The eBayMotorsSucks blog, written by former eBay Motors seller Ed Koon, published a video on February 18 that shows an eBay Motors listing redirecting to an off-eBay site. He wrote, "Watch as this 2007 Chevy Tahoe listing sweeps me off of eBay to a hacked website." He refers to a well known redirect scam that AuctionBytes has covered and was documented by US-CERT.

It's a compelling video, and Mr. Koon told us he has talked to at least one recent victim of such the scam. We asked eBay abut Mr. Koon's video, and spokesperson Johnna Hoff provided the following statement:

eBay Motors is constantly and proactively monitoring the site to prevent and address possible fraudulent behavior. As part of this monitoring, eBay Motors has identified recent redirect issues and has implemented specific safety measures, including updating our detection systems with a filter to identify this particular behavior. These additional protections should supplement smart shopping habits, including reviewing seller ratings, communicating with sellers and confirming transaction details through My eBay before making a purchase, and never paying for a vehicle via instant cash-transfer methods. eBay Motors also offers free vehicle history reports and a Vehicle Purchase Protection program for transactions that occur on the site, to help ensure the 10 million visitors coming to the site each month interact in a safe, trusted marketplace.

Mr. Koon believes the redirect vulnerability should be an easy fix, and said he first started logging eBay redirect issues in 2006. "There are still many buyers getting scammed on vehicles. They always seem to find out after the fact that eBay VPP does not guarantee vehicles and hold money for sellers like escrow. The first thing buyers should ask themselves is, why is this vehicle with a book value of $40,000 selling for 12,500? If it's too cheap to be for real it's a scam! Wizen up folks!"