeit Software On eBay

A Michigan man has been sentenced to five months in prison and five months home confinement for selling more than $1 million worth of counterfeit computer software on eBay.

James Thomas, 38, of Belleville, Mich., was sentenced late last week in U.S. District court in the Eastern District of Michigan. At his guilty plea on Dec. 13, 2006, Thomas admitted that he purchased counterfeit Rockwell Automation software through eBay and then duplicated and resold the copyrighted material to other eBay users, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

Between Aug. 26, 2003 and Sept. 7, 2004, using two different eBay user names, Thomas sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in 49 separate eBay auctions, receiving more than $14,625. The actual retail value of this software was in excess of $1 million.


Source Article

Friday, May 04, 2007

Writer bought chemicals, police badge on eBay before Halloween attack

NEW YORK (Court TV) - A writer accused of a sadistic Halloween sex attack on a former colleague began acquiring supplies up to 10 months before the assault, according to the eBay transaction records prosecutors presented Thursday at his sex abuse trial.

Under the user names "drgroovy" and "gulagmeister," struggling journalist Peter Braunstein purchased chloroform, the firefighter uniform and the smoke-bomb materials that he used in a 13-hour attack on a former colleague from Fairchild Publications, where he worked as a writer for Women's Wear Daily until 2003.

After his dismissal from the magazine and a break-up with a girlfriend, his lawyers say, he became unhinged, and the stress culminated in the attack on Oct. 31, 2005, in the victim's Manhattan apartment.

Source Article

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Teacher accused of selling student's coat on eBay

HILLSBORO, Ore. - A first-grade teacher in Hillsboro is accused of trying to sell a student's coat on eBay.

Elizabeth Logan, 42, is facing theft and felony computer crime charges and is on paid administrative leave from Jackson Elementary.

The teacher was arrested Feb. 6 after the mother of a third-grader at the school complained to school officials and Hillsboro police.

The mother said she went shopping for a replacement jacket on eBay after her daughter's Columbia Sportswear jacket disappeared and did not show up in the school's lost and found.

The mother found a seemingly identical coat on eBay and noticed that the seller was from Hillsboro.

Source Article

Prison forced to change locks after keys sold on eBay

ANAMOSA, Iowa -- A 135-year-old penitentiary changed some of its locks after keys to the maximum-security prison were apparently sold on eBay.

The keys belonged to a locksmith who retired from Anamosa State Penitentiary in 1974. He died two years later and when his wife died last year, an auctioneer was hired to sell off the estate, which included the keys.

Someone bought the keys and put them on eBay.

Source