eBay cookie stuffer about to get pwned by the Feds...



A Las Vegas web developer has been charged with fleecing eBay out of tens of thousands of dollars by selling a program that planted fraudulent web cookies on the PCs of people visiting the online auctioneer.

Dubbed saucekit, the program deposited a cookie on end users' hard drives that contained a unique code identifying affiliate websites even though advertisements from those sites were never viewed, according to documents filed Tuesday in US District Court in San Jose, California. Users who went on to take "revenue actions" on eBay would cause the affiliate to receive a referral fee it was not entitled to.


From January 2009 to the following November, Saucekit creator Christopher Kennedy actively promoted the cookie-stuffing program on his currently unavailable website and on hacking forums. Using the handle biglevel, he regularly discussed the technical and legal merits of the program, as seen in threads here and here.

In March, eBay lawyers demanded Kennedy immediately stop selling the program. The hacker responded by posting a comment to a forum on blackhatworld.com "mocking the cease and desist letter that had been sent to him," prosecutors alleged.

In October, an individual known to prosecutors claimed to have generated $4,000 using saucekit as a beta tester. A month later, Kennedy left a post stating that "he had a client make almost $10,000 in one month and the $7,000 in the prior month," prosecutors alleged.

The cookie-stuffing program exploited the eBay Partner Network, which pays referral fees to websites when one of their advertisements leads to a sale on the online auctioneer's site. The program works using web cookies that identify which site and advertisement were viewed just prior to the user visiting eBay. Saucekit directed user browsers to a website in Nevada, which deposited a cookie that identified a particular affiliate even though the website hadn't been visited.

The criminal charge comes more than a year after eBay filed a civil complaint against business partners of carrying out similar cookie-stuffing schemes. The lawsuit detailed the lengths the alleged fraudsters went to avoid detection, such as ensuring the stuffing never took place in San Jose, California or Santa Barbara, California, where eBay and an affiliate service were located.

Kennedy was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, in addition to possible restitution. Attempts to reach Kennedy for comment were not successful.
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LOL ignoring a C&D from a major company like ebay isn't very bright.
 
Fucking idiot IMO. Why would you broadcast this product to the world? Use it yourself, make a couple G's a month, and STFU!
 
schockergd said:
I wonder how the conspiracy to commit wire fraud works out?
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Hmm, i wondered the same. I suspect they're going after him for this because cookie stuffing isn't illegal is it? Just against tos, not law. So the feds need to get something to stick or he walks free and they look like a bunch of cocks.
 
Shawn Hogan, owner of Digital Point, is also involved in a lawsuit with eBay. eBay claims that he and his business partner cookie stuffed and went as far as geo-redirecting users in California so as to avoid detection from eBay's corporate office...

If that's true ... :smilie_weihn_winki:
 
shitflying.jpg
 
Webwonder said:
Have you ever received one?
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Yep, for a domain with their tm and logo, the domain had no traffic or even any real content so I doubt they would take it further than that. But this guy was not only admitting to cookie stuffing their affiliate program, he was enabling other people to do it too so of course they would come after him.

-God- said:
Hmm, i wondered the same. I suspect they're going after him for this because cookie stuffing isn't illegal is it? Just against tos, not law. So the feds need to get something to stick or he walks free and they look like a bunch of cocks.
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18 USC 1343, makes it a Federal crime or offense for anyone to use interstate wire communications facilities in carrying out a scheme to defraud.

A person can be found guilty of that offense only if all of the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

First: That the person knowingly and willfully devised a scheme to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false pretenses, representations or promises; and

Second: That the person knowingly transmitted or caused to be transmitted by wire in interstate commerce some sound for the purpose of executing the scheme to defraud.

Seems like a slam dunk case to me, but I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on tv.
 
Interesting that they're going after the guy promoting the script, rather than then stuffer themselves. I suspect stuffing isn't actually illegal too.

"false pretenses, representations or promises" is the key thing here, and something a decent lawyer could drive a truck through.
 
Maybe now people will wake the fuck up and realize that cookie stuffing, while not (yet) illegal, can result in some serious consequences.

BHW retards.
 
Mikesev said:
Interesting that they're going after the guy promoting the script, rather than then stuffer themselves.
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Somebody correct me if I'm wrong because I only saw the saucekit site once but wasn't the software actually hosted on his servers and he used paypal to process the transactions? If so his customers are likely screwed too.

Mikesev said:
"false pretenses, representations or promises" is the key thing here, and something a decent lawyer could drive a truck through.
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Really? Ebay thought they were paying an affiliate to send natural visitors from their website over to ebay. The affiliate on the hand was forcing users to unknowingly visit their affiliate link by using 301 redirects and posting pictures on forums. That's not a false pretense or representation?
 
Mikesev said:
Interesting that they're going after the guy promoting the script, rather than then stuffer themselves.
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It's like going after drug dealers, the feds always want to work their way to the top to shut off the supply. This dumb fuck advertised so they were able to start at the top.
 
FraÜd iS bad k ه̒ͨ҈҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉ ҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉
 
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