An online newsletter puts a couple's lives in danger | Forensic Files

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preferred platform [Music] in 1999 married couple AER and David Steiner launched auction B A KN
newsletter catering to those whose business was selling items online the idea originated from the
Steiner shared interest in collecting and trading Ina had a massed a large collection of books and ever since
childhood her husband David had been a frequenter of yard sales always on the lookout for
antiques the Steiners prided themselves on factually reporting the latest industry news and keeping readers up to
dat and informed on the inner workings of various online marketplaces Ina did most of the writing
while David focused on the publication side of things although their newsletter began
in the early days of Internet Commerce it filled a niche and grew in popularity has online trading became an important
tool for businesses worldwide the Steiners eventually changed their Publications name to
e-commerce bites and by 2019 it was a valued and reputable resource for sellers on a number of online platforms
including Craigslist Etsy Amazon and eBay from her home in the town of natic Massachusetts AA published a daily
article TOS such as what is behind Amazon Prime shipping delays and Craigslist finally launches a mobile app
worth the wait inor also managed the e-commerce by its social media accounts which allowed
her to directly engage with her small but passionate community on Thursday August 1 2019 the
New York Times published an article detailing a lawsuit that us multinational e-com Comm Merce company
eBay had recently filed against their direct competitor Amazon eBay was accusing Amazon of
unlawfully poaching their sellers AA Steiner wrote about the dispute later that day in a post
headlined eBay lawsuit meant to curbs seller Exodus to Amazon in it she asserted eBay's CEO Devin wenck has been
unable to stop a decline in market sales but trying to dissuade Sellers from turning to Amazon and trying to get
Amazon to stop recruiting sellers may not be the best tactic days later on Wednesday August 7
the e-commerce BS Twitter account received a private message from a user AA didn't
recognize their username was Tui Alay and their profile picture was an image of a skull surrounded by Darkness
they asked what aa's problem was with eBay based on their Twitter bio it appeared TOA was an eBay seller based in
Samoa who was new to Twitter with no Post history and no followers AA suspected they were a troll
an online provocator who typically posted offensive content behind nameless accounts to arouse an emotional response
in others the best way to deal deal with the troll was not to respond to them at
all so inor ignored Tu LA's message this only fueled their anger they sent Ina a stream of messages that
read hello what the [ __ ] are you there I'm waiting I don't like waiting what the [ __ ] what's it going to take for you
to answer me I guess I'm going to have to get your attention another way [Music]
[Music] [ __ ] AA continued to ignore Tu la adhering to the old internet adage don't
feed the trolls by refusing to reply AA hoped TOA would grow bored and move on but they
didn't they continued to message AA their tone growing increasingly hostile you don't have the Bulls to talk
to me stop hiding behind your computer screen you [ __ ] [ __ ] still I I wouldn't engage
then late the following night of Thursday August 8th over the course of 1 hour aa's email inbox was flooded with
more than 50 email and newsletter subscriptions that she had not signed up for some were from ideological groups
she had no interest in like the Communist Party The Satanic Temple and Scientology others featured
disconcerting content relating to bondage cadavers and animal abuse 2 Days Later Ana's husband David
received a bizarre and somewhat chilling email it reported that a preserved fetal
pig had been ordered online and was being sent to the Steiner's home at around 400 p.m. a package
arrived from Amazon that was addressed to Winer it contained a Halloween mask depicting a bloody pig face similar to
one worn by the jigsaw killer and his ACC IES in the horror film franchise saw 15 minutes later AA received a
notification for the e-commerce byes Twitter account it was a new private message from TU La that
read do I have your attention now AA did not seek out an explanation for tua's abusive
Behavior it seemed her online harasser knew where she lived and she didn't want to provoke them
further AA maintained her silence still hoping it would succeed as a deterrent but Tu La continued to bombard her with
messages like you're a fat [ __ ] [ __ ] David needs to put you in line [ __ ] a day later David Steiner was sent
an Amazon package of his own it contained a book titled grief Diaries surviving the loss of a
spouse 2A sent more messages to wner throughout the day repeatedly demanding to know what her problem was with
eBay the truth was that AA didn't have one sure she had written an article about the company's lawsuit with Amazon
that could be interpreted as critical but it was hardly scathing or destructive and although it wasn't the
first time she'd scrutinized eBay's business practices she afforded them the same degree of respectful critique that
she gave every company she wrote about earlier that year she had reported positively on eBay's promise to give
sellers greater protection it was bizarre to think someone would go to such lengths to
punish her for holding a rather mild and inconsequential opinion AA refused to engage TOA in any
