"Normal people don't get up in the morning and wonder how they can steal or trick someone.
"I won't rest until we can eliminate wrongdoing," says Alastair MacGibbon, Trust and Safety director at eBay Australia and New Zealand.
After 15 years with the Australian Federal Police, including a stint as director of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, MacGibbon joined one of the world's largest Internet auction sites. In an interview with ZDNet Australia , he discusses eBay's fight against fraudsters, its relationship with law enforcement agencies and steps taken to educate users against the perils of identity theft.
In your capacity dealing with trust and security at eBay, describe a normal day at work?
MacGibbon: One of the constants in my job is liaison with a number of people and groups. This includes regular meetings and contact with law enforcement agencies, government and various departments within eBay. There are over 1,000 Trust and Safety employees at eBay and PayPal, all dedicated to making eBay one of the safest place in the world to trade and I make it a priority to keep up to date with developments from around the world.
eBay has received a considerable amount of attention from the media (including broadcast) with regards to online auction scammers. Do you think these victims are shooting the messenger -- ie eBay -- instead of heeding the numerous warnings about payment procedures and security?
MacGibbon: Firstly, it's important to put fraud on eBay in perspective. The overwhelming majority of transactions on eBay are completed successfully. In fact, less than 1/100th of one percent of all items listed result in a confirmed case of fraud.
eBay is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our members. Our Trust and Safety people, systems and technology are there to help minimise risk. We are also committed to providing ongoing consumer information, such as our Safe Trading Guidelines to educate Australian consumers on how they can protect themselves online. The Safe Trading Guidelines can be found in the Security Centre on eBay.com.au.
What is eBay doing to educate buyers on the dangers of online auction fraud?
MacGibbon: According to independent research commissioned by eBay, 67 percent of Australian Internet users believe that online shopping is becoming safer. The survey also revealed that Australians still hold a number of concerns, particularly over the security of personal and financial information. By comparison, online auction fraud was rated down the list in the survey.
That said, eBay undertakes many measures to educate consumers on how to protect themselves online.
Most recently we launched the e-Commerce Safety Guide, a comprehensive resource which is packed with useful information for consumers. The Guide is available from the eBay Security Centre and information covered includes:
- Avoiding fraud
- What to do if you think fraud has occurred
- Sensible precautions for online shopping
- Preventing identity fraud
- Phishing, spoof and spam
- Protecting your home PC (this section was contributed by AusCERT - the national Computer Emergency Response Team for Australia)
- Eight reasons to feel confident buying on eBay.com.au
- Recommended Australian resources
How much (in dollar terms) and how many subscribers have made claims to eBay's buyer protection program?
MacGibbon: I cannot put a dollar amount on this figure [but I can only tell you that less than 1/100th of 1 percent of all items listed result in a confirmed case of fraud].
eBay, like many other online properties, has been a target of phishing scams. What is eBay doing to nab these phishers?
MacGibbon: eBay works closely with law enforcement agencies around the world, as well as ISPs to combat phishers. Importantly, we also provide members with tools to protect themselves from phishing threats. This includes:
- the eBay Toolbar featuring Account Guard (free to download) - which helps you to make sure you are on a legitimate eBay site. The toolbar helps recognise, reject and report potential spoof sites. The Account Guard feature turns green if you are on an eBay website, grey for unknown and red when users should use caution.
- eBay's spoof reporting service - whereby if someone receives a suspicious email purporting to come from eBay it can be sent to spoof@eBay.com.au and we will confirm within 48 hours if it is a legitimate eBay email. PayPal has a similar service where people can send suspicious emails to spoof@PayPal.com
eBay's Fraud Investigations Team -- does every country eBay operates in have one?
MacGibbon: There are over 1,000 Trust and Safety employees at eBay and PayPal operating in the 33 markets around the world.
What elements of law enforcement are entailed in your duties at eBay? For instance, Joseph Sullivan is the senior director of law enforcement relations at eBay in the US. Does eBay Australia have a similar post or do you play that role as well?
MacGibbon: This role is part of my existing responsibilities.
In what circumstance would you refer a case to the AFP (including AHTCC)?
MacGibbon: eBay refers federal or multi-jurisdictional (as in multiple Australian states) matters to the AHTCC. The AHTCC has its own case categorisation and prioritisation models for whether they take on an investigations referral, or pass it to one of their partner agencies. We regularly talk with the AHTCC on a range of issues as we engage government.
How does eBay weed out unscrupulous sellers on your site?
MacGibbon: We have zero tolerance for wrongdoing and are committed to making eBay as safe as possible for our members. We also work closely with law enforcement agencies to help them to bring offenders to justice.
eBay invests in the top people, systems and state of the art technology. As you will understand, we can't give out details of our security systems in order to stay ahead of criminals.
In reality, eBay is not a good place for people to attempt wrongdoing. Being an online business, activity on eBay is highly transparent and attempts to commit wrongdoing on the site can be easily spotted.
We also enlist the help of our 157 million members around the world. Our members inform us of any suspicious activity on site -- much like a neighbourhood watch program.
How many registered members does eBay Australia have and how many auctions are conducted daily on ebay.com.au?
MacGibbon: eBay has over two million Australian members, with just over three million unique visitors in March 2005 according to AC Nielsen NetRatings Netview.
eBay Australia's growth continues to be impressive. Some of our key highlights include:
- According to AC Nielsen NetRatings Netview, eBay.com.au had approximately 3.6 million unique visitors in June 2005
- There were over two million Australian eBay members as at October 2004, or one in every seven adult Australians
- According to online measurement company Hitwise, eBay.com.au was Australia's third most popular Web site in June 2005 ranked by visits
- Gross merchandise volume -- the total value of goods traded on eBay Australia -- was $600 million in 2004, up 110 percent on the previous year
- There are over 2,000 Australians that make a full-time living selling on eBay.com.au (Kinergy, July 2004).
There's been numerous stories about the security aspects of browsers. Would you recommend Internet Explorer or other browsers such as Firefox and Opera for eBay members?
MacGibbon: eBay does not endorse any particular browser.
Is Linux really more secure than Windows?
MacGibbon: eBay does not endorse any particular platform.
What is the most challenging part of your job? What keeps you up at night?
MacGibbon: Wrongdoing upsets me. It did when I was in the Australian Federal Police for 15 years and upsets me still: normal people don't get up in the morning and wonder how they can steal or trick someone. I won't rest until we can eliminate wrongdoing.
Last updated 2 August 2005 10:50AM
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