EBay Inc. helped to shut down a Russian Web site this week that was offering to sell stolen customer account information for as little as US$5 each.

Armed with an eBay customer’s login and password, a fraudster could post items for sale, collect payments and then never deliver the goods. The site was also offering to sell a handful of PayPal accounts.

Security vendor Sunbelt Software detected the site Tuesday and reported it to eBay, which worked with the local ISP (Internet service provider) to have it taken offline, an eBay spokeswoman confirmed. She couldn’t say how many user accounts were offered for sale or whether any customers’ accounts had been misused.

The site probably collected the information through phishing attacks or a Trojan horse virus that plants keylogging software on users’ PCs, said Alex Eckelberry, president of Sunbelt, in Clearwater, Fla.

The site preferred accounts that were used infrequently, meaning a user would take longer to notice any suspicious activity, and asked a higher price for accounts with good feedback ratings. Prices ranged from $5 to $25 per account.

“We’re in contact with law enforcement to track down the perpetrators and we’re going to vigorously pursue this investigation to ensure they are prosecuted,” the eBay spokeswoman said.

Posted: 03|25|06 at 9:29 am. Filed under: Auction News.