discourse of course believing the person behind the username must be unwell then on Tuesday August 13 almost
a week after tua's harassment began David Steiner received a voicemail from a representative at Adam and Eve a US
company that sells adult toys online they were responding to David's proped interest in opening a franchise
store neither David nor AA had expressed any interest in such an Endeavor that same day Tu La tweeted
e-commerce bys asking are you there why won't you answer me many families including mine
make money to pay for food clothes and rent by selling on eBay your stupid idiot comments are
pushing buyers away from eBay and hurting families stop it now these messages only served to further
confuse eer and David at the time eBay was ranked in the 200s in Fortune 500 an annual list of
the 500 largest US industrial corporations as measured by gross income the company had a market value of
over 47 billion and employed 13,000 people worldwide if it was completely unreasonable to think aa's nonpartisan
cometry in her Niche corner of the internet could impact such an industry Powerhouse even if it did shouldn't the
contempt be directed at eBay itself AA was only reporting the facts if the business was faltering then the
solution would be fixing its problems silencing AA might go some way to improving public perception of the
company but wouldn't resolve the actual issues sellers were facing tu's idiot comments remark was
particularly strange as the Steiners carried themselves like respected journalists they didn't get involved in
frivolous or Petty internet drama the next day the Steiners received a package from Carolina biological
Supply a company based in North Carolina that sold science related products [Music]
they opened it and were alarmed to discover it contained fly larvey and live spiders a second package arrived that
same day this one from an insect supply company based in Kansas it held live cockroaches Tu La tweeted the
couple Ina when you hurt our business you hurt our families people will do anything to protect
family AA and David were rattled with no idea who was behind the 2A account the couple began increasing their security
measures they installed video cameras outside their home added some battery powered alarms and reported the
harassment to the Nik Police Department which agreed to conduct patrols of the couple's
home the following day the Steiners were mortified to learn that two of their neighbors had received packages with
David's name on them that contained quote barely legal pornography later that day a florist
dropped off an ominous funeral wreath with a card that featured aa's name this marked the couple's second
death themed delivery meanwhile the miners had noticed a black Dodge minivan with New
York license plates circling their neighborhood David sensed the vehicle was following him and felt certain he
was going to be killed he took note of the minivan's license plate and reported it to
police officers searched for the vehicle in their databases but nothing came up that corresponded with the information
provided by the Steiners they nevertheless put out a call on police radi radio to be on the
lookout for the vehicle it wasn't cited again that evening an emergency plumber was sent to the Steiner's
home at 4:30 a.m. the following night a black car stopped outside their house a male driver emerged and pulled
out a large leather B which David thought contained a rifle he shouted to Winer to call the
police but it was a false alarm the leather bag contained pizzas $70 worth ordered on behalf of the sters that
needed to be paid for shortly before 2: p.m. on Sunday August 18 more than 2 weeks after the
harassment began the TU laa Twitter account publicly posted Ein Steiner's personal contact details including her
residential address this act is known as doxing and is a common method of online harassment
and intimidation 3 minutes later 2A sent AA a private message asking you get my gifts
[ __ ] this explicitly confirmed that the person threatening the Steiners online
was the same one sending them unwanted deliveries however Tu laa had made a mistake doxing was against Twitter's
user policy the platform took down the offending posts and the two account was suspended
preventing its use for the time being yet two L's suspension did a little to settle the Steiner's
nerves David now believed he was being followed by a silver or gray Toyota Rav 4
GMC when he went to take pictures of the vehicle with his cell phone it drove away David didn't notice it tailing him
again police took the Steiner's concerns seriously and sent an undercover officer
to observe the couple's house from an unmarked Jeep with tinted windows but the officer saw no
suspicious activity The Unwanted deliveries continued including additional pieces to
the Steiner residents and more pornography in David's name to one of their neighbors
on Tuesday August 20 the police were called to the Steiner's home yet again the couple told them that multiple
strangers had shown up at their house in response to an advertisement for a week-long garage sale posted on yard Sal
search.com the listing which featured the Steiner's home address included the message we are moving out of the country
soon and are trying to get rid of as many of our possessions as possible if we are not outside feel free to knock
on the door maybe we can make a deal if you see something you like these weren't the only uninvited
guests the Stein has received a post titled block party in NAIC let's have some fun had been
