Re: Apple 2 ebay 3rd party checkout, security risk?

[John <zzzjoki@yahoo.com>]

On May 14, 4:53 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> John wrote:
> > On May 14, 2:41 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >>John wrote:
>
> >>>OK, this is a stretch to relate to Apple 2, but many foks here use
> >>>ebay to make Apple 2 purchases.
>
> >>>Some ebay vendors direct Apple 2 users only to Paypal through 3rd
> >>>party checkouts pages (you go to their sites, fill out a bunch of
> >>>market_junk, and eventually they direct you back to Paypal).
>
> >>>Is this a security risk? Why? A vendor could send you to a phising
> >>>site. I think this is possible, and some vendors come from places
> >>>which are not so friendly.
>
> >>>One of the main reasons I liked Paypal, from a user perspective, is
> >>>that they insulate you from the vendor. 3rd parth checkout *seems* to
> >>>defeat that insulation, deliberately, in a way which benefits vendors
> >>>only.
>
> >>>Thoughts?
>
> >>>Who would be good to talk to about this? I was thinking of magazines
> >>>or papers or something. I called CERT hoping they could direct me.
>
> >>>(I have talked to Paypal about this twice, at least.)
>
> >>I haven't encountered this behavior, nor have I encountered a seller
> >>who took PayPal who was not happy with getting paid by going straight
> >>to PayPal.
>
> >>If there are such sellers, then don't patronize them.
>
> >>-michael
>
> > Here's another small twist ... this last vendor advertised Paypal no
> > differently than any other seller (on their ebay posting). When I
> > proceeded to checkout there was no clear alternative. The ONLY
> > (almost ..) way was through their page. Even when they gave me an
> > email address Paypal would not let that transaction proceed. It said
> > something like "this vendor only allows checkout through their web
> > site ....(paraphrased)"
>
> > A Paypal agent said to ask the  vendor to make a "Money Request" for
> > the auction amount. That did work, or at least I didn't have to go
> > through their marketing web site.
>
> > Do you think this is excessive paranoia? I've heard of malicious Java
> > scripts messing up IE without recent patches. I think it could change
> > the DNS settings even.
>
> > It seems hypocritical for Paypal to emphasize security and then turn
> > around and encourage risky behavior when it makes them a little more
> > coin.
>
> No, I don't think its unduly paranoid (after all, "only the paranoid
> survive" ;-).
>
> Quite seriously, I think the answer is never to patronize such sellers,
> and report them to eBay--I can't imagine that eBay condones such a
> payment policy (even though they own PayPal).
>
> -michael
>
> NadaNet file server for Apple II computers!
> Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
>
> "The wastebasket is our most important design
> tool--and it's seriously underused."

I may not have caught it, but with this last vendor I don't think that
a person would know unless you ask. This is unfortunate.

I believe that ebay created this process to accommodate their large
volume sellers.

Oh well, onward and upward.