Police in Romania arrested 70 suspected online crooks operating through the online ebay website-the thieves are believed to be members of three separate gangs, allegedly using hacked or compromised eBay accounts to run an online scam utilizing trusted ebay accounts that have been hijacked through Phishing.
Scam ebay auctions involve undelivered Luxury Merchandise and €800,000 in stolen funds. The alleged crooks obtained login credentials through using Phishing technique scams. The thieves obtained access to established ebay accounts, to be able to use existing accounts that were hijacked. The previously-established accounts were trusted by ebay buyers and, once the thieves were able to take over the accounts through Phishing, used to run ebay auctions for non-existent and high-priced Luxury items.
The ebay scam functioned for years. Items for auction included Luxury Cars, Rolex Watches and a recreational airplane. Ebay Buyers handed over money to the online crooks, never receiving promised on auction. 800 victims were involved in the online ebay scam and subsequent bust, dubbed part of Operation Valley of the Kings by police. Ebay victims are estimated to have lost a total of €800,000 in funds since the scam's inception in 2006 through current. Ebay scam victims include international buyers located across Western Europe, Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.