uploaded on the classified advertisements website Craigs List alongside their address hey we are some fun locals
hosting guests for an open house while the owners are out of town for the next week the post
claimed come knock on the door ring the doorbell anytime of day or night block parties will start about 1 p.m. but will
go late singles couples swingers okay college students are welcome several other Craigslist posts
also encouraged people to visit the Steiner's home one referred to the Steiner is as mature professionals
looking to have some fun at home and asked specifically for singles or other couples open to exploring threesim BDSM
and crossdressing on Wednesday August 21 AA Steiner received a comment on Twitter
from a new account named Al Tui the username was an inversion of the 2 laa account Andor immediately
suspected it was the same person trying to bypass their Twitter suspension her suspicions were confirmed
when she read Al toi's message nice try AA you can't shut me down Al Tui sent Ana the same vulgar and
insulting accusations centered around the misguided belief that she was trying to irreparably damage eBay's
reputation well still other Anonymous Twitter users came forward to support aloui one wrote years of lies and
destroying families don't be proud of that you worthless [ __ ] I will destroy your family and business too see how you
like it the same user tagged laay to's account asking when are we going to visit her in
NQ another user replied I agree Ina is hurting small businesses with all the negativity and pushing
buyers to Amazon a third user with a disturbing image of a pig's head as their profile
picture added AA focus on something else and stop [ __ ] with our customers I don't want to see another
[ __ ] post about eBay leave our business alone this same user wrote to a Tui directly asking what's aa's address
again guess I have to pay her a visit Al Tui replied with the Steiner's home address resulting in a suspension
for doxing the other accounts were new had few to no followers and wrote in a similar way to Al Tui indicating they
were all run by the same person but AA couldn't be sure there was also the possibility that they
were other trolls attracted to Al tui's drama while being unconnected to it however one of the accounts featured the
name of a prominent eBay seller leading AA to question whether she had in fact drawn the community's
ey whatever the case AER and David Steiner were so profoundly terrorized they were unable to
rest both were riddled with Stress and Anxiety that manifested in physical symptoms they couldn't go out in public
without worrying that they were being followed concerned about identity theft fraud and financial harm they froze all
their accounts the hard-earned reputation of e-commerce BS was being destroyed Before
Their Eyes the Steiners could do little else but bunker down at home they canell
countless visits with friend friends and family out of fear they would expose their loved ones to the stalking
campaign AA and David decided to sleep in separate bedrooms so that if there was a home invasion and one of them was
attacked the other could escape and call for help David stayed at the front of the
house in the main bedroom where he constantly watched a live feed of the property security
cameras AA was in a spare bedroom at the rear the the couple had set up a homemade booby trap against the back
door consisting of baking tray stacked on top of a laundry card if anyone tried to break in through the back at night AA
would hear them the couple were Paralyzed by constant fear of what would happen next
they felt a sense of dread with every knock at the door terrified that a killer had finally arrived to follow
through on their threat mean while the naq police department was actively investigating
the harassment they had a few tenuous leads with the most significant coming from
David Steiner he had managed to snap a photo of the license plate of a gray colored
Toyota Rav 4 GMC he suspected was following him the vehicle belonged to a car rental
company called Enterprise their records showed that at the time David believed he was being
stalked by the vehicle it had been leased to a woman named Veronica Z this wasn't the only connection
investigators made to Veronica some of the items sent to the Steiners were bought using prepaid debit
cards and gift cards purchased in the California City of Santa Clara where Veronica
resided store CCTV had recorded Veronica buying the cart police uncovered that Veronica Zay
had a recent booking at a richz carton luxury hotel in Boston a 30-minute drive from the Steiner home in
nck the Steiners confirmed that they had no history with Veronica but curiously it was discovered that she worked for
eBay Veronica Zay was first employed by eBay in 2017 when she was 2 3 years old despite her lack of interest in
technology and having Barely Used eBay's website Veronica's degree in criminology
secured her a role at the company's headquarters in San Jose California Veronica worked her way up
from the role of intelligence operator a security guard type role to intelligence
analyst in the global security and resiliency division it was a small close-knit team
consisting mostly of former police and security Personnel responsible for staying ahead of small and large scale
threats to the company they investigated Persons of Interest individuals who posed a threat
to eBay and its staff and monitored them to ensure employee safety it was a necessary measure
