# Six former eBay employees arrested for harassing an eBay critic. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738 "2020-06-16T00:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/1 "2020-06-16T00:51:35Z")
The critic published a newsletter critical of eBay. The harassment included sending the woman and her husband a bloody pig mask, a box of live cockroaches, live maggots, and a book on how to survive the death of a spouse. They were caught trying to implant a tracking device in the couple’s car. > **[Former eBay security director arrested for harassing journalist with live...](https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/15/21291666/ebay-employees-arrested-journalist-harassment)** > > Six employees were charged in the cyberstalking campaign. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/2 "2020-06-16T00:56:28Z")
Gilbert was a former police captain… ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/3 "2020-06-16T02:17:10Z")
I knew immediately who was harassed. I don’t know if it’s OK to post the company’s name. They’re from MA and have always been extremely critical of eBay. They also revealed the personal information of a number of eBay sellers, including me. What the eBay employees did was despicable and certainly illegal, I understand the anger. The people targeted are scumbags. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/4 "2020-06-16T05:40:10Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I knew immediately who was harassed. I don’t know if it’s OK to post the company’s name. They’re from MA and have always been extremely critical of eBay. They also revealed the personal information of a number of eBay sellers, including me. What the eBay employees did was despicable and certainly illegal, I understand the anger. The people targeted are scumbags. So they not only criticized/attacked eBay the company, but also people who used the platform? That’s really shitty of them. Seems like this is an ESH situation (everybody sucks here). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/5 "2020-06-16T05:45:14Z")
Who loves a corporate job enough to do…this for their employer??? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/6 "2020-06-16T05:49:00Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I knew immediately who was harassed. I don’t know if it’s OK to post the company’s name. They’re from MA and have always been extremely critical of eBay. They also revealed the personal information of a number of eBay sellers, including me. What the eBay employees did was despicable and certainly illegal, I understand the anger. The people targeted are scumbags. It’s out there who they are. It’s not supposed to be kept secret. They have publicly said that they were the target. Why do you think that they outed you? Here is the post that set the whole thing off: [eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?](https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2019/8/1564681600.html). They were suggesting that people leave eBay to sell on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/7 "2020-06-16T21:58:32Z")
[eBay officials suspected the couple collaborated with troll accounts on social media to “publish negative content about eBay.”](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877659807/feds-former-ebay-employees-sent-newsletter-writers-roaches-spiders-and-pornograp) Sounds like they’re accusing eBay-haters of being sock accounts for David and/or Ina. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/8 "2020-06-17T00:26:22Z")
Man, how on earth did these 6 people think this was a good idea? I just can’t imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/9 "2020-06-17T02:47:21Z")
It’s clear you’ve never spent a morning watching proceedings in your local criminal docket court. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/10 "2020-06-17T03:38:21Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s out there who they are. It’s not supposed to be kept secret. They have publicly said that they were the target. > > Why do you think that they outed you? > > Here is the post that set the whole thing off: [eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?](https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2019/8/1564681600.html). They were suggesting that people leave eBay to sell on Amazon. I was in eBay’s Voices, a focus group of sellers with whom eBay communicated about things eBay. There was a lot of unsubstantiated suspicion and speculation regarding Voices. (Then) Auctionbytes fanned the flames, which they often did to stir up trouble for eBay. There wasn’t ever anything nefarious going on with Voices. One member left voluntarily or got booted. I can’t remember which. She went to Auctionbytes with the list of Voices members and our personal information. They posted it publicly. Screw them and the person I thought was my friend. It surprises me that it was eBay employees who did this, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that people were pissed at David and Ina. ETA: I just looked at your link. If you look at the comments, they’ve been stirring the pot among eBay sellers like that for _decades_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/11 "2020-06-17T20:39:29Z")
[They started selling things on eBay in 1999](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:j_ZAitulGEAJ:www.vendio.com/ecommerce-blog/2009/07/13/interview-with-dave-and-ina-steiner-publishers-of-auctionbytes/+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us); now apparently they are trying to bite off the hand that fed them. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/12 "2020-06-17T23:03:07Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Who loves a corporate job enough to do…this for their employer??? Dwight Shrute. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/13 "2020-06-17T23:18:05Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Who loves a corporate job enough to do…this for their employer??? It wouldn’t surprise me if the Steiners had gotten personal with eBay employees. That would be motivation. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/14 "2020-06-18T00:01:15Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I was in eBay’s Voices, a focus group of sellers with whom eBay communicated about things eBay. There was a lot of unsubstantiated suspicion and speculation regarding Voices. (Then) Auctionbytes fanned the flames, which they often did to stir up trouble for eBay. There wasn’t ever anything nefarious going on with Voices. One member left voluntarily or got booted. I can’t remember which. She went to Auctionbytes with the list of Voices members and our personal information. They posted it publicly. Screw them and the person I thought was my friend. > > It surprises me that it was eBay employees who did this, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that people were pissed at David and Ina. > > ETA: I just looked at your link. If you look at the comments, they’ve been stirring the pot among eBay sellers like that for _decades_. I completely believe you, of course, but I am surprised that their assholishness hasn’t come out in the press yet. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/15 "2020-06-18T08:50:17Z")
I don’t really care how bad they were–the way the employees were acting is just fucking stupid. If they’re leaking personal info, there’s a legal remedy for that. Anything else illegal, deal with that. If they’re just saying shit about your giant company, then fucking deal with it. This shit only made them seem better and less childish. From the versions I’ve seen elsewhere, I only ever heard about the employees and not anyone else. Oh, and there’s no way that people higher up weren’t involved. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/16 "2020-06-18T09:39:19Z")
I guess they forgot to hide a smelly, dead fish in their car, oh well next time, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/17 "2020-06-18T12:36:55Z")
I can hardly ever find top-rated cockroach and maggot sellers on eBay. It’s unfair that eBay employees have the inside track on securing these items. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/18 "2024-01-13T10:11:47Z")
eBay itself has now been [fined $3 million](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/ebay-inc-pay-3-million-connection-corporate-cyberstalking-campaign-targeting). > eBay was charged criminally with two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice and has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, eBay admitted to a detailed recitation of all the relevant facts about its conduct and agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $3 million, which is the statutory maximum fine for these six felony offenses. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-for-harassing-an-ebay-critic/855738/19 "2026-07-30T12:07:18Z")
The couple just got a $55 million settlement > **[Couple targeted in eBay stalking case says most important thing in $55.7...](https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/ebay-settlement-david-ina-steiner/)** > > Ina and David Steiner say the message sent by a massive settlement with eBay is more important than the money.