especially in the aftermath of a 2018 spray shooting at the headquarters of video sharing website
YouTube in that incident multiple YouTube employees were injured by a woman with a personal vandetta against
the company as Veronica Z had never worked an office job before she was somewhat
out of her depth and reliant on the expertise of more experienced staff members one was her immediate supervisor
eBay's senior director of Safety and Security James bore he was a firm intimidating man who
wanted employees to do what they were told without asking questions one time he found a knife left
out on a barbecue grill on site and proceeded to maniacally stab a chair with it chastising his crew that a
deranged individual could have used the weapon to hurt someone James was a film buff and would
summon staff into a boardroom to show them scenes from movies that he deemed significant in one scene characters were
executed to make a point another involved criminal suspects who refused to give information to
police on at least five occasions Veronica was forced to watch a scene from a television drama in which a
billionaire warned a subordinate you don't try to be loyal you just are James bore also liked the film meet
the [ __ ] in which a retired CIA agent speaks of a circle of trust his ter for the small group of individuals he
trusted James would reference the circle of trust within the workplace when talking about something he felt no one
else should know James B tried to foster a family-like environment in the office
and told his team to call him dad for James loyalty was Paramount but he was an unpredictable leader who kept
staff on edge no matter their fty on one occasion he had his employees personal belongings stripped from their
lockers and dumped into trash bags in order to teach them that they were not entitled to privacy at
[Music] work Veronica Zay was hired as a contract worker and because she hoped to
One Day become a full-time employee she was cautious not to do anything that could jeopardize her
goal there was a high turnover rate in her office and many of the people she started out with mostly older men were
quickly replaced by young blondhair women James B would call them his angels in reference to the trio of fictional
female detectives Charlie's Angels who were known for being attractive Veronica didn't like James
PA's Behavior or the cult-like atmosphere of her office but she kept her contempt to
herself she had no desire to rock the boat as staff were fired unpredictably and for any perceived
indiscretion female employees were let go for not smiling at Executives chewing on pens and singing to themselves during
quiet night shifts eBay's top AB brass were aware of the dysfunctional and discriminatory
work culture but didn't address it the situation only worsened when a hedge fund known for being particular
particularly ruthless bought a large stake of eBay and began demanding internal changes the pressure was felt across the
board from Veronica Zay in intelligence analytics all the way up to eBay's chief
executive officer Devin wenig the CEO was dismayed to learn that in a letter to eBay's board of directors
the hedge fund alluded to replacing him due to the company's underperformance [Music]
Devon wenck was a contentious figure in the e-commerce Community for the way he oversaw
eBay AA Steiner often named the CEO when reporting on eBay's latest business moves good and bad in her online
newsletter e-commerce bites and it was because of him that her professional relationship with eBay
corroded over time in the early days of Ecom bites eBay advocated for and collaborated with
the publication they invited eer and David Steiner to interview executive team members as well as other employees and
contractors many eBay Executives and employees subscribed to e-commerce bites including high level management and
public relations Personnel but from May 2012 onwards CEO Devin wenig started taking issue with
the St as reporting on eBay and its upper management specifically when they published anything that highlighted the
companies or his faults Ina allowed readers to leave comments on her articles and some
emboldened by online anonymity were particularly vitriolic towards Devon wenck they referred to eBay as a corrupt
organization that offered sellers no help and burdened them with excessive fees overregulation
penalties selling limits NeverEnding glitches and false customer feedback Devin W was called a joke a
fraud and delusional with some asserting that he should have been fired years earlier this led to an overall attitude
shift towards e-commerce bites at eBay they once accused the publication of being a fishing site a means used by
cyber criminals to trick people into giving up personal information eBay later admitted this
accusation was an error and retracted its report but the admission didn't ease tensions criticisms of the Steiners and
their publication began appearing in the comment sections of their own articles the accounts responsible also
attacked other legitimate readers who came to the couple's defense the problematic accounts were
traced to YP addresses associated with eBay it was clear eBay employees were creating fake online identities to
attack the Steiners in April 2019 Ina wrote an article about how Devon wenck made 152
times the average salary of his employees irritated Devon texted his colleague eBay's senior vice president
and chief of communications Officer Steve wymer who shared his frustrations they believed that AA
Steiner was purposefully getting people worked up due to the way she skewed her stories Devon told Steve that they were
going to crush her the two men reached out to eBay's Global Security and resiliency division
specifically to team leader James bore in turn he informed Veronica Z and another analyst Stephanie Stockwell of
the situation the two women were instructed to screenshot e-commerce bys newsletters
and forward them to James B via WhatsApp an encrypted messaging app on a realtime
basis day or night any day of the week this was to keep executive leadership up to dat on an immediate
basis in the meantime Devin wck and Steve wymer hired a consult firm they produced a report
titled next steps alternative digital methods for reducing impact of eina Steiner and David Steiner and e-commerce
byes the report outlined actionable strategies that would drive the Steiner articles lower in search engine
results one regular commenter on e-commerce BS went by the US username phto Master they were a resident troll
known for stirring up a drama phom Master posted under various other usernames with their unsuck eBay
account named for their biggest gripe their dislike of the company spilled beyond the e-commerce by comment
section onto Twitter where they harassed the business directly sometimes phto Master
impersonated official eBay Communications by by using a distorted version of the company's
logo they also provided parody answers to customer questions directed at eBay's official Twitter
account in an e-commerce byes article posted in May 2019 AA Steiner wrote about how eBay had built an expensive
replica of a popular Manhattan bar called walkers at their headquarters in California quote it's probably news to
sellers and shareholders that eBay has a pub like Lounge on campus especially one
built with what appears to be no expenses spared this news drew the eye of phto Master who tweeted a link to the article
with a message calling the bar a self-indulgent vanity project that was a throwback to internet and gaming company
CEO's lavish over spending on Legacy facilities and landmarks photo Mar Master called out
CEO Devin wenig by name criticizing him for undertaking the project while eBay was experiencing cost reduction layoffs
and scrutiny by activist investors even though phto Master's tweets about eBay only a master dozen or
so likes the company's security division kept a large file on the unknown identity James B and two other senior
members of the security division named ran Gilbert and David Harville suspected that phto Master was either In Cahoots
with the Steiners or a sock puppet account a false online identity used for deceptive
purposes they figured if phto master was a sock puppet then eer and David Steiner
were behind it Devin wenig and Steve wymer were fed up in one email Steve claimed that the
Steiner's website gave him ulcers harmed employee morale and trickled into everything about their
brand he wrote I genuinely believe these people are acting out of malice and someone
chose to let this slide it has grown to a point that is absolutely unacceptable it's the Blind Eye toward
graffiti that turns into Mayhem syndrome and I'm sick about it Steve as well as Devon wanted the
Steiners silenced the men granted the security division cart blanch to take down the
Steiners whatever it takes Steve wymer asserted in an email he promised to manage any bad
Fallout and made it clear that the security team would receive support and backing from the executive leadership at
eBay regardless of the volatility or Force used against the Steiners they didn't care that AA was
merely exercising Her First Amendment right to report on eBay as she had done for years without
issue at no point did she fabricate information about the company attack them unfairly or discourage her readers
from using their services her publication was highly regarded within the e-commerce Community
for providing balanced reporting AA herself had gained considerable Goodwill and recognition
for her vast knowledge and was a widely cited Authority on Marketplace selling still for her critics at eBay
taking down Ina would send a message to all journalists that negative reporting of their company would not be
tolerated on Saturday June 8th 2019 senior eBay security division team member Brian Gilbert flew across the
country to Boston he then drove to the Steiner his home in NAIC and scrolled the word phto
Master on the couple's front fence to no effect then acting at the direction of senior director of Safety and Security
James bour Brian began reconnaissance into the Steiner's lives he attended a yard sale at the
couple's home falsely posing as a potential buyer to gain intelligence he then returned to webay
headquarters in California to help devise a plan to stop the Steiners once and for
all the security team's plan was dubbed the White Knight strategy a white knight
being a term for someone who comes to another's Aid basically they would secretly harass
the Steiners until the couple feared for their lives then they would offer eBay's
assistance to help stop the attacks they believed this would win the Steiner's favor and deter them from
covering eBay unfavorably in the future it All Began on Thursday August 1 2019 after AA Steiner posted her article
on eBay's law suit against Amazon in it she mentioned comments made by CEO Devin wenck adding that he
seemingly lacked appreciation for sellers desire to diversify selling channels the comment ments section was
flooded with messages critical of eBay one commenter asked how about instead of trying to sue Amazon you just make eBay
a better place for sellers after seeing the feedback from the article eBay VP Steve wymer texted
security head James bore saying iner is out with a hot piece on the litigation if we are ever going to
take her down now is the time hatred is a sin I am very sinful I want her done Ina is a biased troll who needs to
get burned down I want to see ashes as long as it takes whatever it takes James B and his team of six
including Brian Gilbert David Harville Stephanie Stockwell Veronica Zay and two other eBay security analysts named
Philip cook and Stephanie pop launched a series of ployees they had brainstormed
together their aim was to intimidate threaten torture terrorize and ultimately silence the
Steiners they created the Twitter account Tu LA and later La Tui and other supportive sock puppet accounts to
bombard the couple around the clock with frightening online messages they mailed them disturbing p
packages and sent strangers to their house at all hours some traveled to Boston to stalk
the couple in rented Vehicles they monitored NQ police's radio communications and when they heard
messages about the car they were in they returned it and rented a new one one time they paused to their
surveillance upon noticing an undercover officer in an unmarked jeep was keeping
an eye on the couple's home another time the Steiners reported the license plate details of a Dodge
minivan the group were in but the couple were off by one letter preventing a positive
ID the eBay group plotted to put a tracking device on the Steiner's car and even practiced doing so but were
thwarted by the couple parking in their garage David Harville purchased tools and rubber gloves so he could break into
the Steiner's garage but the plan ultimately fell through the group had other ideas that didn't
come to fruition including ordering the Steiners an exotic dancer and sending a coffin to their
home they covered their tracks by registering for a software development conference in Boston that they never
intended to attend giving them a reason to be in the area the team also used encrypted
messaging apps and email accounts laptops with undetectable IP addresses burner phones and prepaid debit
cards they also created a dossier on the Steiners falsely accusing them of being
Persons of Interest for threats they made against eBay and its executive management the document was to be given
to police if the group was compromised to discredit the Steiners and make them appear dangerous thus defaming their
reputations and credibility after naq police identified Veronica Zay and discovered her connection to webay
they sought to interview her but when they called Veronica's cell phone James bore
answered he lied telling police that he was Veronica's husband and that all questions for her could be directed to
him following the call James drove Veronica to the airport to flee Massachusetts police police then reached
out to eBay directly via an email account that happened to be overseen by Brian Gilbert one of the
conspirators Brian traveled to naq to speak with authorities in person telling them that eBay had no involvement in the
intimidation or threats perpetrated against the Steiners he even brazenly offered eBay's
assistance to investigate the matter however the conspirators were starting to suspect that The Jig was
up they reconvened in a conference room at eBay's headquarters to discuss their next
steps James B ordered his team not to talk to anyone and to keep the names of CEO Devin wck and Senior VP Steve wymer
out of all conversations whenever police called any of the staff members for further
inquiries the conversation was put on loudspeaker so everyone could listen in and maintain a consistent
story Stephanie pop posted five new tweets from one of the accounts used to harass the Steiners to give the illusion
that the perpetrators were still at large it didn't work the entire plot was gradually
exposed by NAIC detectives eBay terminated the seven employees involved all of whom were
charged with various conspiracy offenses pertaining to cyber stalking witness tampering and
stalking some also faced charges for the attempted cover up and obstruction of the criminal
investigation the charges carried a sentence of up to 5 years in prison 3 years of supervised release a fine of up
to $250,000 and restitution all seven of the conspirators ultimately pleaded guilty
and provided full admissions their confessions along with a forensic examination of their communication
devices provided a detailed picture of their crimes they received varying sentences
including probation community service fines and upwards of 57 months prison time James bore the ring leader who
received the harshest sentence turned to the Steiners during his hearing and said I was 100% responsible for
everything that happened on my watch for that I am truly sorry eBay permitted CEO Devin wck to
resign with a $57 million severance package senior Vice President Steve wymer was terminated with an undisclosed
severance package both men denied any direct involvement in the harassment of the
Steiners and maintained they had done nothing wrong in a statement Steve wymer insisted there was no Direction no
knowledge no private understanding no tcid approval ever I was just speaking off the
cuff Devin wenig made similar remarks in his own statement a law firm hired by eBay to
investigate the harassment concluded that neither Devon wenig or Steve wymer directed or knew that criminal acts
would follow their orders an internal investigation deemed the men's messages inappropriate but it
too asserted there was no evidence the pair had authorized or had prior knowledge of the acts directed towards
the Steiners both men easily slotted into leadership positions at other companies
with no concerns expressed about their history at eBay a according to Federal prosecutors
the evidence uncovered during the police investigation was insufficient to charge
either man with any crimes in an exclusive interview with the New York Times Veronica Z revealed
that her participation in the geme had a longlasting impact on her life when her new employer found out
about it Veronica was immediately fired she struggled to find another job and had to move back in with her
parents she said that she hadn't enjoyed harassing the steinet and she'd often call her mother in tears about her own
actions despite this the pressure manipulation and a toxic environment at eBay compelled her to continue doing
something that she knew was wrong quote it's easy to say why didn't I leave but in the moment I was terrified
and stuck I am so sorry I regret playing even a small role here if I could go back in
time and prevent the Steiners from experiencing this in any way I would do so in a
heartbeat I don't know when I'll ever trust an employer again or when an employer will ever trust
me the New York Times also Tracked Down the person behind the online account phto Master whose trolling had led in
part to the Steiners ordeal some of the offenders had thought the Steiners themselves were behind the
account despite there being no evidence to support this it turned out that phyto Master
wasn't connected to the couple in any way his wife was an eBay seller and he just wanted to vent online about the
issues he had with the company he clarified that he had never conspired with the Steiners to damage
eBay's reputation as a direct result of their former employees actions eBay had to pay
a $3 million fine they have also since apologized to the Steiners and according to their new
CEO Jamie aanon the company has strengthened its policies procedures controls and training while remaining
committed to upholding high standards of conduct and ethics in 2021 the Steiners filed a lawsuit
against eBay the seven defendants in the criminal case and several other relevant
parties including Devin winig and Steve wymer although the two former eBay VIPs had denied involvement in or knowledge
of the crimes committed against the Steiners the couple suspected this wasn't entirely
true forensic copies of Steve wy's personal and company cell phones showed that Communications from August 2019
were missing leading authorities to believe they were deleted however records recovered from
other participants devices showed that multiple text messages and emails were sent to Steve wymer informing him about
some of their activities when one conspirator emailed Steve to tell him the police were
investigating eBay Steve replied please do not do anything until I can check a few things I don't want us to
engage the Steiners believed that Steve wymer at least should have been indicted
for obstructing justice destroying evidence and misleading an investigation their attorney
stated I think the federal government is taking the position that they didn't have enough evidence to indict wymer and
other Executives our position is that you can't find the evidence you're not looking
for they just weren't looking the Civil proceedings are still underway as of June
2024 as a result of the harassment iror and David suffered permanent psychological trauma and significant
economic damage despite this the sters continue to publish e-commerce biots and still
report on news pertaining to eBay while they never made any public statements in the aftermath of the
harassment AA wrote a number of articles on the case maintaining her trademark fact-based and unbiased reporting with
no personal opinions provided [Music] [Music] for

Case 306: Ina & David Steiner

In 1999, Ina and David Steiner founded an online newsletter called eCommerceBytes. The couple worked hard to establish themselves as knowledgeable, trustworthy and unbiased reporters in the e-commerce industry and were well respected by their niche community. Then, in 2019, eCommerceBytes received a scathing message from a Twitter user who took issue with how Ina Steiner reported on the U.S multinational e-commerce company eBay.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-306-ina-david-steiner

Brief Summary

AA and David Steiner faced severe harassment from eBay employees after reporting on the company, leading to legal action against eBay.

Key points

The Steiners' Online Harassment Begins. AA Steiner faces a barrage of hostile messages from an unknown troll, escalating quickly.
Chilling Deliveries. The Steiners receive disturbing packages, including a Halloween mask and a fetal pig.
Increased Security Measures. The Steiners install security cameras and report harassment to the police.
Doxing Incident. Tu La publicly shares AA's personal information, escalating the harassment.
The Threat Intensifies. The Steiners receive more unwanted deliveries and face increasing fear for their safety.
eBay's Toxic Work Culture. James B fostered a family-like environment while maintaining a toxic, unpredictable leadership style.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I guess I'm going to have to get your attention another way.

Tu La's escalating messages to AA.

4:55WatchNov 30, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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